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| Featured Customer - Miedema Produce |
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Get to the root of it
Miedema Produce develops the proper and precise way to pluck and primp a radish
There's a right way and a wrong way to
trim a radish, and you've got about half of
a centimeter (¼ in.) measure of error to get
the job done it right. You see, too much green or too much white really isn't a good thing.
That's one reason why a large produce company decided to build a John Deere-powered
harvester that could not only efficiently harvest the round edible root but could also detail it to consumer satisfaction.
Miedema Produce of Phoenix, Arizona, built this one-of-a-kind radish harvester. While most radish crops, especially in the West, are still hand-harvested, Miedema Produce can pick and
pack 11-metric tons (25,000 lbs.) per hour.
Plucking the little veggies from the ground is a 16-metric-ton (35,000 lb.) machine. Sporting a John Deere combine cab, the radish harvester crosses fields powered by a PowerTech Plus 6068H engine.
Arizona Machinery, a John Deere dealer in
Avondale, Arizona, certainly made a big impact on the machine, sourcing its John Deere parts. But Miedema's preference for John Deere comes across honestly. "We are Deere
people,” says Joel Tomlin. “We run about
10 John Deere tractors. The PowerTech Plus 6068H is the same engine in the John Deere tractor that we purchased last year."
No tractors are required for this harvester, though. The John Deere engine powers the
hydrostatic drive and all of the hydraulic functions on this self-propelled machine. That includes the wide, 76-centimeter (30 in.) tracks that can punch through muddy fields. "Torque is important when you need extra power in the field," says Joel. "John Deere engines have a higher torque rise than other engines.”
Engine reliability is important, too, because
a timely harvest is crucial, says Joel. If you think trimming is intricate, consider the fact that a little radish can grow as much as 20 percent its size in a single day, out-pacing most weeds. "Two days of delayed harvest
is too long," he says. "Nobody wants an old
pithy radish on their plate."
Engine: John Deere Tier 3/Stage III A PowerTech Plus 6068H485 — a 187-kW (250 hp), 6-cylinder, 6.8L, turbocharged diesel engine. Distributor: Western Power Products Inc., Bakersfield, California (661) 397-9155, www.westernpowerproducts.net
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