BCS: Power Harrow vs. Precision Depth Roller X Tiller Combo

[sascaggs]

I've been learning more about BCS attachments for finishing beds. At a market garden or small farm scale, the power harrow seems like a great option. However, I've recently heard about the combination of a rear tine tiller and a precision depth roller -- basically a steel roller attachment for a tiller that gives more precise control over the depth of tiller tines and creates a nice flat planting bed that is firmer than the fluffy rows created by a rotary plow.

The benefit of these attachments over just straight up tilling is supposed to be that you leave more of the soil structure intact because you are not churning up subsoil with the tiller tines. This apparently prevents the creation of a "hard pan" about 8-12 inches deep. My question is, does the precision depth roller really work as a 1-to-1 replacement for a power harrow?

 

[leonz]

The soil structure depends on what you have to start with and whether it is easily penetrable with a seeds
tap roots or a plants total root system.

If you have thick black or red clay, you need gypsum, lime, concrete gravel sand, time, fertilizer and compost
to make it more useable for vegetable and flower gardening or plan on using a nitrogen green manure crop the
first year tilling deeply.

A rotary plow will create a deep broken well tilled seed bed and eliminates any hardpan down to its deepest setting
of 14 inches.

Building raised beds after tilling with a rototiller or rotary plow using a bed former/V plow allows seed to germinate
earlier with fertilizer like corn starter and grow faster than weeds and create a thick plant canopy that will choke out
the sun and help kill off weeds as the sunlight cannot reach them.

 

[leonz]

Hello sascags,

I forgot to mention the power harrow is a shallow cultivation implement.
If you wander over to youtube you can see videos of them working the soil.