Posted: 9/19/2011 7:05:39 AM EDT
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The one pictured is actually more for weeding between rows. Notice the 3 or 4 pronged scratcher looking thing.
Their are ones made with a small plow type blade. They are better for making your furrows. After you plant, the one pictured is good for covering the seeds if you cant it on kind of an angle where it will push the mounded soil back in the furrow. The push plow can do that also. Both of these implements are best used in soil that has at least been disked already. You don't want to try to break fresh sod with either of this tools. We disk first using a tractor, then if we are planting in rows we will use the push plow to make furrows. The family will usually follow behind planting seeds. When one row is done I'll turn around and cover with the seeds with the push plow. You can plant a 1/2 acre of corn or beans fairly easily and quickly with this method. Lowdown3 |
I wouldn't want to farm for anything more than fun without draft animals with those contraptions. It looks like it would be incredibly tiring, to thepoint of not being able to sustain the energy you'd expend on farming, by the produce from it.  I have to admit that I'm completely ignorant about farming though.
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I wouldn't want to farm for anything more than fun without draft animals with those contraptions. It looks like it would be incredibly tiring, to thepoint of not being able to sustain the energy you'd expend on farming, by the produce from it. I have to admit that I'm completely ignorant about farming though.You forgot to mention BORING, after a few hours. |
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I remember the one my grandfather had came with a bunch of different blade styles. Definitely would not want to try to prep unbroken soil with one, but once the ground has been worked a bit these seem to do pretty well. Of course this was back in the days when tillers were pretty expensive.
I see them as a good suburban prep item because they are relatively low cost, low upkeep, and provide quite a bit of utility. One of these and a few other garden tools and you can grow food for your family. It won't be easy, but if you're having to use these you'll be glad you have them. Just wanted to bring these to light, most people seem to be unaware they are available. It's a good low cost solution when you want some capability, but don't want to spend the money on a tiller etc. |
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Must be a common SC thing rusteerooster, 'cause that's where I was introduced to them as well.  Yep, I think every farmer in this neck of the woods had one back in the day....most everyone used them in the garden not so much for large scale farming. The older guys had either a team of horses or mules and the bigger guys had tractors...I often looked at those tractors with lust.... 
BTW: I just noticed you have a +1 feedback...1st one I have seen on the new system.... 
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Up here we always called them cultivators. I guess they are better than nothing but honestly if I never see another one of those things again it will be too soon...
(two stones for every dirt here) Same, we called them cultivators. Had one I used a good bit til it broke, fixed it, it broke again, but I guess it was 20 years old by then or older. I'm not sure I'd want to use one except maybe for weeding. I'd rather dig a row with a shovel, gets deeper. Maybe use the cultivator to smooth out the dirt at the end or weed some. |
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I wouldn't want to farm for anything more than fun without draft animals with those contraptions. It looks like it would be incredibly tiring, to thepoint of not being able to sustain the energy you'd expend on farming, by the produce from it. I have to admit that I'm completely ignorant about farming though.I believe you just identified why there are darn few fat subsistence farmers out there! 
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Both of these implements are best used in soil that has at least been disked already. You don't want to try to break fresh sod with either of this tools.
That's a good point you make, but I have to say it's totally dependent on where you are geographically and what type of soil you have. As a young boy, I plowed 1 to 1-1/2 acres for several years in Florida (about 50 miles West of Gainesville, 13 miles off the Gulf). Started with unbroken soil, but it was good, rich soil to begin with. Hand plowing was easy; the weeding was the hard part. I'd go back to that time and place before you could blink if it were possible. They were hard times for the family, but at least we were a family. Everybody was alive and healthy... |
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Up here we always called them cultivators. I guess they are better than nothing but honestly if I never see another one of those things again it will be too soon...
(two stones for every dirt here) I had one at my first house. I left it for the new owner as a welcome present. 
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Quoted: Quoted: I wouldn't want to farm for anything more than fun without draft animals with those contraptions. It looks like it would be incredibly tiring, to thepoint of not being able to sustain the energy you'd expend on farming, by the produce from it. I have to admit that I'm completely ignorant about farming though.I believe you just identified why there are darn few fat subsistence farmers out there! Talk about re-inventing the wheel plow |
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Up here we always called them cultivators. I guess they are better than nothing but honestly if I never see another one of those things again it will be too soon...
(two stones for every dirt here) Only two? I have much more than that. When I first moved here(to the Ozarks) I used to tell people I had rocky soil. After digging in it for a few years, I changed that to "I have dirty rocks."
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