Potato harvest memories

[fermec860]

Having got fagged off with the problematical cage lifting wheel on the old Gazelle, during the slow but profitable harvest of 94, I bought a second hand Cavalier in 1995 for £2500, advertised in Farming News from Ramsey st Mary. It had a powered lifting elevator to take the crop from the lifting trace to the pintle belt separator above the picking table, and was a much better system. Got a chap with a low loader to take me to fetch it, and we had to do a fair bit of dismantling on farm, to get the transport width legal.
I used to enjoy jollies like that 25yrs ago, but I suspect that at 30, you do not see the potential pitfalls and problems the same as you do at 55.

We started with a ransome faun 1600 which was a good simple machine but a bit slow the elevator was only any good for 3 ton weeks trailers then went to a whitsted harvester which was faster but took some keeping running and some pulling then bought a second hand bonhill weirmar 2 row which had powered discs at the front to help soil flow and a 2 -3 ton bunker hopper you could either run elevator all the time or use bunker at each end fantastic machine whith pointless belt separator

 

[Spud]

We started with a single row spinner, then single row digger on a MF135, then graduated to a Ransome Faun on a Ford 4600 (terrible)
A two row digger on a Ford 5600 took over (casual labour was more plentiful back then!).
By 1987 some of the 30ac grown was harvested by contractor with a single row Bonhill, pulled by a Fiat 780. A revelation after hand picking.
This made way for a 2 row Grimme GB on a B reg Ford 6610, (impressive) Continental on a 7610, (too little weight on the tractor, we frequently had to drag the 76 round with our Ford 5600 on a chain) All rounder on a MF2640 (heavier tractor and better weight transfer, but roly polys in the up and over elevator in claggy going were a pain). A Reekie Cleanflow (first with dahlman rollers) on a JD6600 was better, though a bit like the continental, lacked weight transfer, or wheel drive. Then a Grimme GZ (hopeless in wet, no dahlmans or wheel drive) on a 7700 JD. Area stood at 75ac from 1991 to 2004.

2005 saw an opportunity to increase our area, and us take things back in house. My first harvester to lift 130ac was a 1996 Kverneland UN2600, pulled by a MF6290 with front mounted hydraulically driven topper. The first to lift our crop with hydraulic wheel drive, it cost me £6250. Brilliant, unless really claggy when the second web would block.

Parts availability meant the KV was sold to Ireland, and replaced with a 2001 Pearson Enterprise - another step forward, particularly with our first cvt tractor pulling it, a MF7480. By now 160ac to harvest. 2008 saw a Tong grader with 6 row Evolution seperator join the ranks - what a step up from coils!! The eagle had landed. Suddenly the Enterprise had the pressure on to keep the grader fed!

In 2009 a neighbours Standen Pearson Enterprise came up, c/w evolution seperator and soft drop elevator. By now 200ac of spuds. Big upgrade, it was only 3yo. Put the MF 7480 pulling it under pressure, as output takes horsepower. We were under tractored at the time (significantly) so a second hand 7495 took over the harvesting.

The Enterprise made way for an ex demo Standen T2 ready for the 2012 harvest, and what an upgrade!. With some share farmed spuds now in the mix, we had 300ac to lift in what was the wettest toughest harvest anyone can remember A self propelled harvester came to help, but couldn't go where the T2 could. I bought another 2001 Enterprise with windrow kit, put it on the by then sprayer tractor 7480 and set to windrowing to help the T2 get round. What a year.

Last year said back up 2001 Enterprise was replaced by a 2008 Standen Enterprise, again with windrower - a much better screwed together version of its predecessor. Now pulled by one of our seasonal staff's Fendt 718. It has a double evolution seperator which is more effective and less hassle than the stars and dahlmans of the older model. It only runs if conditions dictate that the T2 isn't keeping the grader fed.

This season we traded in our venerable T2 (before the gap to change grew too wide) when I got the chance to buy a 2yo Standen T2 in immaculate condition, thats only lifted 300ac in its life. With goal post axle allowing us to open up without a wheel in the middle of the next bed, direct drive on the seperator, and better hydraulics, its another step forward. If the weather would play ball we'd soon have the 260ac we have this year shovelled up!!

