Potato Planter

a machine for planting potato tubers and simultaneously applying mineral fertilizers to the soil. Tubers (either whole or cuttings) weighing 30–50, 50–80, or 80–120 grams can be planted in rows with interrow spacings of 60 and 70 cm. Ridges can be formed (ridge planting), or level-field planting can be done.

The USSR produces two-row (SRN-2) and four-row (SN-4B, SN-4B-1) planters. A six-row (SKM-6) planter has been built, as has the KSN-90 planter, which makes 90-cm interrow spacings. The working parts of the SN-4B planter are bins, cup-disc planters, shares with disc elements for covering the furrow, and fertilizer spreading devices. Each bin of the potato planter has an auger that feeds the tubers to the planter, an agitator, and shakers. The working parts of the planter are driven by a power takeoff shaft of a tractor. Productivity is 1.08–1.36 hectares (ha) per hr for the SN-4B, 1.08–1.77 ha per hr for the SN-4B-1, 1.51–2.05 ha per hr for the SKM-6, and 0.54–0.88 ha per hr for the SRN-2.

When the planter is operating, the agitator and shakers move the tubers along the slanted bottom of the bin to the feeding scoop, where they are caught by the cups of the planter and thrown into the opener. At the same time fertilizers from the fertilizer spreader enter the opener. From the opener the tubers and the fertilizer go into the furrow, which is then covered with dirt by the covering devices (twin discs for ridge planting and small harrows for level-field planting).

Two-row and four-row potato planters of various designs are common abroad. Manual placement of tubers in the pockets of the planting device is widely used. Planters with automatic placement and planting are also used. The planting devices of such planters usually take the form of moving chains of cups or a vertical disc with cup catches.