help me choose a cultivator

[andrewj]

Not sure how wide my rows will be next year, but probably 30 inches or more. everything from corn to beans, squash in a raised bed row

I need to come up with a solution for keeping grass and weeds down in between the rows. I don't like the idea of a tiller. Not real comfortable with just mowing between the rows, but I'd consider it if you all recommended it/were doing it.

I've seen the KK one row cultivator, and it seems pretty in-flexible as far is use it the way it is or don't use it at all...

I've seen toolbar type cultivators but using one implies I have the skill and knowledge to adjust it properly...

I also saw a lawnmower drawn cultivator on sandy land that seemed to do very well. I hve mostly red clay.

What are you guys doing?

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I like mid-mounted cultivators on a tractor, but they're rather difficult to find for tractors made after the 1960's. Most modern tractors haven't had a mid-mount built that'll fit them.

Rear cultivators are one of the most difficult tools to use ever invented. They require a very steady hand, lots of practice, a few thousand plants "plowed out", or setting the sweeps or shovels so far away from the rows they don't really do much to weed around the plant itself.

Farming with chemicals has all but made row crop cultivators obsolete.

You need to match your cultivator to your planter. 1-row planter, one-row cultivator. 2-row-2-row, ect... Plant by hand or single row push planter and you neen a single row cultivator. And you need to plant in straight rows.

I sold mine when I quit planting a corn crop, but I always preferred John Deere "RG" cultivators. Kinda heavy, but infinately adjustable, lots of crop clearance, and they did a great job. I used a 4-row planter and 4-row cultivator. I plant about an acre or so of sweet corn now. I use a Troy-Bilt tiller to cultivate one time per year.

The easiest rear mounted cultivators to find in smaller row sizes are the Ferguson/Massey Ferguson and Ford versions that were popular in the 50's and 60's. They can be had for $50 to $200 in decent shape usually.

 

[Oleozz]

I need to come up with a solution for keeping grass and weeds down in between the rows. I don't like the idea of a tiller. Not real comfortable with just mowing between the rows, but I'd consider it if you all recommended it/were doing it.



What are you guys doing?

Maybe you don't believe in using spray but it is the easiest way to control grass and weeds.

 

[andrewj]

Maybe you don't believe in using spray but it is the easiest way to control grass and weeds.

my garden now is a third of an acre, how do you keep from overspraying your vegetables, when spraying so much? the cost would be more than just buying vegetables.

 

[wolc123]

I agree with FWJ that mid mount cultivators are best, but with just 1/3 acre a walk behind tiller like a troy-built pony is probably your best option. If that garden was over an acre, I would look for a one row tractor designed specifically for cultivating. A Farmall cub or Super-A are some of the best available, and they can often be found in fairly good condition with mounted cultivators for under $2000. These tractors have offset engines letting you look down at the row as you work allowing you to get real close. I think you are on the right track leaving the chemicals on the shelf and good luck with your search.

 

[motepoc]

I have an old Brinley-Hardy cultivator that mounts on the back of my Yard Machine 18.5 HP garden tractor. It, the cultivator, was given to me by a friend that hunts on our land. He came at the start of the season and roto-tilled my 30'X100' garden with his tractor and pto driven tiller. He made three passes and had it about 12" deep. I used stakes and nylon twine to lay off the rows. Then used a hand push plow in both directions to open the furrow. Layed the seeds by hand and then went the opposite way with the hand plow to close. Have planted 5 rows of corn, 2 rows of okra, 1 row of squash, 1 row of cucumbers, and have one row that I planted the tomato plants, green pepper, and now cantalope in. I have used a combination of my cultivator, a sears walk behind roto-tiller, and a toro hand tiller to keep the grass down. Have a pretty good looking garden that I'll try to get pictures of to post. The reason I answered this was that I have what you described and was wondering where you live in SC

 

[BTDT]

I disc my garden spot, then plant leaving enough room to run my walk behind tiller down the rows when needed. Hoe and pull by hand weeds too close to plants. I have planted some stuff in tires this year, kind of a mini raised bed. I also want to try the lasagna method, laying newspaper and cardboard between the rows. If weeds can't come up, no need to cultivate. I also put down grass clippings and leaves, old hay, etc. to help with weed control (mulching).