Our output is hindered by small fields, availability of bookings, and conditions on the day, but:

In the 70's, an acre a day was good going.
In the 80's, 5ac a day was normal.
In the 90's, 10ac a day was achievable
In the 00's 10ac + was normal
Today, 15ac is a normal day, more if both machines are running. Weather has become more extreme, risk has increased significantly, and the reward in cash terms is half what was normal in the 1990's, and a much smaller proportion of turnover. Progress eh?

 

[chipchap]

We started with a single row spinner, then single row digger on a MF135, then graduated to a Ransome Faun on a Ford 4600 (terrible)
A two row digger on a Ford 5600 took over (casual labour was more plentiful back then!).
By 1987 some of the 30ac grown was harvested by contractor with a single row Bonhill, pulled by a Fiat 780. A revelation after hand picking.
This made way for a 2 row Grimme GB on a B reg Ford 6610, (impressive) Continental on a 7610, (too little weight on the tractor, we frequently had to drag the 76 round with our Ford 5600 on a chain) All rounder on a MF2640 (heavier tractor and better weight transfer, but roly polys in the up and over elevator in claggy going were a pain). A Reekie Cleanflow (first with dahlman rollers) on a JD6600 was better, though a bit like the continental, lacked weight transfer, or wheel drive. Then a Grimme GZ (hopeless in wet, no dahlmans or wheel drive) on a 7700 JD. Area stood at 75ac from 1991 to 2004.

2005 saw an opportunity to increase our area, and us take things back in house. My first harvester to lift 130ac was a 1996 Kverneland UN2600, pulled by a MF6290 with front mounted hydraulically driven topper. The first to lift our crop with hydraulic wheel drive, it cost me £6250. Brilliant, unless really claggy when the second web would block.

Parts availability meant the KV was sold to Ireland, and replaced with a 2001 Pearson Enterprise - another step forward, particularly with our first cvt tractor pulling it, a MF7480. By now 160ac to harvest. 2008 saw a Tong grader with 6 row Evolution seperator join the ranks - what a step up from coils!! The eagle had landed. Suddenly the Enterprise had the pressure on to keep the grader fed!

In 2009 a neighbours Standen Pearson Enterprise came up, c/w evolution seperator and soft drop elevator. By now 200ac of spuds. Big upgrade, it was only 3yo. Put the MF 7480 pulling it under pressure, as output takes horsepower. We were under tractored at the time (significantly) so a second hand 7495 took over the harvesting.

The Enterprise made way for an ex demo Standen T2 ready for the 2012 harvest, and what an upgrade!. With some share farmed spuds now in the mix, we had 300ac to lift in what was the wettest toughest harvest anyone can remember A self propelled harvester came to help, but couldn't go where the T2 could. I bought another 2001 Enterprise with windrow kit, put it on the by then sprayer tractor 7480 and set to windrowing to help the T2 get round. What a year.

Last year said back up 2001 Enterprise was replaced by a 2008 Standen Enterprise, again with windrower - a much better screwed together version of its predecessor. Now pulled by one of our seasonal staff's Fendt 718. It has a double evolution seperator which is more effective and less hassle than the stars and dahlmans of the older model. It only runs if conditions dictate that the T2 isn't keeping the grader fed.

This season we traded in our venerable T2 (before the gap to change grew too wide) when I got the chance to buy a 2yo Standen T2 in immaculate condition, thats only lifted 300ac in its life. With goal post axle allowing us to open up without a wheel in the middle of the next bed, direct drive on the seperator, and better hydraulics, its another step forward. If the weather would play ball we'd soon have the 260ac we have this year shovelled up!!

Our output is hindered by small fields, availability of bookings, and conditions on the day, but:

In the 70's, an acre a day was good going.
In the 80's, 5ac a day was normal.
In the 90's, 10ac a day was achievable
In the 00's 10ac + was normal
Today, 15ac is a normal day, more if both machines are running. Weather has become more extreme, risk has increased significantly, and the reward in cash terms is half what was normal in the 1990's, and a much smaller proportion of turnover. Progress eh?

What will be the next step? Do you have somebody coming up to take the business forward for the future?

