Beet Loader

a machine that picks up beet tubers from piles and windrows, partially cleans dirt from them, and loads them into vehicles. There are stationary machines, driven by electric or internal-combustion engines, and mobile loaders, which operate on a power takeoff shaft from the tractor engine. Both continuous and noncontinuous mobile mounted loaders are used in the USSR. They are mounted on medium-power tractors equipped with reduction gears.

Continuous loaders have a rotary feed mechanism and rod-chain cleaning conveyors. Noncontinuous loaders have a rake-type feeder and an auger cleaner. The feeder picks up tubers from a pile and drops them onto a lengthwise conveyer. The tubers are then transferred to a cross conveyor, into a loading elevator, and finally into a vehicle bed. A tractor operator and one to two workers are needed for operation. The swath width is 2.1–3.3 m, productivity 50–60 tons/hr, the operating speed 0.25 km/hr, and the loading height 3 m.