Cultivators

[Chris727]

I have a pretty good size garden planned for next year but i don't have a cultivator. Last year I spead the gangs apart on my disk and used it to cultivate the corn, but it worked very poorly. I seemed to remember someone saying the brinly cultivators are not very good so I am looking for some suggestions. Are the old sears 3pt cultivators any good? Does agri fab have a decent cultivator? The old simplicity/AC ones are too scarce around here. I was also thinking of a honda or mantis mini tiller but they cost too much. I do have a sleeve hitch and a sears with their small 3pt. Any suggestions are appreciated. -Chris

[rokon2813]

I used the sears style on my 59 David Bradley all year this year. It worked fine for me.

[SmilinSam]

Here is a two piece model for AC & Simplicity , usually sells between $200-$300 complete when seller knows what its worth.. [img]http://www.simpletractors.com/images/b_attachments_images/cult_spec2_small.jpg[/img] Here is a Early 70's style adjustable Brinley type. I sold one with wide sweeps last summer on Ebay and to my suprise it brought close to $200. I have another just lie the one pictured here to sell later, but its missing the wheels and one sweep. [img]http://www.simpletractors.com/images/early_700/1690110_small.jpg[/img] This is a older Simplicity AC type and I never cared for them. They can usually be bought under $100 from what I've seen [img]http://www.simpletractors.com/images/walkers/cultivator.jpg[/img] Here's one for the bigger Powr'max tractors. I have one of those too for sale . Don't know what they bring.. [img]http://www.simpletractors.com/images/700_series_images/1600223_small.jpg[/img] Personally I use one of those little mantis types made by Sears. Cost about $199 new. I have seen them sell used at auction for under $100 though.

[DaleC]

I am going to raise sweet corn this coming summer. I am rounding up a sprayer to spray with, I have the plow to turn the sod over. I have a disk to work the ground with. I am going to mount my push planter to the tractor to plant with. I would love to get my hands on a two piece cultivator like above. That would be SWEET. I have used the brinley cultivators. They are fine. You just have to adjust them to get good culitvation. I have used them like a field cultivator before I had a disk harrow. Then I dragged the ground down with three 2" X 12" x 10' boards lapped like siding. Made a lever seed bed and the growing was great.

[MPH]

Dale, if you still can, you should plow the sod this fall, it'll make for mellower dirt to work next spring and the grass roots should be broke down pretty good..MPH

[Brent_Baumer]

I use mine to make the seed beds by raising the center shovel. Works good for that. Then I plant every other row and use the tiller to cultivate between rows. Brent

[DaleC]

Marty, you are right. I need to do some fall plowing. I have never had the plow in the ground yet. I am going to put the wheels and tires off the B-12 on the Big Ten since I haven't finished the left hub repair yet (I did get he axle out today). The Big Ten has the Hydro lift and will handle the plow better (easier on my 52 year old shoulders, lol). Fall plowing will allow the sod to decompose more and make for better working and a better seed bed in spring. Last year I planted my Corn 4/15. I may wait till 5/1 this year as I really didn't gain the two to four weeks I was shooting far due to cold wet weather. I plan on putting out a second crop about 5/21. Hopefully I will have corn to sell for several weeks.:D

[MadMike]

Chris, I have all three cultivators, the two piece that SmilinSam shows, a spring tooth, and a narrow point rear. The narrow point rear cultivator works very well, add left arm down pressure and I was getting down 4-5 inches in only two passes. The spade teeth (wide shovels) on the rear work great in between rows when they are set to a few inches deep, they just slide under cutting off the weeds yet don't disturbe the soil to much. The rear Spring Tooth works great to smooth out a seed bed, or with the springs set close together, works almost like a narrow York Rake. I have yet to use the mid-mount portion of my two piece. Good luck finding one, I see them from time to time around here. If you want, let me know and I'll keep my eye out for one. Brent, That's a good idea picking up the center shovel, I will have to try that next year. Mike

[PatRarick]

Here is the spring tooth harrow. Not a good choice for breaking soil, but is excellent for removing small weeds and breaking up the crust. I have two of these harrows. One is original and the other has been modified by adding a second toolbar, 10" behind the original, for a second row of tines. [img]http://www.simpletractors.com/images/b_attachments_images/spring_tooth.jpg[/img] As to cultivators, ideally, you should work all the ground for the full width of the cultivator. For example, if you use 4" shovels, they should be spaced at 4" apart. Doing so on a single toolbar will make the cultivator act like a rake or a blade. That is the reason for ranks, or rows of shanks, to allow the soil and trash to pass between the shovels. With a two rank cultivator, you would space these shovels at 8" apart on each rank, with the shovels on each rank spaced to till the area between the front (or rear) two shovels. On a three rank cultivator, you would have the shovels spaced at 12" on each rank. One thing to watch for on a cultivator, is the "plane" of the shovels. Too horizontal of a plane, and the shovels will slide on top of the ground. Too vertical of a plane and they will only scratch the soil. In either case, you can force them into the ground by adding weight to the cultivator, but it will pull very hard. If the plane is correct, the shovels will cause a "suction" in the soil to stay in the ground, and will pull fairly easily. You want to slice through the soil, not push it around. Spring tooth harrows need the teeth spaced, but the spacing isn't critical. The vibration of the springs will break up the soil that it doesn't actually touch, for a space on either side of that shank. I space my rows so that I can run the tiller between them. When the plants are small, I use the two piece cultivator as it allows me to cultivate more accurately, close to the small plants. As they grow, I switch to the tiller for one week, the spring tooth harrow for each of the next two weeks, then back to the tiller. For the viney crops like peas, I run the spring tooth harrow between the rows twice each week for the entire season. To keep from compacting the soil where I use the harrow exclusively, I use a tractor with the widest tire for flotation, and NO weights. Pat

[Chris727]

Wow Pat, cultivating twice weekly sounds more often than is practical for me. I had accidentally planted one of my corn rows 40" apart this year so I used the 36" tiller on the B110 to cultivate that row, it also worked well around my squash and things spaced far apart. I mainly need a cultivator for corn, and my food plots of milo. I'd like to find a two piece but am short on cash right now. Maybe in the spring I'll get a brinly from Home Depot. I like the idea of spreading it apart to use it kind of like a field cultivator. Thanks for all the suggestions.