Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW MARCH/APRIL 2021 51 MACHINERY Spaldings expands SPL Ultra range of wearing parts e SPL Ultra range of replacement points, wings and shins from Spaldings has been expanded with new items to t several cultivator and subsoiler designs. e products have been developed in-house by the Spaldings technical team in partnership with specialists in materials and manufacturing following eld trials and wear pattern mapping by laser to assess the wear characteristics of original OEM and non-original parts to improve features and performance. Some of the soil-engaging products have distinctive serrations, ribs and terracing to combat wear by in uencing soil ow. ese features, together with the use of strategically-positioned tungsten carbide tiles, hard-facing and a carefully selected combination of production technique and material, results in parts that retain their shape and ‘as new’ performance for longer. Five new items have joined the points and wings already available for Horsch, Keeble, Simba/Great Plains and Väderstad implements. ey comprise: • R1446 – claw-type chisel point for MulchMix legs on Horsch Terrano cultivators; • R2706/R2708 – 120mm ‘standard’ and 165mm ‘intermediate’ point and wing assemblies for Cultivating Solutions and Grange Machinery subsoiling tines; • R2712 – point and wings in a one-piece casting for TWB subsoilers; • R2714 – short shin with ribbed extension plates to protect TWB subsoiler legs. DUBRULLE DOWNS, the French manufacturer of reception and storage solutions for potatoeshas launched the DOWNS CropVision, a new generation optical grader for unwashed potatoes. It allows grading of the potatoes before storage (to 100 tons/h). Following four years of development, the DOWNS CropVision is tted with industrial cameras coupled with an algorithm of Arti cial Intelligence which makes it possible to observe and analyse the whole surface of the product (360°) in order to classify it according to its quality: Clods, stones, other waste, good potatoes, green potatoes, cut potatoes, spoiled potatoes, mishappen potatoes and cracked potatoes. It is tted with three possible exits for the product. A rst exit for the product to keep, a second one for the waste and a third one for second category potatoes. According to the user’s requirements, the ejecting ngers will lead the product to the right exit. New generation optical grader Italian wholesaler invests in new sorting machine AN Italian wholesaler, based in the Bologna region, has invested in a new sorting machine to provide a greater capability to meet increasing demand. Ortofrutticola Parma is dedicated to the production, storage, packaging and marketing of potatoes, along with carrots and onions, 95% of which are for large-scale distribution. It is owned by the Parma family who were amongst the founding members of the Consorzio Patata Italiana di Qualità, a consortiumwhich represents the entire potato chain from production to trade. Ortofrutticola Parma invests heavily in crop innovation at its own farm, Parma Agricoltura, where it runs programs aimed at enhancing the quality of products. e company has operated a TOMRA sorting machine since 2008 on its potato selection line, where it has processed about 180,000 tons of the company’s agship product every year and has now put into service a new TOMRA Sentinel II which is located on the line after the washing machine.