What implements are best for my garden plot?

[Finnster]

I'm looking to get a garden going next year, and trying to decide how to plan it out. I was considering a series of raised beds, but these are quite expensive and I do have a tractor after all. Thinking of planting a traditional garden instead if it makes more sense.

So what implements would I need?

The likely garden size would be ~30x50 ft. I have heavy clay soil, flat, and fairly rock free. Right now its just lawn. The kubota is a 26hp/19pto. Have turf tires as well as a set of loaded R4 tires as needed. 4wd of course.

Best bet would be a tiller I think, 54".

Would I need additional implements? A cultivator maybe for weed control? One big issue will be able to rapidily weed. Wife and I both work and have busy lives, so I really don't have lots of time to fuss over the garden every week. I would like this to be as low maint as possible.

This was also a consideration over doing raised beds, as I could run the tractor though as needed rather spending hrs weeding. But maybe I'm totally off on this. Tractor is only so tall, and I would be doing crops like tomato, eggplant, greens (kale, etc) beans, squash and other vines, brussel sprouts, etc. Nothing huge like corn, nor potatoes, but everything will get too large to drive over soon enough. Otherwise I would be driving to the side, so the rows would have to be far apart (50in tractor width)

Thoughts? Tractor only at soil prep before planting? Nooby questions, but have only done container gardening, or all manual w/ shovels and hoes when I was growing up.

Garden area wil be to the side of the barn:

 

[jeff9366]

The likely garden size would be ~30x50 ft. I have heavy clay soil, flat, and fairly rock free. Right now its just lawn.

Best bet would be a tiller I think, 54".

Bucks County, PA; beautiful area.

You will need to find someone with a 12" Moldboard (Turning) Plow, to cut and turn that lovely sod in the Fall. A 12" plow will turn soil 5" - 7" deep, you do not want to plow so deep that sub-soil clay comes to the surface.

Get a soil test.

Then heap all the leaves you can collect on the impending garden site and let it sit through most of the winter. In late winter, use your PTO powered rotary tiller to mix the recommended soil amendments, not ignoring trace elements; soil, decomposed sod and decomposed leaves together. You should have much improved garden base after one pass with the tiller.

The second Fall you may wish to plant a cover crop and till that under in the Spring.

Do not make the mistake of tilling more than the minimum required. Over-tilling is BAD for soil structure.

After three years, when the leaves and other organic matter are fully incorporated, get a second soil test.

PENNSYLVANIA SPECIAL: mushroom compost.

Mulching around plants is a great alternative to weeding. I use about 200 cubic yards of mushroom compost every year- some tilled in and some mulch. Combined with every other row planting I don't spend more than an hour a week, if that, weeding. Most of my garden time is spent in soil preparation, planting and harvesting. Its hard to call tractor time labor as it always puts a smile on my face and saves my back.

Since you have a big garden planned and more space available you might want to consider a 3 point tiller the width of your tractor and do every other row planting. Plant a row and then skip a row. Skipped rows are the width of your tiller. Planted rows can be any width that is necessary.

A garden bedder can give you raised beds in a regular garden situation. That way you use your tiller for weeds and save your back. Easier than raised beds if you have the space. I have been gardening for 40 years and have been using the every other row planting for 3 years in my market garden and it is remarkable how much labor it saves.

Nunamaker Farms - Nunamaker Farms in West Grove, Pennsylvania - Home

You may wish to consider a 44" or 48" width rotary tiller, rather than a 54" width, to keep your rows more compact.


Row Bedder LINK:

Tractor Garden Bedder, Field Bedder, Hiller

 

[TerryR]

I don't see how you can make much use out of a compact utility tractor in cultivating a garden. For that you need a row-crop tractor with high clearance and a large enough plot to make it worthwhile. The right tool is a hoe, or maybe one of those mini-walk-behind tillers.

Other than that, what Jeff said.

Terry

 

[yankeerider]

30 x 50 is about the size of the garden I've had for the past 4 or 5 years . My 48" tiller is useful on it 1 or sometimes 2 times per year: in the spring to prepare for planting, and sometimes in the fall to prepare for a cover crop of winter rye. During the growing season, it's too big for cultivating/weed control without devoting more room to aisles than crops. The problem I've had every year is that once the weeds start growing- and my job has me away from home for half the week every few weeks during the summer- I just don't have the time for proper weeding. This year, I bought a Honda FG110 mini tiller, and So far it looks like it's going to be the ticket to a weed free garden. It turns a narrow path, and can be managed to disturb the soil only enough to take out the weeds. Since I've gardened the same general plot for the last few years, the little tiller is enough to do spring prep work. Maybe you could find someone to break the ground for you initially, then maintain it with a little machine like the Honda.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[cmhyland]

I think the key is to determine garden size based on how you will prepare it. I have a fenced garden that is 50X100.
I till with a 60in tiller and I use a row builder to build the rows. The fencing really interferes with the prep.... So learn from my mistakes if you want a garden that is 50x 100 and you are going to fence it you need to add whatever space it takes to turn your machine inside the fence. I think at some point I'll pull my fencing and go to 100 x 200. I have several beds outside the fenced garden area and they get hit by critters.

if you buy a row builder based on a 2in tool bar you can purchase sweeps and other cultivating attachments and get double duty.

