Spud Equipment For Small Farms

Spud Equipment For Small Farms 31-5-8 Growing a few acres of potatoes for market is a great sideline, but finding good quality equipment can be tough. U.S. Small Farm has changed that. The Wyoming-based company designs and builds planters, diggers and even a seed potato cutter that can cut 200 to 300 lbs. per hour. "I had been designing potato planters for companies that sold to large growers and decided to try to fill the void for smaller growers," says Larry Anderson. "Our target market is the 1 to 10-acre market gardener." Originally, he designed and manufactured a one-row, cup-type planter with a Cat. I 3-pt. hitch. It holds up to 200 lbs. of seed potatoes and plants either cut or whole seed potatoes from 1 to 4 in. deep. It can be mounted off center to produce two-row spacings or directly behind the tractor. A two-row unit consisting of two single row assemblies is also available. The cup planters start at $2,800 for a single row and double that for the 2-row units. Anderson suggests a 20 hp tractor to lift the loaded planter, though it could be pulled by one as small as 10 hp. Anderson's one-row digger is available with a 3-pt .hitch and a 48-in. cleaning bed. It sells for $2,800. A pull-type design with a 102-in. cleaning bed costs $4,850. Both diggers can be used directly behind the tractor or offset to the side. A moveable tail section lets potatoes drop on the ground or they can be lifted to drop them into a trailing cart or mounted box. Neither unit requires more than a 20 hp tractor. "All our diggers are really customized to the buyer," says Anderson. "For example, we make adjustments in the design of the chains on the cleaning bed based on your soil type. Spacings are wider for really heavy soil, but if the soil is sandy, you can use a real narrow spacing in the chain." Anderson says he works closely with customers to meet their needs and that leads to new products, such as optional custom made fertilizer units, a picking table extension, a bagging platform and a sample accumulator. The addition of a sweet potato option came from a Kansas customer's request. "I made a prototype and sent it down. He tried it, and I took it back and made changes," recalls Anderson. "He tried it again, and we changed it again to what it is now." The sweet potato digging attachment sells for $600 and includes coulters to cut the vines. It also has a longer blade to go deeper into the ground. Another customer-inspired product is a hand-powered seed cutter that sells for $120, including freight. The tabletop unit lets a single worker pick up a potato and slice it into 2, 4, 6 or 8 pieces depending on tuber size. The seed pieces fall into a container beneath the tabletop or are deflected into a larger container at the side. A recent addition to the product line is an assisted feed planter with seats for riders who hand feed the planting units. It can be used with large flower bulbs, large seeded plants and even walnuts. The two row assisted seeder starts at around $8,000. An automatic feeder is also available. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, U.S. Small Farm, 5428 Road 57, Torrington, Wyoming 82240 ( ph 307 534-1818; toll free 888 522-1554; fax 307 534-1812; ussmallfarm@yahoo.com; www.ussmallfarm.com).

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