Beet scalper

A sugar beet scalper, comprising:

• a scalping boom, having an upper end, and a lower end bearing a beet scalping blade;
• a lifting mechanism, comprising an upwardly biased parallel arm linkage, coupled to the upper end;
• and
• a locking mechanism, holding the boom in a downward operating position, forward deflection of the lower end of the boom releasing the locking mechanism, allowing the lifting mechanism to automatically raise the boom from the downward operating position to a first tripped position.

A sugar beet defoliator with scalping attachments, comprising:

• a defoliator unit, moveable in a field in an operating direction, configured to remove foliage from beet tops;
• and
• a plurality of beet scalpers, disposed at a row-width spacing in discrete groups on a rear portion of the defoliator, each beet scalper including
• an upwardly spring-biased parallel arm linkage;
• a scalper boom, having a lower portion supporting a beet scalping blade, and an upper portion attached to the parallel arm linkage;
• and
• a locking mechanism, interconnected between the boom and the parallel arm linkage, configured to secure the boom in a downward operating position against the bias of the parallel arm linkage, and to release the boom to lift away from the operating position to a tripped position under force of the parallel arm linkage when a force opposite to the operating direction is applied upon the lower portion of the boom, causing the upper portion of the boom to rearwardly deflect an actuation amount.