BCS Implement Questions

[Highsmith]

-Can the tires be foam-filled to deal with mesquite thorns?
-How to decide between flail mower, brush mower or sickle bar cutter?
-Does the 5 tine cultivator act as a poor man's spader?
-The seeder copy reads for large seeds, but then plates are offered for different seed sizes. What are the seed varieties the plates can be used for?
-Has anyone used the custom built utility trailer rig?

 

[milkman]

I would like to have one of the 5 tine cultivators, there are times it would work well between the rows in the garden better than my tiller. I don't know how deep they will go, but I don't think they would work that well in unbroken ground. Give these Earth Tools - Walk-Behind Tractors - (502) 484-3988 a call and Joel can answer all your questions, I'm sure the foam filled tires would work well as that would add weight and help with traction. What size BCS do you have?

 

[farmerboybill]

Hey highsmith,

Like Milkman, I don't think the cultivator will work as a spader. The spader strikes the ground hundreds or thousands of times per minute. The cultivator only stirs the soil as it moves forward. You'd need a very big tractor with lots of traction to make it work in ground that hadn't been rototilled that year.

BCS actually offers steel wheels for more traction and for thorny areas. That would be a better option than foam filled, but I'm sure you could put foam in if you'd like.

Flail mower is best but most expensive. It's good for mulching up cover crops, spent garden plants, and grassy areas with saplings that need mowing. I think it requires a little more HP than a rotary mower but am not sure.

A rotary mower is good but not as good as a flail mower and the lower price reflects that.

Sickle mower works when you don't need to chop up the material. It does mulch to a small extent but leaves most intact on top of the ground. Since you're not grinding, you can get a much wider working width and it doesn't require nearly the HP a rotary mower or flail mower needs. You can run the engine at half throttle or an idle most of the time.

I don't know anything about the seeder or the trailer.

 

[Highsmith]

Is there a post hole digger available for 2 wheeled tractors? I think they would not work due to the weight of the equipment, but figured I'd ask anyway.

 

[oldmech]

Hi! For prepare soil. I prefer traditional Mulboard plow.At fall Good plowing is one ART. After in spring I till ONLY 2-3 in. deep for seed bed. With Cultivator on Two Wheels tractor It is very hard to control direction and deep . I try it. I till only ONLY 1-2 in.between row in growing season .
For help you! I joint pict of a small hand seeder. Onion seeds are very small.
I joint also Picts of Home made trailer Hitch adaptor for my Grillo . Easy to make and work very well. Good Luck! Oldmech

 

[farmerboybill]

hey highsmith,

I'm not aware of a posthole digger. Joel would be the one to ask.

I bought a Fiskars hand digger and really, really like it. I've dug more'n 100 holes with it. It has twisted handles so the hinge works like a pliers instead of the regular digger hinge you see on most diggers. You won't ever pinch your fingers like you do with the common ones Unfortunately, mine had the hinge go loose over the last 20 holes and I'm gonna need to make a warranty claim on it. I'll let you know how they work with warranties in the next week.

Hmm, can't seem to post the pic, so I'll hyperlink the site -

http://www.fiskars.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10101&categoryId=10276&productId=10560&page=products

Bill

 

[Highsmith]

I was perusing the "Pictures" thread and saw a stump grinder. I did not see one on the Earth Tools website, but I suppose Joel could get one for me. It would be nice to see a catalog with all the implement/attachments available rather than accidentally stumbling across them. Does anyone know of such a source? Perhaps one of the European aftermarket manufacturers has a catalog?

And if anyone is using the stump grinder, does it work well? I will need one and figured on renting, but I have enough work to purchase if I can attach it to the BCS.

 

[farmerboybill]

Hey Highsmith,

That was on a Gravely. It's been discussed here about making gravely work on BCS tractors and vice versa and it's been generally agreed that it can be done, but it'd be very difficult and costly.

The only catalog with aftermarket attachments I know of is on Joels site as a PDF file. Otherwise, BCS America has a site with only what BCS offers and it's all oh Joels site, anyway.

Here's a site with implements for Ferarri machines, but no stump grinder. They may be interchangable with BCS tractors with an adaptor.

Walking Tractors

 

[otus_branch]

My tires are foam-filled, and I love it. I run over black locust branches and hawthorns all the time, and no worries. The extra weight is great for the BCS' handling too.

With respect to the mowers, an important question is how much 'rock-mowing' will you do? I have mowed a lot of rocks (all unintentionally, as they were sneakily hiding in brush), and I can say with confidence that the rotary-mower/brush hog is the most tolerant of this practice. The sickle blades chip badly when they hit rocks, and the flail knives are none too tough either. With the rotary-mower/brush hog, one will need to replace the nuts and washers occasionally, but it can handle a reasonable amount of abuse OK.

-otus