So for me it's tiller and row builder, and adding some sweeps and s-tine cultivators. The row builder does nice job hilling corn and potatoes as well.

Good Luck,
Chris

 

[HEC]

I have a little larger garden than you have mentioned and can maintain it very well with the same size tractor as yours. I have a little mantis tiller , cultivator , a plow , and a small disc harrow ( 6 ft. ) . Your tractor will pull a one bottom plow with no problem , as you can usually find a used one fairly cheap .Go to Everything Attachments web site to get an idea of what each implement can do for you watching their videos . I do space my rows far enough apart so I can cultivate the rows until the plants get to large . You should have about 14 inches of ground clearance as I do . I would like a 3 pt. roto tiller also but find i can get by without one .

 

[bja105]

IThe fencing really interferes with the prep.... So learn from my mistakes if you want a garden that is 50x 100 and you are going to fence it you need to add whatever space it takes to turn your machine inside the fence.

Good advise that I wish I would have heeded. I thought the garden was big, but I kept expanding it as I added equipment. First a walk behind tiller, then garden tractors and implements, now a farm tractor. The fenced in area seemed big, but I can't turn the tractor around with the three bottom plow, and the 10' disc is out of the question.

Figure out how much headland it takes to turn your tractor and implements, and leave at least that much at both ends, and maybe that much space in the middle.

Implements, I use a moldboard plow and disc. This year I borrowed my neighbor and his cultimulcher. I also have a garden tractor one row cultivator. The cultivator gets the most use. I lay out my rows with the tire tracks overlapping. I have a furrower, hiller, cultivating shanks, and beet sweeps. I also sometimes cultivate between rows with the walk behind tiller. I use an assortment of hoes in the rows. I also mulch with hay or plastic mulch.

 

[TomSeller]

I have a 30 year old Troybilt Cultivator Plus. I don't have any of my own pictures of it, but attached are some pictures I found on line. I have two of the mini Hondas but I like this better for getting up close to rows in the vegetable garden. The Hondas jump around, this does not. In a flower garden with less of a "row" the mini Hondas work well. I put agricultural fabric under anything that spreads horizontally (potatoes, pumpkins, squash, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.). I burn holes in the fabric with a hand torch where I plant. I reuse the fabric from year to year, makes for less weeding.

 

[jeff9366]

Here is a LINK to Tuff-Bilt cultivating tractors:

Tuff-bilt Tractor System - Affordable and Innovative

 

[bilrus61]

You've just about the perfect garden tractor there. Your right on the money on the size of tiller you need but remember most tillers will "till" wider than they are listed. Some tillers are listed tine point to tine point. Some are listed endplate to endplate. A 50 inch tiller should pretty much take out your tracks for estetics and fun tilling. Get a bigger garden and make your rows wide enough to till down them. Say 65 inch rows. Saves SOOOOOOO much work later. Its worth it.

Get a Honda mini tiller and take off the tires and drag bar and till by walking backwards and pulling it backwards. Much the best way to till with that little hard working beast.

Flat,not many rocks and clay you say? You got a GREAT garden just waiting for you. Get it as big as you can manage. Fill it with all the leaf/hay/clippings/compost you can find. You can overtill if your just tilling dirt. If your tilling in organic matter I don't think you can overtill and destroy the soil structure. It just keeps getting better and better. Don't worry about bringing clay up top! That means your rich topsoil is down lower where it does the most good and now you can make that clay rich too! Any manures you can scroung is good. I'm experimenting with double digging my garden by using a post hole digger to dig down deep, I turn the digger off and slowly raise it out of the hole with as much clay dirt as I can get to stay on the auger. Then I drive off and spin the auger and let that clay scatter over the top of the garden. I then get rich soil either compost or bottomland soil and using my loader dump that in the holes. I usually do three holes in a row. So far the results are fantastic. 35 inches of topsoil! My sister can't believe the different in the tomato planted on my double dug hole and the ones just planted in the regular soil. It's 4 times as big. Other plants are responding similar. This was my dad's idea long time ago and I've revived it and by golly its amazing so far this year.