Just put in my Garden. Can a BX do this?

[EldoNixon]

I just finished putting in my garden this year with the help of a farmer friend who lives up the road. He made it look so easy with his 40 HP (? I'm guessing--big but not huge) tractor. One of the reasons I'm looking at uprgrading to a BX is because I want to be able to do things like this.
Anyway-the garden right now is a 1/4 acre, but I could see doing mavbe an acre or more in the future. He tilled the soil and then layed 48" wide plastic along the rows using a specially designed flatbed. It was the first time I'd seen one and it was amazing. Enough so, even, that if my new tactor can't do this as well, then I will forever feel slighted.
It was a large metal sled that unrolled the plastic and secured it into the soil. Really simple, but really effective. The front end was slanted, so the soild was spread out. It unfurled the plastic under a heavy metal roller which laid it flat. There were two runners underneath that made a channel and two thin wheels pushed the plastic into the channels. Two pieces of metal on the sides pushed the soil over the edge of the platic to secure the edges. It was all very heavily made. I'll attach a photo to help show the size. (Note: the arm that held the plastic is romoved and it is laying on top of the tiller for transport.)
So my question is this. Could the BX pull this sled through the freshly tilled soil? My dirt is really soft. And could the 3 point hitch actually fit something this large and control it. His tractor was cat 2, but it had cat 1 attachment points.
I'd read in other posts about the limitations of the bx's 3 pt set up. It's one of the factors that's plaguing me. I want the BX for mowing ease--I finish mow 3 acres--usually twice a week. But I'm worried that it might not be up to my other needs. I also need to put in a septic system, prepare a 3000' square foot barn for pouring a cement floor, and put in fencing and decking.
I'm sorry for the length of the post, but this is a huge decission for me. I appreciate your input. I've found TBN to be invaluable as I've been mulling over my tractor dilemna.

 

[EldoNixon]

Here's a picture of the garden, if you'd like to see the end result. It took about 3 hours, start to finish, including the tilling, and a run to get more plastic.
Last year the weeds and field glass reclaimed the garden, so we put down a huge piece (50'x200) of black plastic over the garden last summer. When we took it up and tilled it this year, the soil was incredible. We're pretty excited about our experiment this year.

 

[JohnMiller3]

Hi,

RichZ and myself were right down the road from ya… a few weeks ago at an auction on Rte. 32. (very pretty area)

If most of your duties end up being mowing and smaller jobs… I think the BX22 would be ideal for your intentions… it just won’t dig an 8’ basement… /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

It would be a stretch for the 3-pt on the BX to handle that equipment “empty”… let alone loaded with material… so that stuff you just hire out like ya did with the local farmers…

Also noticed you sell Mercede’s… any chance with Keelers?

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

I am not sure if the BX will have enough traction to pull the device. But what we do with similar results is to till a 4 foot wide by 50 feet long times 6 rows. I then leave about 5 feet between rows wide enough to cut the grass with the BX. It makes picking veggies a lot easier and keeps weeding to a minimum. I have a First Choice tiller it does a great job tilling the soil. This year we added 15 yards of mushroom soil to the garden. The FEL on the BX made this job very easy. After tilling I then dig a trench with a hoe (the kind with a wood handle /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif) along the four sides and bury the 6 mill plastic on the edges. We get about 3 years out of the same plastic. In the fall we just peel it back and fold it and its ready for the next year. When they need to be replaced we just buy another roll from HomeDepot.

So to answer your question, yes its possible to have a garden look the way it does in the photo. As far as other things you have planned the BX can do them all it will just take a little more time, small bites as its a smaller tractor. But in the long term it will do everything you want it to do, just take it slow. If you need to do it faster it may be cheaper to rent a larger piece of equipment for that one job.

Have fun /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[EldoNixon]

John Miller: I can walk to that auction in about 10 minutes. By the way. we have special rates for TBNr's--if they bring their tractor. Lots of projects and no tractor. Trying to decide if I need one and which one. It's a tough balancing act.
How big would I have to go to operate something like that flatbed? A B7500? Anything larger than that is too big.
The rows in those pictures are 4' x 200'. I would like to be able to do 20 rows or so.
NYYF: While I could do it by hand, seeing it done by tractor was inspiring. Or, maybe I'm just trying to be too lazy. I'm trying to figure out how much tractor I have to buy to be able to do that, but still be able to mow. Maybe I can't do it. Since I can really afford to buy one tractor, I'd like to be able to use it for every project I want to do.
Thanks for your input.
John M, I used sell MBs there. I left about a year ago, I should update my bio. Great cars, though.

 

[theboman]

What exactly is the purpose of the plastic?

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

No weeding /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

What would it cost for the farmer to come by and do just the plastic for you? How much does the plastic laying machine cost? For once a year useage you my find the pay off for the machine to be many years just to break even, unless you can find one used. Just another thing to consider. How much does the machine weight? that would give us an idea of what can pull it, but I would think a B7500 or for sure a B7800 should work. But you just spent a lot $$ for plastic and weeding /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[TresCrows]

I cannot entirely judge the effort required to pull that plastic thing. I would say it seems you might need something bigger overall. J

 

[EldoNixon]

The farmer friend is extremely reasonable, but my concern is that if we have a bad spring he might not have the time. And I wouldn't expect him to jeapordize his operation just to help me. He really did this to help me as a favor to help me try sometning new. Having seen his techniques, I feel that I could actually do this on a larger scale than I had imagined possible. We ran irrigation under the plastic so that when we water we don't loose it to evaporation. And not having to weed actually makes it possible for us to maintain a large garden.
I'm planning on turning my barn into a catering fascility for weddings and a small restaraunt that runs about 6 weeks of the year on weekends. Part of my justification of buying a tractor is to be able to do these other projects: I need to clear and level a barn floor and prepaer it for laying a concrete floor. I need to put in a septic system. I figure if I have the right tools, than I can do the job myself. I could do those things with a BX, but from what I've read I'd pushing the limit on the BX. But when I was done, I'd have the ultimate landscaping tractor.
We have a real strong season for tourists during the horse racing season. I had just decided to buy a new BX22, but know I don't know. I had been debating B7500 v. BX for the last year.
I demo'd a bx last week, and I loved it for mowing. But I'd hate to spend all that money, and still have to rent a tractor for bigger jobs. (Plus I'd loose my justification I used to convince my wife that we need a tractor in the first place.)
I'm just more confused now. When I bought this property 2 years ago, I thought all I would need was a big L&G tractor, and now I'm thinking about backhoes and large scale gardens. I guess I'm adapring to life in the country.
Maybe I need to think about getting a larger tractor with and a ztr instead. I've learned so much from the experience of other TBN'rs, I just want to be sure I get the right machine. This is a big investment for us.