Potato Loader

a device for loading potatoes from bags into the bin of a potato planter.

The crane-type loader is used in the USSR. It consists of a tubular girder-boom with two grabs suspended from it on cables and a hydraulic cylinder for raising the boom, mounted on the rear axle of the tractor and driven by the tractor’s hydraulic system. The tractor operator and a worker run the potato loader. Using the hydraulic system, the tractor operator lowers and raises the boom, while the worker secures the grabs to two corners of the bag and unties the bag over the potato planter bin; then the potatoes are dropped into the bin. The maximum load capacity of the loader is 200 kg; the maximum lift height is 1,800 mm; the time required to load two planter bins is 1.8–2.4 minutes.