Late 19th to Early 20th Century Hoover Potato Digger

Before the development of the mechanized potato digger, farmers typically dug up their potatoes by hand, with a tool like a hoe, or with a plow.  By the mid-1800s, some farmers and blacksmiths began creating new tools to help with the digging process.  It was not until 1885, however, that a farmer in Ohio named Isaac Hoover came up with the basis for one of the most effective potato diggers ever made.¹  His potato digger would initially help him and his neighbors save time, energy, and the pain that accompanies hard physical labor.  By the 1910s, the Hoover Potato Digger was aiding thousands of potato farmers around the world.

The potato digger at Stuhr Museum is set up to be pulled by horses, although it could be set up to be pulled by engines and tractors.  As the horses (perhaps a team of four or six) pulled the digger, the blade in front would dig just deep enough into the ground to grab the potatoes, along with dirt, rocks, and vines.  As the digger continued forward, the potatoes and debris would be forced up to the metal conveyor belt which allowed the finer dirt and smaller rocks to fall to the ground.  At the top, an attachment with thin metal poles separated the potatoes from the rest of the debris, depositing the potatoes on top of the ground behind the digger.  The farmer would sit in the seat to guide the digger and make sure the process was running smoothly while a couple of boys or hired hands would walk behind picking up the potatoes.  By using this digger, a farmer could save weeks harvesting his potato crop.  Unfortunately, Stuhr Museum’s digger lacks the top attachment with metal poles that separated the potatoes from vines and other debris that did not fall through the conveyor belt.  The farmer who used this digger may have simply done without it.  If you would like to see a short video of a Hoover potato digger in action, giving you an impression of how it worked and what it might have sounded like, click or touch here.

An advertisement from The Implement Age, vol. XL, no. 2
(July 13, 1912), page 6, showing the potato digger with
additional separator attachment at the rear and the
assembled tongue attachment with wheels for a team
of horses at the front.

Born near Sand Hill, Ohio, in 1845, Isaac W. Hoover settled on his own 74-acre farm in Milan Township, Ohio, at about the age of thirty.²  Growing potatoes on his farm, Hoover began experimenting with new machines for digging the potatoes out of the ground.  By 1885, he patented his first potato digger, making one digger that year, ten the second year, and fifty the third.  Hoover partnered with his brother-in-law, Albert Prout, to make and sell his machine and, over the next few years, as word spread about his machine, more people sought him and his digger out.  During the 1890s, Hoover & Prout of Avery, Ohio, expanded their business significantly; and, around 1902, they incorporated their company.³  Despite their success, Prout left in 1910 and the company was reorganized as the Hoover Manufacturing Company.⁴  By 1916, the company made about 5,000 potato diggers each year, selling them around the world.  Hoover’s plant in Avery at that time covered four acres near the Nickel Plate Railroad and employed 75 to 100 workers.  Over the decades, Isaac and his son, Arthur L. Hoover, made several adjustments and additions to Isaac’s designs, obtaining several patents between the two of them.  The company also made potato sorters, potato sprouters, and harrows.  If you would like to read a 1903 sales brochure for the Hoover Potato Digger, the Library of Congress has kindly digitized one which you can access here.

Notes

¹ Hoover’s first patent was Patent 318,254, dated May 19, 1885.  You can find the patent here.

² For a description of Hoover and his potato digger, see Hewson L. Peeke, “Isaac W. Hoover,” in A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Civic and Social Development.  A Chronicle of the People, with Family Lineage and Memoirs, Vol. II (Chicago and New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1916), pp. 1037-1039.  For additional information on potato growing during the early twentieth century, including brief remarks on the Hoover digger, see T. B. Terry and A. I. Root, The A B C of Potato Culture: How to Grow Them in the Largest Quantity, and of the Finest Quality with the Least Expenditure of Time and Labor; Carefully Considering All the Latest Improvements in This Branch of Agriculture up to the Present Date.  Fully Illustrated (Medina, OH: The A. I. Root Co., 1911).

³ The company's plans for incorporation is mentioned in Hardware, vol. XXIV, no. 6 (December 25, 1901).

⁴ Some of the information here can be found in a Farm Collector article which you can see here.  In 1926, John Deere, a major distributor of the Hoover potato digger, purchased the company and continued to make the digger.