Industrial processing equipment manufacturer Vanmark has announced the launch of its vine remover machine.

According to its developers, the new machine removes vines from potatoes as they come in from the field. Potato vines tend to get caught in receiving and transferring equipment, clogging it up and causing expensive downtime for processors.

Source: Vanmark

As such, the vine-removing machine removes dirt and vines from potatoes as they are fed into the machine and before they move down the line, removing more than 80% of the vines.

“Vanmark’s new vine remover machine is the first of its kind for us,” said Jason Davis, vice president, Vanmark. “Eliminating plugs and downtime caused by vines caught in the machinery should be a game changer for potato processors. 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.”

Features of the vine remover include a flexible design that is configurable to fit any line layout. The machine also uses a series of custom-configured rolls to separate and remove vines from product flow on the receiving line. Fewer vines mean fewer pump plugs, tear downs, restarts and downtime.

Further, the vine remover ensures a debris-free raw product ahead of processing, with a maintenance-friendly sanitary design, featuring easy access panels and cover construction, simple pitch adjustments and one motor operation.

For more information on the vine remover machine, visit the Vanmark website.