Blaster Removes Potato Bugs

Blaster Removes Potato Bugs CROPS Miscellaneous My potato bug blower was made from a snowblower and an old furnace fan It couldn t be simpler or more effective says Eric Campbell Shawville Quebec
    He removed the auger from a 10 hp snowblower and bolted a common furnace fan on in its place The 13-in fan is held in place by a metal frame that s supported by a single caster wheel off a wheelbarrow A screened wooden cage which rides on a small metal wheel is suspended by a steel arm that extends over to the other side of the row of plants The cage captures bugs as they re blown off plants by the fan Once a metal trough at the bottom of the cage fills up with bugs he disposes of them
     I ve worked on the idea for six years and have nothing but good things to say about it says Campbell I think anyone who tries this idea will have potatoes they ll be proud of I m not using any poison and there s no toxic runoff To me it s the only way to grow potatoes
    He guides the blaster between two rows with the screened cage located on the opposite side of the row just brushing the leaves
    The cage measures 22 in sq and 5 in deep It has two screens - a 1/2-in sq screen on the near side and a very fine mesh screen on the far side Bugs get blown through the 1/2-in sq screen and are caught on the mesh screen dropping down into the metal trough at the bottom of the cage A 2-in high lip on the near side of the trough curls inward to trap them The combination of the curved lip and the air blasting over it keeps the bugs from climbing out says Campbell
    The fan is belt-driven off a pulley mounted on the snowblower engine Air is directed slightly upward from the fan by a 3-sided tin shroud bolted to one side Fan height can be adjusted by pulling a pin on front of the frame
    The screened cage is attached to a length of 2-in sq tubing that slides onto the extension arm By pulling a T-bar pin the cage moves in or out from the row     
     I ve spent a lot of time workng on it but it was worth it says Campbell I can remove 99 percent of the bugs with this machine As the plants get taller I tip the blower upward a little to blast air straight into the plants and through all the leaves I end up with bugs 1 1/2 in deep the full length of the cage In average conditions I ll fill the box twice on my 1 1/2 acres of potatoes To dispose of the bugs I dump them into a container and then burn them
     I use my potato bug blaster every other day for the first 10 days until there are only a few bugs left and then use it every four or five days and finally every seven or eight days It takes a lot of air to blow bugs off plant leaves so I keep the fan going as fast as the snowblower s 10 hp motor will drive it The snowblower has five forward speeds and two reverse I find that third gear works best because at that speed the blast of air moves the plants just enough to expose all the bugs The snowblower wheels have chains on them which tear up the ground a bit but that s good because then I can tell which rows I ve already covered
    Campbell says in the past he used bug poison but didn t like it In my opinion insecticides are a big waste of money and time because they don t kill anything I was paying $120 for less than a quart of insecticide and at the end of the season I wound up with no potatoes and no bugs killed either
    The snowblower doesn t always run perfectly level but instead tends to swing sideways at times To compensate for that the cross arm that supports the cage is free to pivot up or down on the main frame allowing the cage to follow the ground contour
    The fan blows air right through the cage but it isn t strong enough to affect plants in the row behind the cage Campbell also developed a tractor-mounted model he uses on his 1950 Massey Harris 30 equipped with a side belt pulley which drives the blower
     The tractor-mounted model works excellent too But I like the snowblower model better because it doesn t compact the soil as much says Campbell The tractor-mounted model has a bigger 18-in dia fan To keep it from blowing bugs off the row behind the cage I had to mount a deflector on the opposite side of the cage
He says he didn t modify the snowblower at all so at the end of the season the whole assembly can be disassembled by removing four bolts Then I m ready to blow snow again notes Campbell
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Eric J Campbell RR3 Shawville Quebec Canada J0X2Y0 ph 819 647-3166

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