low hoop gardening, 3 to 4 ft tiller?

[saunders hill]

I am planning on establishing 100 ft rows of garden bed and utilizing low hoop coverage. the beds will be 3 or 4 ft wide and have small dia logs as a weed barrier running full length. I plan on straddling the beds with my kub mx5100 and am thinking a 3 ft wide tiller is what I need. any of you gone to raised bed or hoop style gardening? Any input would be appreciated.

[Baby Grand]

Get a tiller that will cover your wheel tracks - 5 or 6 foot for yours? Remove sets of tines to get the 3' till width you need. Now you have a tiller the right width that is built to handle the HP your tractor dishes and that can be converted back to full width if you ever feel the need to do so.

[saunders hill]

that makes a ton of sense!

[nybirdman]

I am not following your need for a three ft.tiller?I use a 62in.tiller and a hiller to make raised beds.I understand 3ft.hoops,but you can mulch between rows and cultivate to keep weeds down between.
On second thought..obviously you can't cultivate with raised hoops,my bad.Still don't follow the only 3ft.till.

[ZDB]

We use 7"raised beds with 4' plastic mulch for 400' rows of strawberries and vegetables. (Small CSA you pick operation.)

What is your reason for row covers? Earlier or later production? We use some to extend the end of season for hot peppers and some tomato crops.

for high traffic walkways we cover crop 78" wide between plastic rows with oats/clover mix and mow at first boot. gives a nice straw mulch in summer with a good clover walkway at harvest.

For low traffic areas we cultivate between tightly spaced plastic rows with a tool bar cultivator.

[ZDB]

We disk to level and smooth the plots then finish with a 72" tiller.

Our beds top out at just over 24" wide.

You may want to use a 5' tiller to cover your tracks or look to a 48" with offset capability if 4' is all you want to till.

do you have any means to control weed growth between rows?

[Luremaker]

for high traffic walkways we cover crop 78" wide between plastic rows with oats/clover mix and mow at first boot. gives a nice straw mulch in summer with a good clover walkway at harvest....

Do you broadcast the oats/clover mix or use a seed drill?

[ZDB]

We have been broadcast seeding for the past few years but would really like a 6' drill of some sort. We have a pretty good hand held unit and a push style.
I have a 3pt hopper style for cover cropping larger plots.


According to my wife the machine budget hasn't allowed for anything yet!
Although we may try to pick up a used drop spreader or grain drill this year.

[saunders hill]

the hoops are for early start and end of season extension. May even try winter growing cold hardy greens. I am laying 6 inch logs as a weed barrier on each side of the beds buried at ground level. these will run full length of the bed and will be 4 ft inside width. they say the logs rotting create a favorable soil condition. I would space these rows wide enough to work in between and mulch the walkways with wood chips and bark mulch. spaced so my tires are on walkways and I would be able to till the beds. being in new hampshire the soil I am establishing these beds in is stone and sand so it will be removed, de stoned, mixed with loam, manure, and compost and the beds will be refilled.
sounds like alot of work but once established they need to be worked. no fertile river bottom here just stone..............