Got another implement!

[J-Mech]

Mentioned to my friend Chris that I wanted a rotary hoe for my garden. He said he had one I could have. Picked it up today! If it works like I want it to, it will be 3pt mounted and go on the Lo-Boy, but going to just try tugging it with the 125 for now and see if I like it. I think it's going to work just fine!

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[Cub Cadet 123]

Looks like it would do an awesome job, Operator 6!! Of course we will want to know how it performs and lots of pictures. Glad you landed it for the magical 4 letter f-word....FREE! Have fun with it buddy.

Cub Cadet 123

[R Bedell]

You lucky dog. Wish I could find one in my neighborhood.

[cubcadet]

Nice find Jonathan.

[J-Mech]

Thanks guys!

Roland, I've been looking for one for a while. Couldn't find one either. Getting a 2 row cultivator off my granddad here soon for the Lo-Boy too.

Action shots coming soon!

[ACecil]

Awesome score, Jonathan! Looking forward to the action shots.

[Berwil]

Awesome find! Look like Paul Bunyans spurs (if he was a cowboy).

So I am unfamiliar with this piece of equipment. Do you use it before/after/instead a disk? Or just before planting to break up the crust? Doesn't seem like it would break up big clods or loosen too far down.

Bill

[darkminion_17]

Looks like a meat tenderizer.
Nice because it was free, but how do you use it?

[Shaner]

Only time I've seen one of those for actual farm use is during a drought or when the ground gets so hard. All it does is break up the crusty soil. My neighbors have one. It hasn't been used in eons!

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by Berwil

Awesome find! Look like Paul Bunyans spurs (if he was a cowboy).

So I am unfamiliar with this piece of equipment. Do you use it before/after/instead a disk? Or just before planting to break up the crust? Doesn't seem like it would break up big clods or loosen too far down.

Bill

Excellent question! I will will tell you!

A rotary hoe is used after planting. The purpose of it is two-fold. 1.) Break up crusted soil. 2.) Weed control. Weed roots generally don't like air. If the hoe doesn't pull the plant completely out, it will at least up-root it some. That alone, will stunt it's growth, and give the actual crop time to grow. Yes, before you ask, it does get some of the crop. But not enough to matter. You figure, that you planted in a row, so all the crop is in a focalized area. The hoe has space between the wheel, and you won't be directly on top of the row very long. Also, weed seeds usually aren't very deep as they usually just blow in, or grow from the surface. Whereas what you planted should be in pretty deep. (1.5"-2" depending on the crop and weather conditions)

Let me show you.
Here is a pic of the garden. You can see where I have hoe'd and where I didn't.
pic 1.jpg


Now, you see, it goes in pretty far.

deep.jpg


You have to drive fast for it to do it's job. I ran in 3rd, as fast as the tractor would pull it. If you don't, it just pokes holes in the ground, and doesn't do it's job. You can see in this pic, as I just pulled it out in the garden creeping, not going fast. If you run it slow, it does nothing. On the big farm tractors, when we hoe'd, we ran about 13-15MPH in the field. THAT'S FAST for field work!!!

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After the hoe goes through, it leaves some of the weeds uprooted. (Or at least mostly) But, just like all plants, weeds start small. Most of what the hoe killed are so small they are hard to see. I didn't even try to take pics of those weeds.

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Now, here are couple shots of the bean plants, and the corn. I dug them up to show you they are still there, and fine!

beans.jpgcorn.jpg


Hope you learned something, and remember, when you hoe, DRIVE FAST!!!

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