How to make a manual hiller: diagrams and drawings

A significant area of ​​land is allocated to growing potatoes. However, harvesting large tubers from a large area can be difficult. A manual potato hiller is an indispensable tool in any garden. It allows you to loosen and cultivate the beds, which improves oxygen supply to the tubers and promotes the formation of lateral shoots. Making one yourself is not difficult. The main thing is to have diagrams or drawings and the appropriate tools.

What is a hiller and how does it work?

Hilling plants is a cultural practice that stimulates the growth of green foliage and the development of the root system. This procedure increases the yield of many crops. A potato hiller is a soil-cultivating machine that loosens the soil, creating ridges. The beds are cultivated using hand traction, which alleviates the heavy work of cultivating a vegetable garden with a hoe or mattock.

The design of a manual hiller is extremely simple. It consists of a working element and a towing device. The latter are rigid welded elements made of round or square steel pipes. The working element is a mechanism that cuts into the soil, loosens it, and throws it aside. This process removes the top layer of soil, subsequently forming a ridge on the plant stems.

Types of manual hillers

There are two types of potato hilling tools: disc and plow (lister). They differ in the way they cultivate the soil. With disc hilling, the ridge is formed by rotating two plate-like working elements. The bed is cultivated from both sides. With plow hilling, the soil is mounded using side moldboards.

Disk

It has a U-shaped frame with suspended disks. The disks are mounted in such a way that they can be rotated around a vertical axis and moved apart. This is necessary for adjusting the cultivation depth and width. By changing the angle of attack by rotating the working elements, the height of the ridge can be increased or decreased. By moving the disks to the side, the width of the bed can be adjusted.

In the form of a plow

This type is also widely used by farmers. The working element, the ploughshare, cuts and loosens the soil, while curved side mouldboards throw it to the sides. The all-welded design has a fixed working width (25-30 cm). Ridgers with sliding mouldboards are more complex to manufacture, but they can be used with various planting patterns. Cultivation depth is adjusted by moving the support leg vertically.

Advantages and disadvantages

Homemade potato hillers make a farmer's work easier, but in some cases they can cause more damage. There are a number of considerations when using hand tools.

Table 1. Pros and cons of using hillers.

Comparison of hilling devices

An analysis of technical data will help a farmer determine which equipment is suitable for cultivating their plot. A brief description of tillage equipment will help with this decision.

Table 2. Comparison of hilling tools

Step-by-step instructions for making a disc hiller

Before building a manual potato disk hiller, you'll need to gather the necessary tools: an angle grinder, a drill or drilling machine, a welding machine, and a set of wrenches. You'll also need various materials.

Table 3. List of blanks for preparing a disc hiller.

Structurally cultivator It consists of two discs with hubs, struts, a crossbar, and a handle. They are manufactured in several stages:

1. Two 440 mm diameter discs are cut from 2 mm thick steel sheet. The edges are sharpened at a 45° angle using an angle grinder or sharpening machine. Hubs are welded to the center. Hub mounting brackets are made from 32 x 45 mm and 45 x 55 mm pipes (here and below, diameter x length). To achieve this, the smaller hub is welded perpendicularly to the center of the larger hub. A 12 mm diameter hole is drilled in the 45 mm diameter pipe. A nut is welded to it so that the bolt can be screwed in freely along its entire length.
2. The rack is made. Two crossbars made from 32 x 250 mm pipes are bent at a 30° angle. 45 x 55 mm bushings are butt-welded on one end and perpendicular to the other. Holes are drilled and nuts are welded to them.
3. The handle is assembled from thin pipes and a 45 x 120 mm bushing. Two holes are drilled in the bushing, and nuts are attached to them. The pipes are welded together.
4. The cross beam is made from a 32 x 590 mm pipe. Holes of Ø12 mm are drilled in it at 50 mm intervals.

Once the welding is complete, assembly begins. The following steps must be performed in a specific sequence:

1. To prevent corrosion, metal surfaces are painted and allowed to dry.
2. A crossbar is inserted into the handle bushing and secured with locking bolts.
3. The wheel hubs are secured to the struts. The bolts are screwed in so that they fit into the holes in the hub.
4. The struts with discs are placed on the crossbar and secured with bolts.

How to make a manual plow-type hiller

The list of tools needed to make a manual Lister potato hiller is the same as the previous one. The materials are also purchased in advance.

Table 4. List of blanks for making a disc hiller.

The lister attachment for soil cultivation consists of the following components: a double-blade working element, a rack, and front and rear handles. Preparation steps:

1. The stand is made from a 45 x 1000 mm pipe. It is bent in the middle at a 30° angle. Five 12 mm diameter holes are drilled on one side at 50° intervals. Two ears are welded on the other side for attaching the front handle and turnbuckle.
2. The rear handle is made from a 21 x 1000 mm pipe. It is bent at a 90° angle on both sides, 150 mm from the edge. A 32 x 700 mm pipe is welded to the middle end of the pipe, and five holes are drilled at a spacing of 50 mm.
3. The front handle is made from 21 x 1700 mm tubing. It is bent in the middle at a 45° angle and welded together. A 21 x 500 mm tube is attached to the joint. A turnbuckle eye is welded to the top, and a turnbuckle eye is welded to the end for mounting to the pillar. Brackets for the towing strap are attached to the side handles.
4. The working element is cut from sheet iron. To do this, the outline of the blank is traced on the metal and cut with a grinder. The parts are gently curved in a vertical plane and welded together. The front cutting edge is sharpened at a 45° angle and welded to the post.

Once the work is completed, the welds are cleaned with a grinder or file, scale and rust are removed, and the parts are painted. For convenience, the handles are wrapped with electrical tape; rubber bicycle grips can be installed. Final assembly is performed:

1. Insert the front handle into the eyelet on the rack and secure them with a bolt and nut.
2. They are fastening the turnbuckle.
3. Secure the rear handle.
4. The belt is threaded through the brackets and its length is adjusted.

Operating tips

Before loosening the soil in the beds, remove any weeds. Weeds can be left in place to prevent moisture from evaporating in the sun, or used as mulch. Once the weeds are removed, proceed to work. how to properly hill potatoes, you need to adjust the device to the desired bed size. To do this, set the spacing between the cutters on the disc device, and the depth angle on the plow device. The depth angle is adjusted by rotating the turnbuckle.

Once the hiller is set up, make a test run in a spot free of plants. Once satisfactory results are achieved, you can begin cultivating. Cultivation is best done on a cloudy day or in the evening: this will minimize soil moisture loss and prevent sunburn from affecting the exposed tubers. If the first hilling process results in an insufficient ridge, make a second pass. The hard soil crust remaining after cultivation is broken up with a hoe or mattock.

Reviews

Vladimir, 63 years old

I found an old magazine with drawings and a diagram for a manual potato disk hiller. The device turned out to be very simple and easy to make. However, I had to buy the necessary materials at a hardware store first. The result was excellent: my potato yield almost doubled.

Dmitry, 51 years old

I handcrafted a Lister hiller based on the drawings. It wasn't very user-friendly: I constantly had to adjust the blade angles. However, productivity increased significantly. I now use a disc model, which I also made myself.

Making a homemade manual potato hiller is quite simple. It's better to spend a little time and effort preparing this essential tool than to cultivate a potato patch manually using improvised means.