IHC potato planter

Tom in Maine

I have contented my self to a V type hoe on my Farmall Super A center mount cultivators and a hiller on the rear hitch. I make a drill with the center mount V, I strap a pail of seed to my waist and use a 42" section of 4" sewer pipe with a handle to make it like a cane or walking stick. I drop the seeds down the pipe, then row it up with hiller on rear hitch. We have 2 of these pail walking stick combo's and as recently as 6-7 years ago my wife and I could plant an acre in the forenoon.

I use that same V type hoe to dig the potatoes. I add a couple of plywood shields back both sides of V hoe and just inside the rear tires of tractor to prevent potatoes from rolling under the tires. I first tried this V hoe on rear hitch but it was too hard keeping it in middle of row. If you don't keep the hoe dead center on row it will slice the potatoes. When digging potatoes I mount a small S tine cultivator on rear hitch for going down the row after the initial pick up of potatoes. It finds the few that are missed, which I might add is very few.

I really like this system and might add I have done 4 acres in a season this way. Harvested over 100,000 lbs of potatoes.