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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Tool reviews

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  • From: "David Inglis" <mhcsa AT verizon.net>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Tool reviews
  • Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 01:00:49 -0400

How

> about some grower reviews of:

>

> The Williams Tool System (Market Farm Implement)

 

1st, FYI. A Williams Tool system

http://www.marketfarm.com/cfms/williams_tool_system.cfm

While I like the Williams a lot it does have several limitations and could be greatly improved with some modifications.

MFI Quote: "It is the best cultivator for market gardeners because it can be adjusted quickly to cultivate any crop in almost any row spacing in any soil type and can cultivate hand plantings accurately by using the guidance system"

 

It is a 3 point mounted tool system with the possibility of mounting multiple sweeps, side knives and other 'cold steel' in addition to the tine weeder [like a lely]that is the main component of the tool.

 It is used mostly in vegetable production and is best used in combination with a guidance system [see below].

Limitations:

In most soils it can not be used exclusively for stale bedding.

It does not work very well in trashy conditions due to the tine hooks. This can be used to advantage in removing witch grass rhizomes or little bits of plastic mulch.

The tool is long and especially if you add implements in the rear, the tractor does great wheelies at the end of the bed. Fun at first but ultimately worrying.

The MFI recommended guidance system uses a lot of room to work, 6" on each side of the bed that’s an extra foot per bed that is not being grown on, that’s a lot of land. However I would not use the tool without a guidance system because one of its strengths is to track the beds exactly on each pass and weed to within 2" on each side of the rows. Because it is a trailed tool if you have to look back to keep it in line you wont be able to steer straight. So. I have mounted a Bezzirides tracking system that rides on the edge of the wheel tracks and therefore uses no extra land. http://www.bezzerides.com/rowcrop.aspx#guidance

While expensive, but nowhere near as expensive as the land used by the MFI guidance system, the Bezz works very, very well. With the check chains loose I put it down and go as fast as I can without the tractor bouncing.

Improvements:

Near total control could be achieved if the seeders, row markers and even transplanters could be mounted on the tool. Once this was done then the cultivator would always follow the rows as long as the edge of the bed [or tire track  does not get messed up ]. One could then also mount the Bezzerides Torsion and Spring Hoe weeders [or any tool requiring exact row tracking ] on the tool. This would eliminate the need, in my case, for a belly mount tractor. There is a tool like this made by the Sustainable Agricultural Machinery Developments people in Australia.

 http://www.samd.com.au/bedlocker.html

The tines could be made removable as a single unit from the tool, this would create room for other tools [eg seeders ] to be mounted and turn it into a true tool carrier.

Tomorrow is Monday, weeding day, so I will be running my Williams in various configurations across most of the beds I have planted. So that’s enough from me.

David

Massachusetts




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