rotary hoes?

[CornbeltKid]

why are they so cheap? I saw a 27 ft one for $700 in are local newspaper.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

'cause hardly anyone uses 'em any more. Chemical weed control and modern planting practices have all but eliminated their use.

 

[CATMAN]

I think it was a couple of years ago, in the midwest, they were in high demand for one year. Just after planting, they got a big rain, then the sun came out and just baked the soil and crust got really hard and the plants couldn't push up thru the hard crust. If you had a rotary hoe, you could just hookup to it and run down the fields at 12 mph and that would bust up the soil enough to allow the plants to come thru. Dad was glad he still had his 16 ft rotary hoe that year. And yes, chemicals control the weeds nowadays, thus low demand/cheap.

 

[radman1]

I think it was a couple of years ago, in the midwest, they were in high demand for one year. Just after planting, they got a big rain, then the sun came out and just baked the soil and crust got really hard and the plants couldn't push up thru the hard crust. If you had a rotary hoe, you could just hookup to it and run down the fields at 12 mph and that would bust up the soil enough to allow the plants to come thru. Dad was glad he still had his 16 ft rotary hoe that year. And yes, chemicals control the weeds nowadays, thus low demand/cheap.

We have a 3 pt mounted one. Around 16-18'. Like you said we use it only if the surface becomes too hard/crusty after a rain and it lets the seedling come through. Used in once in the past 15-20 years. They are still cheap to buy used. Very easy to pull through the field.

 

[CornbeltKid]

I think it was a couple of years ago, in the midwest, they were in high demand for one year. Just after planting, they got a big rain, then the sun came out and just baked the soil and crust got really hard and the plants couldn't push up thru the hard crust. If you had a rotary hoe, you could just hookup to it and run down the fields at 12 mph and that would bust up the soil enough to allow the plants to come thru. Dad was glad he still had his 16 ft rotary hoe that year. And yes, chemicals control the weeds nowadays, thus low demand/cheap.

I remember that year it was 2004 I think. I was only about 5' then and the corn still didn't come much above my shoulder. corn climbed to about $3.50 or so and everyone thought it was the apocalypse.

 

[deere755]

I used one this spring on some beans that were slow about coming up. That was the first time in several years I had used one.