Introduction

Automatic field transplanters have been on farmers wish lists for at least 30 years with many machines appearing but also disappearing as they have not been able to meet the challenge here. This is therefore clearly not a simple job especially when you also have to consider the gaps in the tray.

Fountains a plant propagation nursery and farmer in the Lincolnshire area of the UK started developing an automatic machine 9 years ago now and has refined the machine each year. In 2004 the rights were sold to a local manufacturer Pearsons who have a lot of experience in ground contact hi-tec machinery. The “Autoplanter” was launched to the public in 2005 and has proven so be a very accurate and reliable machine. It runs at 3.5 plants per row per second and has an ability to make up for gaps in the tray.

It has mainly been used in the UK to date on brassicas but we are now getting the machine publicized further afield and Proptek is proud to be doing the marketing in the USA.

You must start with uniform, strong plants	General shot of UK machine with canopy and side storage for trays	Trays loaded onto tray feed

Tray being pushed forward into picking area	Plants being lifted out of tray	Even big old plants can be handled

Plant on gripper	Gripper detail	Plants are then dropped into flighted belts

Detail of flight with tomato plant	Transfer from flight to descent belt with singulation	Another shot showing plant on descent belt

Plant hanging below descent belt	Base of descent belt and shoe	View between packing wheels of shoe and descent belt

Plant carry racks	Trailer to carry machine	Canopy over machine and generator on front