A SMALL PLOT POTATO PLANTER

A two-row planter was constructed for planting small potato research p lots. For each row, seed pieces were manually placed on a cup conveyor belt system. Desired in-row seed piece spacings, per row, were obtain ed by controlling the speed of the conveyor belts using variable speed gearboxes. Micro-dial controllers, attached to the gearboxes, allowed for rapid adjustment of in-row seed piece spacing when required. Smal l fertilizer hoppers, similar in design to commercial planters, were a ttached to the planter when a uniform type or rate of fertilizer was r equired at planting. When planting required different types or rates o f fertilizer, hoppers were removed and replaced by two Hege (model H80 ) belt cones. Fertilizer required per treatment row was placed in the cone prior to planting then applied as cones rotated. The rotation of the cones was controlled by a variable speed gearbox with micro-dial c ontrol to adjust the row length of fertilizer application when require d. The planter performed well compared to commercial and other small p lot planters. The coefficient of variation for seed piece spacings ran ged between 11 to 15% and labour required for planting was 40 to 60% l ess compared to hand planting.