Berta 30" flail mower!

   / Berta 30" flail mower! #1  

jcraftenworth

Silver Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2016
Messages
148
Location
Hawley, MN
Tractor
Ford 9n, BCS 737
I've been watching for updates on this for a few months, looks like it's finally happening!

Berta 30 Flail Mower (NEW! Available Mid-February 2018)
Item SHARK85-B (fits BCS 749 - 948) $2049 $1890
Item SHARK85-G110 (fits Grillo G110) $2049 $1890
Debris screen (for engine cooling air intake) recommended
Requires additional accessory to fit BCS 660, 750 or 948
Caster wheel kit: $270 $250
 
   / Berta 30" flail mower! #2  
I spoke to a few dealers when I bought my machine it was mentioned a few times. I went with a 26" because it was a demo and I was able to save some cash but the 30 would be a perfect size for normal rows.
 
   / Berta 30" flail mower!
  • Thread Starter
#3  
well I'm sure it's no better or worse than other size berta flail mowers. This size is simply popular with gardeners and veggie farmers, and I have standardized at ~30" garden rows for 3 years now. The flails are the best mowers for gardening because they don't leave large clumps of plant residue that break down more slowly and can cause problems with seeding equipment if you want to quickly seed the row afterwards. I've got a 30" brush style mower that I inherited with my machine and I certainly get by, but if I have a good year selling crops a power harrow and flail mower are at the top of my list for luxurious upgrades.
 
   / Berta 30" flail mower! #4  
Is there any real negative to building my rows at 26" instead of 30" seeing that is the size mower I have? We are just gardening for us and a few neighbors.
I bought the power harrow and cant wait to try it out. Keep telling my wife all the advantages and hope to show her how good it works. For the price it better! LOL
 
   / Berta 30" flail mower!
  • Thread Starter
#5  
the theory is, for *commercial* production, 30" is about the maximum width that allows you to a. walk/jump over the beds to quickly navigate the garden b. access the rows from both sides for transplanting, harvesting and weeding, it isn't "too far" for most average people to reach everything in the row from either side. The advantage of having as wide a row as is practical to work by hand is that you have more garden and less walkway space.

If i were you I'd standardize on a width compatible with both your power harrow and flail. Obviously if you aren't concerned with a little inefficiency, a 26" flail can work on a 30" bed if you make two passes, or one pass if it's a single row down the middle crop like summer squash or tomatoes etc. If you aren't trying to make money then I don't see why everything needs to be running at max efficiency. Actually 26" beds should be even easier to work with using hand tools than 30", it's just slightly less efficient for crop space. If you're just gardening for your family you'll never have any problems, heck I'm gardening on 1/3rd an acre and we still have big surpluses of many crops, it's frightening how productive well managed gardens can be.

The fairly significant advantage of the power harrow is that it damages soil structure less and doesn't bring up new weed seeds, it's just stirring what material and seeds are already there in the depth of worked soil that is set on the tool. AND it makes nicely packed, flat, perfectly groomed beds which are very important for precise seeding using push type garden seeders. For me that's radishes, beets, carrots, corn, peas and beans, pretty much all other crops I transplant in to gain extra season time by starting them in greenhouse, and to ensure 100 percent of the row space will be occupied by plants (when you seed you never know exactly what you're gonna get coming up)
 
   / Berta 30" flail mower! #6  
Great info - thank you. You just sold me on being a little less efficient and using 26" rows. Im not the tallest guy so having the row a little thinner maybe easier to jump over as well as letting the wife work the row easier.
Thanks for the info!!
 
   / Berta 30" flail mower! #7  
I don't have a power harrow but have been experimenting with a similar technique. I have a transport/depth wheel for my tiller that I can adjust to only till an inch or two deep. So it just cultivates the top of the soil. So I'm doing in essence, "no till" farming but am able to keep the weeds down by cultivation. The only rows that I deep till are carrots and parsnips. I put down manure every year but only incorporate it by tilling with the transport/depth wheel set for one or two inch depth.

So far the garden is at least as productive as when I deep tilled. And there are fewer weeds. The drawback is that it doesn't make a perfectly smooth seedbed due to the transport/depth wheel. So it might be a problem seeding with mechanical seeders.

Yes, it's amazing how much food can be grown in a small plot of land. I don't generally grow starches or grains, but from June through December I grow most of the vegetables for my family. And some fruit. On top of that I store enough to last all winter. Two years ago I grew 109 butternut squash that we ate twice a week all year. Three years ago I grew and pressure canned 339 quarts of organic vegetables. That was a lot of work. We eat at least one quart of some type of home grown, organic cruciferous vegetable every day.
 
   / Berta 30" flail mower! #8  
Wow - that is a lot of squash! That is something I would like for us to grow more of. How many plants do you have?
 
   / Berta 30" flail mower!
  • Thread Starter
#9  
I grew perhaps that much squash this past season and had quite a surplus after taking it to farmer's markets. Due to the sprawling nature of squash, I recommend to use the landscape mulch, burn a hole and transplant into the fabric. Otherwise weeds come up around the plant and you can't really get at them due to how the plants grow, there's no place to move or be able to pull weeds without damaging the squash plants badly. So nip it in the bud w/ the landscape fabric (or you can use lawn/leaf clipping spread down and then transplant into that - effective but not AS effective as landscape)
 
   / Berta 30" flail mower! #10  
I have found that as long as you keep the weeds down around the plants as best as you can, and weed in around the plant while you can get in there, they won't be a problem because the plants grow huge. But some type of mulch would improve the situation and would probably help with insects. Nevertheless, I grow a lot of squash with no mulch. I think that was about 10 hills with 3 plants per hill that produced 109 squash. I cut them in half, deseed, slit the necks lengthwise a few times, salt and pepper, stuff with vegetarian baked beans, cover with sliced onion, and bake for 1 3/4 hours at 350F. Really tasty.

I pick the squash beetles and remove their eggs from the underside of the leaves. Spray the base of the stem with Bt to prevent vine borers. Put two small sticks under the fruit to elevate it a little and keep it from touching the ground. This will prevent the white grubs from burrowing into the squash.

If you store them between 50 and 55F they will last at least until May. We keep them in the basement.
 
 
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