{{Short description|Harvesting machine}}'''Potato harvesters''' are machines that harvest potatoes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Potato Harvesters Revolutionized Agriculture |url=https://www.lefa-cz.com/new_detail/How-Potato-Harvesters-Revolutionized-Agriculture.html |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=www.lefa-cz.com |language=en}}</ref> They work by lifting the potatoes from the bed using a share. Soil and crop are transferred onto a series of webs where the loose soil is sieved out.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Potato Harvesters Are Machines That Harvest Potatoes - News |url=https://www.yuanlonharvester.com/news/potato-harvesters-are-machines-that-harvest-po-82985506.html |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=www.yuanlonharvester.com |language=en}}</ref> The potatoes are moved towards the back of the harvester on to a separation unit and then (on human-operated machines) to a picking table where people pick out the stones, clods, and haulms (stems or stalks) by hand. The potatoes then go on to a side elevator and into a trailer or a potato box.
==Types==
===Potato spinner=== thumb|left|A potato spinner A potato spinner is connected to a tractor through the three-point linkage. Older machines were drawn by horse and were driven by a ground drive. It works by a flat piece of metal which runs horizontal to the ground lifting the potatoes up and a large wheel with spokes on it called a reel pushing the clay and potatoes out to the side. The potatoes are then gathered by hand, placed into containers and transported from the field for further packaging.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}
The potato spinner is becoming obsolete because modern potato harvesting equipment eliminates manual gathering of potatoes and leaves fewer potatoes in the soil.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kaur |first=Balvinder |last2=Mansi |last3=Dimri |first3=Shivani |last4=Singh |first4=Japneet |last5=Mishra |first5=Sadhna |last6=Chauhan |first6=Nikeeta |last7=Kukreti |first7=Tanishka |last8=Sharma |first8=Bhaskar |last9=Singh |first9=Surya Prakash |last10=Arora |first10=Shruti |last11=Uniyal |first11=Diksha |last12=Agrawal |first12=Yugank |last13=Akhtar |first13=Saamir |last14=Rather |first14=Muzamil Ahmad |last15=Naik |first15=Bindu |date=2023-12-01 |title=Insights into the harvesting tools and equipment's for horticultural crops: From then to now |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154323003216 |journal=Journal of Agriculture and Food Research |volume=14 |article-number=100814 |doi=10.1016/j.jafr.2023.100814 |issn=2666-1543|doi-access=free }}</ref>
===Haulm topper===
thumb|A tractor with a front-mounted haulm topper and a trailed potato harvester
A '''haulm topper''' is an agricultural machine that cuts potato stems (haulms) before potatoes are harvested. It is like a flail mower but has the profile of the potato drills. Modern potato farmers often mount a haulm topper on the front of the tractor and have a trailed potato harvester towed behind the tractor. Toppers can also be rear-mounted.
== External links == {{Commons category-inline|Potato harvesters}}
== References == <references />{{Authority control}}
Category:Harvesters Category:Agricultural machinery Harvester