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One of the important points that arise when growing potatoes is the problem of hilling potatoes. If the landing area is small, you can do it manually. The hilling process is quite laborious, so it is best to use a motor cultivator with special equipment. Nowadays, you can find a wide variety of devices, but most often they use a disc hiller for potatoes. The device will help you process all the beds easily and comfortably.
Types of hillers
Consider the main types of hillers for potatoes to a walk-behind tractor. The easiest to use is the lister, or fixed-width hiller. Such a device is suitable for walk-behind tractors or cultivators with a power of not more than 3,5 hp. for processing narrow row spacings. Fixed wings are fixed on the rack.
The most common equipment is a device for hilling potatoes with a variable width, which is suitable for more powerful walk-behind tractors. You can use the hiller on the beds of different widths. The main disadvantage of the device is the consumption of more fuel. To speed up processing, two-row devices are made, which allow processing twice as fast.
The functionality of the previous two can replace the disk hiller. It is more expensive, but more convenient and easy to use. There is a middle option between disk and analog on the market – a Dutch-type hiller, which consumes much less energy and is also cheaper. The wings of the equipment can rotate vertically and horizontally. There is another option, but it is used less often – a propeller-type hiller.
Advantages of the fixture
Each type of hiller has its pros and cons. When using a hiller with a fixed grip, it is necessary to adhere to the same width of the potato planting rows. Otherwise, you will only damage the plants. To avoid such difficulties, use a variable width hiller, but it consumes more energy. Also, such devices are difficult to use on wet soil. The advantages of the Dutch hiller for potatoes are reasonable price, high-quality work, low energy consumption. The propeller device for hilling qualitatively loosens the soil and pours it to the roots of the plant.
A miracle potato hiller is considered a disk device, the design of which allows you to do the most productive work. Processing potatoes with a disk hiller forms high ridges, the device is very convenient to use and allows you to accurately calculate a certain angle for work. It can also be used to prepare furrows for sowing seeds and planting seedlings. But the main advantage of a disk-type hiller is that it is easy to make it yourself, while saving money.
How to use
Before use, it is necessary to install wheels, hitch and hiller on the walk-behind tractor. Further, it is important to correctly set the parameters of the depth and angle of immersion. The walk-behind tractor is placed on an equal surface, the hiller is lowered to the ground, attached to the hitch. In this case, there is no need to immerse the tool in the ground. It is important that the stand is vertical, so it will be easy to set the desired angle.
Sometimes at the beginning of work, the device for hilling deepens greatly or, conversely, leaves the ground. In this case, you need to tilt the rack back or forward, depending on the problem. As has been recalled more than once, hilling potatoes with a disk hiller is not difficult. The main thing is to correctly set the distance between the lower points of the disks. The distance depends on the row spacing. Next, set the angle of rotation, or, as they call it, the angle of attack. This parameter ensures that the potatoes are sprinkled with earth. The value of the angle relative to the vertical axis is constant and is set once. For better work, it is necessary that the wheels of the walk-behind tractor be about 70 cm in diameter and not more than 14 cm wide. Such parameters will prevent damage to plants.
When using a two-row hiller for processing potatoes, it is necessary to attach devices to the hitch at a distance that is equal to the width of the rows. If you make a mistake, you can stop the machine and adjust the width.
Homemade hiller
Lister and disk hillers, due to their simple design, can be made independently. On the Internet or specialized literature, you can find many drawings for home-made tool making.
For the manufacture of a lister hiller from metal, it is necessary to cut out halves of the product with a thickness of 2 mm according to the drawing. Next, you need to bend these halves so that their radii match, weld them and process the seams to obtain a perfectly even cut of the metal. If you make two such designs, you get a device for two-row processing of potatoes.
Consider the model for manufacturing a disk model for a walk-behind tractor. The first step is to choose the type of wings. Disks – steel sheets 1,5-2 mm thick with bent edges. It is important that the discs are symmetrical. If this condition is not taken into account, then the structure will go to the side, which will greatly complicate the work. The discs are welded together or bolted together. The kit for the disks includes a T-shaped leash, screw lanyards that regulate the vertical axis of rotation of the disks and racks. A beam with wings serves as a fastening to the walk-behind tractor. It is very important to adhere to the proportions of the dimensions of the parts. Depending on your capabilities and needs, you can make a device with both fixed and variable working widths.
It is possible to provide for the arrangement of plain bearings to facilitate work, increase the reliability of the product. In order to securely attach the tool to the walk-behind tractor, use the hitch bracket. A leash is attached to it with flat washers.
After the assembly of the structure, testing can be carried out. If the wheels of the walk-behind tractor start towing, they need to be paired.
Thus, we examined the main types of hillers for potatoes. The choice of a reliable assistant for the cultivation of the garden is yours. Do not forget that the use of specialized equipment will not only make your work easier, but will also help increase your yield. You can use the devices for planting other crops. Homemade hillers are not so difficult to make, the main thing is to draw up a drawing correctly and adhere to all parameters.
Video “Do-it-yourself disk hiller”
The video shows a hiller for a home-made walk-behind tractor and tells how and from what it was made.
