Vanmark has announced the launch of its vine remover machine that removes vines from potatoes as they come in from the field. Potato vines often get caught in receiving and transferring equipment, plugging it up and causing costly downtime for processors.

The machine removes dirt and vines from potatoes while fed into it before these move down the line, removing more than 80% of the vines, according to the company.

“Vanmark’s new vine remover machine is the first of its kind for us,” says Jason Davis, vice president, Vanmark. He adds that it eliminates plugs and downtime caused by vines caught in the machinery. “For example, french fry processors process up to 175,000 pounds of potatoes per hour and need to do so as quickly and reliably as possible.”

The company says that the vine remover’s flexible design is configurable to fit all line layouts. It uses a series of custom-configured rolls to separate and remove vines from product flow on the receiving line. Fewer vines result in fewer pump plugs, tear downs and restarts as well as less downtime.

According to the company, the remover helps ensure debris-free raw product before processing with a maintenance-friendly sanitary design that features easy access panels and cover construction, simple pitch adjustments and one motor operation.