 

[Spud]

What will be the next step? Do you have somebody coming up to take the business forward for the future?

The someone with the reins is me, (we lost father in March 18) and I'm nobbut a pup of 43. As for the future, who knows. I'm passionate about the potato industry, but the risks and (lack of) rewards as a contract grower are getting more and more out of kilter. The average profit level is ludicrously low. Free market is proper gamblers territory. I don't mind hassle if there's reward at the end, but there's too many years when we work for nowt.
That said, spuds are probably less affected by political uncertainty, and are a significant proportion of the business. I don't give up easily, nor make knee jerk changes, but let's just say the calculator gets more work than it did!!

 

[Boohoo]

Memories of 2016, the last year that digging spuds wasn't a struggle

 

[Lowland1]

1976 a very wet year we had a County 944 on a Krakei harvester I came home from primary school and was driving alongside with a MF 135 with a lambourne cab Dad changed to 3rd gear on the County I didn't change gear and the elevator came through the cab luckily I was quite small so it went over my head . It made a real mess of the cab and bent the elevator pretty badly. I was not very popular for a few days. The cab was replaced later and the elevator sorted by backing it into a telegraph pole a few times

 

[oakleaf]

1976 a very wet year we had a County 944 on a Krakei harvester I came home from primary school and was driving alongside with a MF 135 with a lambourne cab Dad changed to 3rd gear on the County I didn't change gear and the elevator came through the cab luckily I was quite small so it went over my head . It made a real mess of the cab and bent the elevator pretty badly. I was not very popular for a few days. The cab was replaced later and the elevator sorted by backing it into a telegraph pole a few times

Brilliant story and the last sentence is pure gold.

 

[john63]

We grow only grow about 2 acres these days, but back in the 70s/80s/early 90s we were growing about 20 acres.

Pre-1978 we were lifting with a spinner and hand picking, then a brand new Ransomes potato digger (hoover) arrived. This was an improvement as we didn't need to pay the pickers as much! We got a couple of harvesters (Grimme Cavalier then Commander 76), but they both struggled a bit on our heavy land - when it was dry (clods damage the potatoes) & wet (difficult to separate the clods). Perhaps more modern harvesters can deal with them?

Anyway, we still hand pick our few acres then bag them and sell at the gate. We used to employ pickers on a cash in hand basis, but no-one wants to do it these days and PAYE etc. makes things complicated.

 

[ridger]

Ahh the hedgehog! Yes! That was the commander?
Could get all our stones onto the side belt then you had picking on the few spuds that taken with stones

That was the handbrake you had to pull to adjust the hedgehog

 

[Vincent]

Will a MF 35 pull a single row ransomes hoover or would it be to small.

 

[marshfarmer]

Spent many hours on a gazelle then commander then a mid ranger. I shudder now thinking about the bruising there must have been hearing the spuds clatter into the bunker then trailers, but there was never a complaint. I used to pick off on my own on the small web with as much stuff coming that way as i could cope with so i just threw small spuds back constantly. They probably would have made an ok job if we ran a destoner. Then one day a Reekie 2000 turned up and everything became easier. October half term seemed to always be good weather to get on. Looking back I really enjoyed hand picking the headlands and roadways with my father, finally feeling useful as a kid, but I'm not sure I was so keen at the time, although it involved time off school.

 

[Spud]

Will a MF 35 pull a single row ransomes hoover or would it be to small.

It'd do it, if you can travel ok. The last time we picked by hand was with a spinner on the 135 in some heavy ground in 1992 and it managed fine. If you're lucky enough to have diff lock, so much the better.

 

[Vincent]

No diff lock but as new tyres I removed from a MF 30 drill.

 

[Clive]

It's 15yrs since you packed up.
Time has moved on you know, machinery has improved no end since those days, far more so than for combinable crops.

We had stuff like wheels drive, Dahlman rollers, mulitsep etc but my recollection was the hardest part was physically getting trailers off fields in bad years, mud on roads etc

I recall pulling trailers in field with a tracked 8000 jd but I guess self prop harvesters on tracks with bunkers solve that a bit ?

