Don87
Elite Member
That's the key 'timing the ground work'. And yes, the 2 tools mentioned have several uses.Hey Don,
Back in the day, when the body was young and strong and I was poor, my friend, but no more. Still, a high quality rear tine tiller or 2 wheel tractor is still able to do an amazing amount and is much easier on the arms and back. Even the old front tine tiller still has it's place. (just rarely)
You are also spot on with a middle buster/cultivator combo being about all one needs to get going. A 3 pt tiller would be great and little gang disk would be nice, but if you time your ground work to ground moisture just right, soil will work up fine with MB/cultivator combo and you don't have but $450 in the package. Plus, both tools have additional uses.
A couple years of compost into that soil and it'll work up so much easier and fluff right up for you.
Don't let money stop you from getting started. Use what you have and get going!!!
The middlebuster can be used for breaking ground, digging ditches, laying pipe,wire, marking rows for planting, and digging potatoes.
The cultivator can be used for further breaking ground for planting a garden, or used for leveling and seeding lawns, if care is taken with the controls. But also, if the center tines are removed, and 2 discs are added(mounted to the back frame rail), you now have a 'hiller' for hilling potatoes and increasing production(another 100 bucks well spent)
Another tip for a new gardener with a Subcut tractor. I purchased an old Davud Bradley plow on E-bay, it had been butchered some already, so I modified it to 'bolt' onto my drawbar...........cheap alternative to a new plow:thumbsup:
I still need to post pics of that setup.