A High-Speed Dibbling Transplanter

ABSTRACT Amechanism for transplanting seedlings extracted directly from a commercial growing flat has been designed and tested. This transplanter has an extended acceptance time and on-loads the seedlings with minimum trauma. It is designed to work at wide plant spacings and delivery rates above 130 plants/min. The machine is based on a movement which matches the velocity of the dibble to the ground speed over an extended time period. Thus the functions of dibbling the hole, withdrawing, and depositing the plants, are all accomplished at zero relative velocity.