Really interested to hear how things have moved on, always felt potatoes is a really innovative sector

good to see you using cover crops to good effect as well

 

[Roy_H]

View attachment 838435

Been there done that
That picture gives me backache just to look at it.

 

[7610 super q]

Been there done that
That picture gives me backache just to look at it.

Me too. I used to pick the odd bits at row ends after it had been paced out. Blimey was I glad to get back on the Ford 4000 to take out another row. One reason I can't get my head round folks not wanting to drive a tractor cos it ain't got air con / suspension / more than 3 years old...... ?‍

 

[Courier]

Will a MF 35 pull a single row ransomes hoover or would it be to small.

Plenty big enough - We lifted up to 30 acres each season with a single row Johnson on a DB780 - Women pickers into hand baskets, then into hampers which were "teamed" into fergy trailers ready to be pied, later we had Crendon store lined with straw bales for insulation.

Riddling out in the winter gave us something to do between milkings.

 

[Lowland1]

Spent many hours on a gazelle then commander then a mid ranger. I shudder now thinking about the bruising there must have been hearing the spuds clatter into the bunker then trailers, but there was never a complaint. I used to pick off on my own on the small web with as much stuff coming that way as i could cope with so i just threw small spuds back constantly. They probably would have made an ok job if we ran a destoner. Then one day a Reekie 2000 turned up and everything became easier. October half term seemed to always be good weather to get on. Looking back I really enjoyed hand picking the headlands and roadways with my father, finally feeling useful as a kid, but I'm not sure I was so keen at the time, although it involved time off school.

The half term holiday always seemed to be sunny days and frosty nights. My friends always seemed to get roped in to help open up fields when we dug the corners out by hand. We had one year in the early 70’s when we put the potatoes inside our new shed when they didn’t keep we went back to ‘pieing’ them shoveling them up into a triangular heap and covering with bats (low density bales ) then getting the McConnell out and covering with soil one year we covered the top with pig muck before a snow storm. Riddling in April was miserable either the wind would cut you in half or we would be using crawlers to pull 3 ton trailers loaded with bags out onto the road. One year they had sprouted so badly we used a forklift and muckfork to break the heap up so we could shovel them into the riddle. It hasn’t put me off it just made me do potatoes differently

 

[Roy_H]

Will a MF 35 pull a single row ransomes hoover or would it be to small.

Yes easily. We had a 2 row semi mounted one that we pulled with a MF165 or 168. Going forwards was ok , it was going backwards that was the problem! It had awful castor wheels , a bit bigger than those on a wheelbarrow and unless conditions were PERFECT ( Or you were on concrete or tarmac) As you reversed they would spin about half way round on their forks then dig into the ground, then the tractor lower links would jump up into their highest position causing the back end of the digger to almost touch the land and you were buggered. We partially cured this by rigging up a sort of A frame with a chain that connected to the top link hole on the tractor which when you raised the lower links it caused the chain to tighten and take some weight off the hoover's wheels. Actually steering the machine was great fun too, because it fitted on the tractor's lower links not the draw bar and there was no pivot so when you turned your steering wheel the hoover swung around behind you exactly like a fully mounted implement such as a very long plough.

 

[spanners and hammers]

In the very late 60’s, early 70’s, Johnson’s came out with their 727 system, which consisted of 3 x 2 row hoovers, one rear discharge, one with a conveyor to the left, the other to the right, making a six row heap, which an elevator then lifted into trailers. The elevator was so long it had a steering axle at the back.

The biggest tractors we had then where Massey 175’s and we needed 4 tractors to run it all, before the army of tractors and trailers needed to keep it going.

It also did carrots and onions.


I can remember the first harvester’s we used were the Whitstead Super Duplex, then Grimme Gazelle and Commander’s. All single row trailed, the tractor driver would tie a bit if string to the stop knob, get off and get on the harvester to “keep the women under control”! Then when they got to the end of the row, he’d pull the string to stop the tractor getting in the dyke. Some was bagged on the harvester and some was bulk elevated into trailers to store, the riddle out into bags later.

The sheds when emptied were used with trays and strip lights to chit the seed before planting. If seed was short, we’d cut each one in half.

I remember dad telling me granddad use to use the string method only one day his came off and it did go in the dyke !!!