Used machines for Broccoli

About second-hand machines for Broccoli

Broccoli is a cabbage variety from the Brassica family and native to southern Europe. This green vitamin C bomb has become a very popular vegetable. Despite being originally a southern European plant, broccoli is now grown all over the world.

Various machines are used to grow and process broccoli to speed up the production process. Examples include planting machines for planting the broccoli plant, hoeing machines for weed control, harvesting belts for harvesting broccoli and, finally, packaging and sorting machines. At Duijndam Machines, we have a large, changing range of used machines for broccoli.

Broccoli planting machines

The small broccoli plant can be planted from a tray or soil block. When buying a planting machine for broccoli, it is important to pay attention to both the distance between the rows and the distance within the row itself. For broccoli, the distance between rows is usually 60 centimetres, and within the row 35 centimetres. This can vary by species, soil type, climate, desired weight, etc.

There are several broccoli planting machines that are suitable for planting. This allows the use of planting machines for tray plants. In these tray planting machines, each workstation is equipped with a rotating carousel where the operator manually feeds the plant. The broccoli is planted in several rows at once, and as many as 3,500 plants can be planted per hour per row, with high precision. More and more (larger) farms are opting for an automatic planting machine that requires fewer people and therefore makes planting faster.

Weed control for broccoli

A common machine used to control weeds is the hoeing machine. A hoeing machine is used to mechanically weed the crop. This makes hoeing machines an attractive solution for organic farmers who cannot use chemical crop pesticides. Another advantage of hoeing machines is that they also effectively control larger, firmly rooted weeds. The hoes cut the weeds at 1 to 2 cm into the ground. More and more farms are also opting for advanced hoeing machines with cameras that can also hoe between plants in the row. In this process, cameras recognise the spaces between the broccoli, causing fold-out hoes to hoe these spaces. 

Another mechanical and therefore organic way of controlling weeds is the use of inter row rotavators. Inter row rotavators can control weeds between “rows” by milling. The advantage of an inter row rotavator is that this machine also improves the structure of the soil, so the crop will grow faster. 

All Duijndam’s weed control machines can be found here.

Broccoli harvesting machines

Broccoli is harvested by hand, which can make it a labour-intensive job. However, the process can be made more efficient by deploying harvesting trolleys and harvesting belts. 

Harvesting belts usually extend between 6 and 13 metres alongside the harvesting trolley, hanging just above the broccoli. The harvesters can thus easily harvest the broccoli and place it right on the belt, after which the harvesting belt transports the broccoli to the harvesting trolley. Here, the broccoli is then placed in cubic crates or manual crates.

These harvesting belts and harvesting trolleys can also be used for other cabbage varieties and vegetables harvested by hand.

Broccoli packaging and sorting machines

Whether the broccoli is sorted and packed depends on the buyer and the grower's requirements, there are several options.

If it is desirable to sort and pack broccoli, it is best to use a processing line. In this case, a processing line usually consists of a box tipper with a dosing belt that feeds the broccoli evenly to the packaging machine.

Generally, there are two types of films used for packaging broccoli; Stretch film and shrink film. Each type of film requires a different packaging machine. If the broccoli is packed in shrink film, the film is first sealed loosely around the product, after which the product is packed airtight using a shrink tunnel. An additional advantage of shrink film is that it extends shelf life. When packaging in stretch film, the broccoli is wrapped tightly in cling film. The end of the process for broccoli consists of sorting by weight. A distinction is made between a few weight classes here. Sorting machines offer the solution for this. These sorting machine can sort the broccoli based on pre-set weights.