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  • From: Steve Diver <steved AT ncat.org>
  • To: market-farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Hand-powered chisel plow; Walk-behind tractor chisel plow
  • Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 18:47:33 -0600

The broadfork, also called a U-Bar, has been likened
to the gardener's equivalent of a chisel plow, but it
doesn't really rip thru soil via slicing action, rather it
lifts up soil in broad chunks which need further hoeing
and raking to create a mixed, loosened seedbed.

There is another tool that more accurately functions
like the gardener's chisel plow.

The Glaser wheel hoe and related variants on the
horizontal steel plate originally designed for
the old Planet Junior wheel hoe... has an attachment
that is a single-shank narrow shovel.

Thus you can rip through the soil much like a chisel
plow, creating narrow channels, disrupting sod and
cover crop roots, and loosening and aerating the soil.

If you manufacture your own mini toolbar, you can hook
up two or three of these single-shank rippers,
spaced 8 to 12 inches apart.

This setup is a minor tool for certain situations, but
nevetheless an option for wheel hoe owners.

The Glaser also comes with a sturdy 3-pronged steel
tined cultivator that rips thru and stirs the soil. It is more commonly available and more commonly
used.

A second hand-powered "push action" garden tool
that can be used to rip thru the soil is Lehman's
Rotary Cultivator. The Lehman's tool is similar to
the old Rowe Hoe Garden Cultivator. It has tines
for ripping and it can be flipped over and used
like a basket weeder for light soil action.

http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=4462&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=cultivator
http://www.lehmans.com/images/us/shire/1072515.viewlarger.jpg



Earth Tools in Kentucky carries a toolbar / field
cultivator that clips on to the back of a BCS
walk-behind tractor. It functions like a chisel plow
for ripping thru soils, using the power of the
walk-behind tractor to pull the implement. See:

ET-3 Cultivator/ Toolbar w/ Hitch (3-shanks & Chisels)
ET-5 Cultivator/ Toolbar w/ Hitch (5-shanks & Chisels)
http://www.earthtoolsbcs.com/html/more_bcs_implements.html
http://www.earthtoolsbcs.com/assets/images/cultacolor.jpg

Fyi, you can also find one-row horse drawn
cultivators from a farmyard and hook it up to the
back of a walk-behind tractor.... but you have to
fiddle with weights and steerage to get it to run
straight between rows. They can also be used
for light soil work in an open field, such as a stale
seedbed operation to kill off a flush of weeds.

When market gardeners are outside digging and
tilling all day long with human-powered tools and
walk-behind tractors, they have plenty of time to
think about variations on tools.

In case you were wondering about a dogsled pulled
tillage implement, sure enough, it's been done. Take
a look at this Canadian digital archives image.

Dog team being used to plow potato field.
1925-1929, Hay River Mission, at the mouth of Hay River, Great Slave Lake.
http://web.archive.org/web/20050321025156/http://collections.ic.gc.ca/potato/photo/dogs.asp

I've also seen a 2-person human-powered potato field
plow being used in dacha gardens in Russia. One
person (usually the man) leans forward and "pulls" the
plow with a rope harness over their shoulder while the
second person (usually the woman) "steers" the plow
and keeps the implement sunk into the earth..... as it
moves through the soil to dig a potato furrow.

Regards,

Steve Diver









  • [Market-farming] Hand-powered chisel plow; Walk-behind tractor chisel plow, Steve Diver, 02/04/2007

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