The bucket beet washer taking the work out of cleaning

The demise of the sugar beet industry prompted some beet growers to develop a market for fodder beet and sugar beet for feed. The need for clean beet before chopping saw a small number of agricultural engineering firms develop washing solutions.

One of the latest machines to enter the market has been developed by Robbie Campion from Urlingford, Co Kilkenny. Robbie’s beet washer is a bucket-type design, which he has designed to be used on a farm handler.

Robbie has both an agricultural and engineering background and has been running the family farm since his father, Richard, retired. Robbie also works for Michael and Joe Brennan of Brennan Fencing on the engineering side of the Brennan Brothers’ business, Vector Powerdrive.

Some time ago, Robbie decided to further his engineering skills by doing a course in computer-aided design (CAD). He has put this to good use at Vector Powerdrive in developing and improving products, while also working on the shop floor in the fabrication workshop.

At home, Robbie has developed his own engineering/precision engineering business. He has a large, well-equipped workshop, which has enabled him to manufacture a range of products including buckets for diggers, shovels and grain buckets.

More recently, Seamus Darmody, a farmer, approached him to develop a fodder beet washing device. Robbie grows in the region of 400t of beet per year. Some of this is used to feed his cattle, while the remainder is sold.

His knowledge of beet and experience building all sorts of buckets led him to develop his own unique beet washing bucket. “We looked at other machines on the market and many systems use too much water. We were washing the fodder beet ourselves in a diet feeder but took 1.5t of water per wash and, ultimately, took too long to wash a load,” Robbie says.

“Another problem with washing beet in a diet feeder is that the clay is abrasive and quickly wears out the feeder’s floor liner,” says Robbie. Not satisfied with what was out there, Robbie set about creating a machine.

Robbie’s beet washer is based on a large bucket and incorporates a number of novel features. The bottom section is made beet-basket style with a round bar 25mm in diameter and a 33mm gap between each bar.

Inside the bucket is a hydraulically driven cross-shaft. This is fitted with three pairs of leg-type paddles mounted on it. Opposing paddles are positioned on the end of each pair of legs to agitate the beet in opposite directions. Each paddle has a rubber pad bolted to it to minimise bruising the beet.

When cleaning, the beet is first agitated dry to remove loose dirt and clay. Loader brackets are mounted high up on the beet washing bucket to allow it to be ‘‘dunked’’ in a suitable bath where the beet is again agitated.

The size of the bucket and the position of the attachment brackets could make it difficult for beet to be tipped into a chopper or feeder. To get around this problem, Robbie has cleverly designed his beet washing bucket with a hydraulically operated trap door fitted in the basket base.

Operation

Robbie has a number of units sold and the Irish Farmers Journal visited the farm of Donal Leane, Athnid, Thurles, Co Tipperary, to see one in action. Donal is part of Kepak’s KK Beef Club whose goal is produce a high-quality, customer-specific beef product on a year-round basis.

On Donal’s farm, Robbie’s beet washer has to work well. After washing, Donal chops the beet in a separate chopper, built by Desmond Condell Engineering, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.

According to Donal, this system allows the freedom to wash and chop at a more economical rate when compared with some other washing/chopping systems.

Robbie demonstrated the washing process for us. Once the bucket is loaded, he gives it a dry spin for approximately half a minute before dunking the washer into the water. A further minute or minute and a half is sufficient to wash most beet, depending on how dirty it is.

Robbie’s washer unit has a considerable capacity of 1.35t of washed beet so a farm handler, telescopic, shovel or digger is a requirement.

Just one third service is required to operate the cleaning system and trap door. An electro-hydraulic diverter valve on the machine splits the loaders third service to operate either rotor or trap door.

Washing facilities will vary from farm to farm. Donal bought an old truck body and sealed it up to hold water for beet washing. He adds the dirty water back into his slatted tanks when cleaning out his beet bath. At home, Robbie uses a grain trailer with extra door seals to wash his own beet.

Both Donal and Robbie agree that 3,500 gallons of water will wash an average of 100t of beet. The capacity of Robbie’s beet washer is in the region of 30t per hour. This will depend on on-site washing facilities and how dirty the beet is.

On Donal’s farm, the beet had already been cleaned and the beet bath needed a water change. That said, having seen Robbie’s beet washer in operation, there is no doubt that it is effective and works well.

The rotor and paddle design is key to the success of Robbie’s washer operation. The pairs of paddles working against each other seem extremely effective at agitating the beet, both dry and when in the bath.

The open beet basket design of the base and high mounting brackets to allow dunk washing is clever. The trap door for releasing the washed beet adds to the overall ingenuity of the design. Robbie has patents pending for his beet washer design.