Gardening with your Cub Cadet 101....using a plow
 

by Dale Merkle - Merk

The goal of this topic is to help someone who isn't that familar with having a vegetable garden or what tools you can use on your Cub(s) to make gardening easier. Gardening with your Cub Cadet will be split the following ways so as not too overload the beginner gardener.

Gardening with your Cub Cadet 101-Planning Your Garden
Gardening with your Cub Cadet 102-Soil Preparation
Gardening with your Cub Cadet 103-Planting Your Garden
Gardening with your Cub Cadet 104-Care of Your Plants
Gardening with your Cub Cadet 105-Harvest Time
Gardening with your Cub Cadet 106-Putting Your Garden to Bed

I look forward to see everyone's tips, tricks and to see your Cub(s) in action.

Planning Your Garden

To me this is one of the most important and most neglected areas of a garden. Don't expect a bumper crop of tomatoes if they are planted in a shady area. Tomatoes are a sun loving crop. Best thing you can do is find someone who is having good success planting a garden in your area. The local garden center, library, local county ag extension agent, seed catalogs and the internet are good sources for any gardener regardless of their experence level. This site looks like it has some good infomation on gardening: http://gardening.about.com/

We have a "Master Gardner " program through the local county extension that helps to train anyone who wants to improve their gardening skills.

I am in the middle of the planning stage for my garden this year. Some of the question(s)/choices I need to answer before planting are:

1. What do I want to grow?
2. How big of an area do I need?
3. How long is my growing season?
4. Where will I buy my seeds-plants?
5. Tomatoes are a good example - Do I start from seeds or buy transplants?
6. Where do I put my garden if it is a new garden?
7. Organic or chemical fertilizer?
8. Do I have the right equipment to do the job?
9. Is the equipment in good shape?

I buy all my seeds and plants locally. I don't start tomatoes....main reason is I don't have the time or place to do it. I have several garden centers, hardware store, and farm store that sells garden seeds, plants, chemicals and garden supplies. The local hardware store that sells garden seeds had 20% off any item that fit in their bag. Most of my seeds were purchased last weekend. I like to plant onion bulbs instead of plants. A local farm store has onion bulbs in bulk and I will buy around 400 bulbs. They go in the garage fridge until they are ready to be planted.

Now is the time to check over our Cub(s) and attachments. This is the time of the year I get everything ready for garden and yard duties. My local Cub Cadet dealer had a customer appreciation days last weekend. They had 10% off parts. I walked out with 4 hydro filters, 2 air filters, 2 fuel filters and a oil filter...spent around $65. I had a Brinly plow that needed a few parts. They were ordered Friday from Brinly and arrived Tuesday.

What Cool Attachment(s) Do I Need For My Cub To Do Gardening?

This is geared more towards the Cub owner who doesn't have any gardening attachments. There are several attachments that are good for soil preparation. Which one(s) should I buy depends on your soil. The most used attachments are a moldboard plow, tiller and a disk.

Moldboard Plow
A heavy dense soil will require a moldboard plow to help break up the soil. Moldboard plows come in 8-10- and 12 inch widths. There are 2 different hitch systems that a moldboard plow uses. One is a Sleeve Hitch and the other is a Cat. 0 three point hitch. Cat. 0 plows look like the ones used on bigger farm tractors. The 3 most popular brands are Brinly, Ohio Steel and Simplicity. Brinly is the only company that still builds plows. Brinly had made some plows with a "Craftsman" label on them. I recommend finding a Brinly plow because you can buy replacement parts for your plow. The point(shinney part on the plow picture below) is a high wear area. A question I hear is how do I measure my plow? Here is picture showing how to measure:
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...surement02.jpg
This is an 8 inch plow.

Tiller
A tiller is a great tool to use in a garden. The older Cub Cadets use the front PTO off the motor to power the tiller. The newer tillers can have their own power source. Both tiller styles can be used on a manual or hydrostatic transmission Cub Cadet. You will need a creeper drive on your manual transmission Cub Cadet. Wheel speed isn't slow enough without a creeper.

Disc Harrows
A disc harrow is used to break up and level plowed soil. They can be a sleeve hitch or a 3 point hitch. A sleeve hitch disc harrow can be a single gang or a double gang as a 3 point hitch style disc harrow. The angle of the disc gangs can be adjusted according to conditions.

Brinly has a place on their website to download a manual for their plows and disc harrows. Here is a link to site: http://www.brinly.com/manuals-brinly.html

What Options Does Your Cub Cadet Need?

Your Cub will need a rear 3 point to raise and lower your moldboard plow, tiller and disc harrow. If you are using a sleeve hitch plow you will need a sleeve hitch adapter.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...fhitch02-1.jpg
The black part is the sleeve hitch adapter.
The white part is a stablizer plate.
The parts that the sleeve hitch adapter is connected to is the 3 point hitch.
The plow weighs around 70 pounds. You will need some type of helper lift to help raise the plow. There are 3 different types: manual lift with a helper spring, hydraulic lift, and electric lift. Hydraulic lift was standard or an option on most wide frame or newer hydrostatic trans Cubs. The Orginal and all narrow frame Cubs had an add on hydraulic system you could install on your Cub. Here is what narrow frame hydraulic system looks like:
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...0100/hyd06.jpg

Tires

Your Cub will need ag tires or chains on turf tires. Ag tires work the best in your garden. There are several different tread designs on the market. Best thing to do is ask someone in your area who is using that brand. Different soil conditions may dictate which tire works best for you. You can buy tires through the internet, different tractor shows-plow days, and different tractor sites. Most tractor sites had several topics on ag tires.

Additional Weight

Extra weight can be a big help in the traction department. Most will add weight in the rear tire area. There is 2 types of weights that are commonly used: wheel weights and fluid inside the tires. What style of weight you use is your choice...Some use both.
Do I need front end weight?
The front end is light on my Cub when I plow or till. I have no personal experience with a disk harrow.

Let's see your pre-planning prep work for your garden...post them in the Garden 2009 thread!