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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Weed and Till cultivators

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  • From: Richard Stewart <rstewart AT zoomtown.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Weed and Till cultivators
  • Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:29:28 -0500

I think the question you need to ask is: what are you going to use it for?

I have one of the push cultivators you are asking about.  Its an old design.   It is great in breaking up pan and very young weeds in loose soil.  This tool is best used to maintain between rows if you do not cover crop, mulch, or compact.  The ergonomics  are not the best.  Do not let it sit out in the sun for to long.  The amount of force you apply to handle will eventually cause them to break.  The weakness in the design like most push devices is that the amount of force brought to bear against weeds or clods is equal to your own physical capacity.  It not really designed to go through heavy stuff.

Not knowing what you need to the tool for I would suggest a wheel hoe.  It has less parts and makes better use of physics to apply force the ground.

We just till our main plots and because we do short runs and heavy rotation we never move out of 30' long beds.  Use of a wheel hoe in this type of growing works great.  Its also a great tool to educate beginners on after they use a different tools to understand mechanization of food production.  We only use these tools though on ground that has been tilled with our 72' reverse turn tiller.

That silly thing that Johnny's Seeds sells is ONLY for stirring up soil that is already loose and weed free.  The battery driver pictured in the photos runs between 90.00 and 129.00 dollars.  You'll burn through motors and batteries quickly unless you are fluffing up potting soil.  :)

Richard Stewart
Carriage House Farm
North Bend, Ohio

An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855

(513) 967-1106



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