Potato harvest memories

[Wuffler]

I was the cause of 'the great potato strike of 1971' on our farm... I was only 9 years old!
Whilst carting spuds back to the store (Ford 4000 and a Week's 3 Tonne trailer) I ran over all the picker's flasks and bait bags that were lying on the edge of the field. You can imagine how well that went down! If both promotion and a sacking on the same day wasn't bad enough for a nine year old, things got a lot worse for me... to compound my misery I was sent back to the frontline by my Grandfather and had to endure days of stoning by potatoes from the merciless women pickers and the language from them, fierce stuff! Honestly, it was a relief to go back to school. B'tards the lot of them!

 

[Roy_H]

I was the cause of 'the great potato strike of 1971' on our farm... I was only 9 years old!
Whilst carting spuds back to the store (Ford 4000 and a Week's 3 Tonne trailer) I ran over all the picker's flasks and bait bags that were lying on the edge of the field. You can imagine how well that went down! If both promotion and a sacking on the same day wasn't bad enough for a nine year old, things got a lot worse for me... to compound my misery I was sent back to the frontline by my Grandfather and had to endure days of stoning by potatoes from the merciless women pickers and the language from them, fierce stuff! Honestly, it was a relief to go back to school. B'tards the lot of them!

Oh yes, hell hath no fury like a gang of irate tatie pickers!

 

[David.]

Were the damages docked from your pocket money?

 

[Devil's advocate]

Modern take on hand harvesting.

Looks a nice girl

 

[Maydown farm]

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?

Hi spud . Enjoyed reading your history of potato harvesters.we currently run a double evo enterprise and are looking for a goalpost T2 . Do you find the new t2 any easier to pull than the enterprise . A couple of fresh gt 170s coming up for auction shortly but I'd be worried about pulling them in the wet .

 

[glasshouse]

Our gang of pickers in the late seventies contained all sorts including some of these " rough women " . The all had one thing in common, the were all on the dole and not meant to be working !!! One sunny day in September the field was visited by a Social Welfare inspector and the pickers ran in every direction to avoid been caught . My father had his card marked and i think it swayed his thinking towards the first harvester . When potatoes were hard work the was lots of.money in the crop now with big investment in kit the good years seem to be less often .

The inspectors should have been delighted they were out working

 

[Spud]

Hi spud . Enjoyed reading your history of potato harvesters.we currently run a double evo enterprise and are looking for a goalpost T2 . Do you find the new t2 any easier to pull than the enterprise . A couple of fresh gt 170s coming up for auction shortly but I'd be worried about pulling them in the wet .

Thank you for that. I'm not sure the T2 is much easier to pull than the Enterprise, mostly due to a generally faster forward speed, but they're no harder to pull.
Our 2017 is an easier pull than it's 2011 predecessor - even though it has at least 10% more output. The goalpost axle allows wider wheels to be fitted, because they run in the tractor wheeling when opening up. The wheel drive has a bit more push, and the hydraulics are noticably more efficient.
That said, the first T2 wasn't a slouch - it went where an sp wouldn't in the mire of 2012. We tend to find trailers grind to a halt before the harvester - in 2019 (first season with the '17 machine) in some fields we had an extra tractor in the field rolling and firming a way through for the trailers and outer harvester wheel, which helped keep us going and help keep tow chain incidents to a minimum.
What sort of hp have you on your enterprise? I'd say minimum 180 required to get the best from a T2, depending on topography & soil type - and how confident the operator is to push it on!

 

[Maydown farm]

Thank you for that. I'm not sure the T2 is much easier to pull than the Enterprise, mostly due to a generally faster forward speed, but they're no harder to pull.
Our 2017 is an easier pull than it's 2011 predecessor - even though it has at least 10% more output. The goalpost axle allows wider wheels to be fitted, because they run in the tractor wheeling when opening up. The wheel drive has a bit more push, and the hydraulics are noticably more efficient.
That said, the first T2 wasn't a slouch - it went where an sp wouldn't in the mire of 2012. We tend to find trailers grind to a halt before the harvester - in 2019 (first season with the '17 machine) in some fields we had an extra tractor in the field rolling and firming a way through for the trailers and outer harvester wheel, which helped keep us going and help keep tow chain incidents to a minimum.
What sort of hp have you on your enterprise? I'd say minimum 180 required to get the best from a T2, depending on topography & soil type - and how confident the operator is to push it on!