 

[jbrumberg]

Mulching helps if the mulch is thick enough (6+") and it incorporates more organic material into the garden soil when you till it back in. This year I am using mostly grass clippings collected by the rider in the garden and bark mulch around the perimeter. Jay

 

[RalphVa]

I had a solar blanket from my pool to dispose of, also an old tarp and erosion fence. I cut these up into 18 to 24" strips and laid them between the rows. Took lots of ground stakes to hold them down. Can't drive the tractor over them, but my rows are only 50' long; so, it's easy to carry mulch and stuff from the row ends up the rows. I plant and harvest by hand.

About the best material is erosion fencing. It's actually about the right width (4' rows) without cutting.

Before this, and even some now with stubborn weeds, I use Roundup. I have a 2 liter cola container cut in half with the upper part slipped over the sprayer head (remove head, slip over and then screw head back on). You can lower this over a fairly large weed next to a veggie plant and give the weed a spray without affecting the veggie plant. It keeps the spray from spreading in the wind, in general.

Ralph

 

[Ford850]

I purchased an old Dearborn 13-2 spring cultivator this spring with plans to use it for weeds. It is missing the crop shields and the stabilizing culter was pretty much gone, along with most of the shoes. I needed something to mark the rows at planting time, so I set 2 of the shoes 4 inches lower that the others and spaced at 36". I stuck some flags at each end of the garden to center my tractor and had it all layed out ready for seeds within minutes. Worked fantastic. I still planned to buy new sweeps for the springs for cultivating, but at the cost of parts, and after using my tiller the first time the weeds got high, I changed my plans. Now I'm stripping all but 3 springs off the cultivator, and will set them on 36" rows (one on each outer edge and one centered). I can lay out 3 rows at a time for some vegetables, and use the 2 outer rows for 6' spacing when planting squash, melons, etc. For corn, I hope to find 2 old JD 71 planter units that I can mount on the back of the "cultivator". The 71's would be on either side of the cultivator's center tine. That unti would be an all inclusive row marker and planter. I will continue to cultivate with my BCS tiller and hoe by hand. After tilling, I can hoe and hill the corn fairly fast.
I am curious though, what chemicals can you use on sweetcorn for grassy weeds? When do you apply?
Thanks.

 

[motepoc]

This is my cultivator, am looking for some of the parts for it. The shank that holds the plow share, the wedge and clip that lock the shank to the tool.

 

[motepoc]

Wasn't sure I could get the pics to go thru, but since that one did, I'm going to try to get the others. Actually I would like to get another set-up Just like this one. It's a Brinly-Hardy cultivator that was given to me. Don't have a bigger tractor yet, so just working with what I have. 18.5 Yard Machine, took the mower off. Worked real well, but would like to put more plow points on. Garden looked real good. Corn was over 6' tall, but did not fill out ears. Had 5 rows 100' long. Any suggestions for next year? Okra, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, green pepper, and cantalope doing fine.

 

[ChuckinNH]

Wasn't sure I could get the pics to go thru, but since that one did, I'm going to try to get the others. Actually I would like to get another set-up Just like this one. It's a Brinly-Hardy cultivator that was given to me. Don't have a bigger tractor yet, so just working with what I have. 18.5 Yard Machine, took the mower off. Worked real well, but would like to put more plow points on. Garden looked real good. Corn was over 6' tall, but did not fill out ears. Had 5 rows 100' long. Any suggestions for next year? Okra, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, green pepper, and cantalope doing fine.

I would try planting the corn in more of a block than in a few long rows. The closer to square your corn plot is, the better the chances for good pollination, and that sounds like what was lacking with your corn this year.... Just a thought.....

 

[Z-Michigan]

Motepoc, it looks like the wide sweeps on your cultivator are nearly overlapping each other. I don't see how this leaves any room for the roots of the desirable plants to survive. Do you remove some of the sweeps for row cultivating?

I can imagine how hard a rear cultivator would be to use. Seems to me like someone should make a FEL mounted cultivator that would let you see what you're doing, and obviously real easy to raise it out of the ground after each pass. Using standard spring-steel shanks I see the potential for FEL damage as pretty low.

As for mulching, which (along with hand weeding) is all we're doing in our garden, we have had very good luck by first putting down one or two layers of newspaper, then putting either grass clippings or horse manure over top of that. It doesn't eliminate every single weed but it greatly cuts down the number, and it's all harmless and degradable so it should just improve the soil over each winter.