Currently got a puma 165 but looking to go to 200 plus cvx for the longer wheelbase and more weight. Increase in oil flow will also help as current 110 l/min not enough with front topper.You definitely seem to be getting on well with your new t2 so hopefully we can find one for this season .

 

[2wheels]

Many happy hours spent chatting over the grader. Not for a couple of years now though.

i had a winter on the grader 67/68. i was on the dresser grading the seed and the farmer reckoned i was too fussy so i was shifted to bagging and stacking. each day's output was transported to the merchant. i was back on the grader next day as the day i wasn't had the load rejected. i was seeing moving tatties in my sleep by the end.

 

[Still Farming]

Always use to get a few willingly help out pick spuds ,kids , etc etc
Same as on the hay ,never really looked hard for people they would just turn up.
These days if you paid them £50 hour you be had pressed to find anyone?

 

[Driller]

3 kinds of harvest here, hand picked into bags for the very first earlies,(end April) then onto single row bagged for earlies then into boxes for grading and bagging for chips, hand lifting is back breaking but the view and rewards of good £ per ton make up for it, luckily we’ve only a couple of acres that are too steep for the harvester!

 

[Lowland1]

We are still on hand picking. Organizing a machine harvesting gang and nasty dried clods make hand picking an easy option.

 

[Roy_H]

Always use to get a few willingly help out pick spuds ,kids , etc etc
Same as on the hay ,never really looked hard for people they would just turn up.
These days if you paid them £50 hour you be had pressed to find anyone?

I remember my dad saying that ( in later years) that if you asked someone if they'd like to come "Tatie picking" the reaction you got was if you had asked them if they would come with a spade and dig the whole field over.

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

I remember my dad saying that ( in later years) that if you asked someone if they'd like to come "Tatie picking" the reaction you got was if you had asked them if they would come with a spade and dig the whole field over.

Aye upto the early 70s, just need put the word out in the village needing potato pickers and their was plenty wanting to do it off the ground, stints were short and and swilling was hard to keep up, once we got a Ransomes faun harvester mid 70s it started to get harder to get folk, as I think the job got boring for them, only 4 needed so they were not with their mate's and their mates were doing other stuff, so the rot set in from the 4,
By 1980 it was down to 4 desperate housewives working 9.30 to 3, because of school kids, and by 1985 they fizzled out, and was down to 4 pensioners wanting top up on their pension, and by 1989 was that hard we stopped growing spuds,
While it may be hard to get pickers today from the village if at all possible, I do think it is the same on here, you would struggle to get forum members to pick spuds just as hard as everyone has got better off all round,

 

[mire man]

Anyone remember a potato harvester mounted on a tractor and the spuds were elevated to a hopper on the front end loader?

 

[Spud]

Anyone remember a potato harvester mounted on a tractor and the spuds were elevated to a hopper on the front end loader?

Neighbour had a ransomes faun with a conveyor down the side of the host 574 International to a bagging platform on the front in the 80's

 

[Roy_H]

Neighbour had a ransomes faun with a conveyor down the side of the host 574 International to a bagging platform on the front in the 80's

Our neighbour had a Whitsed potato harvester that he hung behind his brand spanking new IH 574. It only had 5 hours on the clock and he got rammed by a car on his way back from the field. I don't know what happened to the car but it split the tractor in half and wrote it off!

 

[ridger]

Quite a few round here still

 

[David.]

Anyone remember a potato harvester mounted on a tractor and the spuds were elevated to a hopper on the front end loader?

Got one in the shed, but configured to side delivery.

 

[Lowland1]

Got one in the shed, but configured to side delivery.

A neighbour had one. It was very slow as I recall.