Best approach / implements for market gardening on beds

[Featherbrained farms]

Hey everyone, after much good advice from this forum I've settled on a Kioti CK2510 to be purchased next March. We've got the paperwork drawn I just want to wait til next spring for delivery. Now I'm turning my mind to implements for soil prep and I'm a bit uncertain and would like advice. We market garden on about 1 acre, including in greenhouses. We used semi permanent beds, by which I mean that I don't undo the beds every year, I simply rebuild them. In that sense, I'm trying to do reduced tillage. Currently I use a walk behind front tine tiller though, so it is very hard to stick to surface tilling. The way I see it I have two options: rototiller or disc harrows. I'm thinking every once and then, use a one shank ripper (slowly) if there is hardpan underneath and to aerate, use disc bedders to rebuild my beds and then do surface tilling (top inches) with a rototiller. But since the tiller is so **** pricey (quoted 2400 for a 42 inches) then obviously non-powered means are also an option.

What are your thoughts?

 

[cphilip]

Id think your on the right track with your thoughts. But Im not a professional. I think you can find a decent tiller for closer to $1600 or so. Ive seen them anyway in my area. If your remote I could understand. I couldn't say what I paid for mine because I traded a larger older one for it. But its probably in that price range. Its a 60" Indian made gear driven one.

That being said is it a 42" one you need to use? Do you want one that will cover your tracks? By that I mean till the tire track width? What is the width of the 2510? Do you want to straddle 42" beds or do yo want to cover the tire tracks? thats going to determine the width of the tiller you need. Mine is an open garden of about 1/8 of an acre so I need to cover the tracks. My 2610 is exactly 5 feet from outside tire to outside tire. So I needed a 60".

 

[DJ54]

I don't know if you are a fan of Facebook, but, there are a few groups on there dedicated to market gardening. There, you'll see a big comeback of the older two wheel, walk behind garden tractors, with cultivators. Much faster in weed cleanup. Some of these guy's are farming up to 5 acres with them, mainly for cultivation, once the crop is planted.

The rage at the time, is the Planet Jr. tractors, & attachments, and push planters, and even wheel hoes. Personally, we've been gardening here since the 50's (my Dad) with the David Bradley tractors sold through Sears. I've been trying to convince a buddy of mine, about using these for nearly 8-10 years. I got hooked up in the groups, because I modify cultivators for my own use, in a pretty large home garden. One fellow just kept adding me to these groups, to share items I've built. Gardening for Market is one group. And, there are a couple Planet Jr. pages. Also one for David Bradley.

The Planet Jr. equipment at this time, is pretty pricey. However, the David Bradley, and Simplicity tractors and implements are way more reasonable on price, and much easier to repower, if needed.

There are some pretty neat set ups, including finger weeders, that pretty much eliminate hoeing between row crops. They can be attached to almost any walk behind cultivator, with some modification to the cultivators. A bit pricey for me, just having a home garden, but well worth it, if your selling your produce for profit. Labor cost, and time savings seem to be well worth it to these fellows.

Since the growing season has pretty well come to a close, might be worth your time to at least check them out. Lots of info shared on crops, and equipment.

 

[jeff9366]

BUCKEYE TRACTOR COMPANY produces mostly market garden implements:

Buckeye Tractor Co


A one shank Subsoiler is more a construction implement. Instead consider a Field Cultivator; an agricultural implement and one of the first implements designed for the tractor Three Point Hitch.

Field Cultivators and Chisel Plows have parabolic shaped shanks which orient the points hoizontally, moving through the soil at the depth you determine with Top Link adjustment. You can pull 3-4 Field Cultivator tines with the same draft resistance to tractor forward motion as a single shank Subsoiler, and soil surface will be considerably smoother after implement passes.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/339095-dirt-dog-all-purpose-plow.html?highlight=

In Photo #2 Field Cultivator tines are sunk 13". Horsepower required in moist soil = 5-horsepower per tine.

 

[Featherbrained farms]

Fixed my location, I added that... I'm in Eastern Ontario.

 

[Featherbrained farms]

Thanks for this... my wife and I certainly have thought about 2 wheel tractors. Here's the issue though, the rest of our farm (pastured chickens) requires a full tractor with a FEL for manure management. We also use the four wheel tractor for snow removal and moving heavy stuff. Most importantly, I move several cords of firewood a year. Additionally, my wife farms full time (I don't) and she's tiny, so two wheel tractors can be difficult to manage. Nevertheless, we are applying many of the principles of Fortier and Coleman and co... we plant cover crops, do permanent beds, etc. We do manual hoeing with a wheel or hand hoe, and when it gets bad we do plasticulture. We plan on adapting our practices to a tractor, such as cultivating with a drawbar when the plants are young and then going manual. Also, the ground clearance on,say, the BCS is not that great, so we would not gain much cultivating time before having to switch manual - I won't lie, some BCS implements are awesome (rotary harrows!) but most things can be finagled with a 4-wheel tractor. And... 4 wheel tractors are fun

 

[DJ54]

I'm not trying to talk you out of a large tractor. The only thing I do with my walk behinds is cultivate, and make hill row using a disk, turned inward, to throw the dirt. I plow, and work it down with my Super C, or, IH 240 utility.

You can get more crops, off the same space, with narrower row spacing. Mine are set for 30", except for tomatoes, which I space at 6'. Depending on the crop, some guy's are down to 12"-15" row spacing, with onions, garlic, etc. with tooling that will adjust to that width, or build custom tooling. Basically flat bar stock, and clamps to hold shanks.

The Planet Jr. B series tractor would be easy for your wife to handle, and a couple of the Simplicity tractors are pretty small too, and easy to handle. Cultivating is a lot easier on the soil structure too. I only cultivate maybe 1-1/2" - 2" deep, just fighting the weed seed in the top layer. Most I've seen tilling go deeper, which only brings more weed seed to the top to germinate.

Maybe if you get bored this winter, you can come check out some of the groups. Many are in the U.S., but quite a few from Canada, and even other parts of the world. It's pretty interesting, to see the various crops grown, worldwide.

 

[Featherbrained farms]

I'm not trying to talk you out of a large tractor. The only thing I do with my walk behinds is cultivate, and make hill row using a disk, turned inward, to throw the dirt. I plow, and work it down with my Super C, or, IH 240 utility.

You can get more crops, off the same space, with narrower row spacing. Mine are set for 30", except for tomatoes, which I space at 6'. Depending on the crop, some guy's are down to 12"-15" row spacing, with onions, garlic, etc. with tooling that will adjust to that width, or build custom tooling. Basically flat bar stock, and clamps to hold shanks.

The Planet Jr. B series tractor would be easy for your wife to handle, and a couple of the Simplicity tractors are pretty small too, and easy to handle. Cultivating is a lot easier on the soil structure too. I only cultivate maybe 1-1/2" - 2" deep, just fighting the weed seed in the top layer. Most I've seen tilling go deeper, which only brings more weed seed to the top to germinate.

Maybe if you get bored this winter, you can come check out some of the groups. Many are in the U.S., but quite a few from Canada, and even other parts of the world. It's pretty interesting, to see the various crops grown, worldwide.

I have a few questions for you. So, we have been doing beds as opposed to rows because most of the books we had really pushed beds, particularly permanent beds: better drainage, better warming in the spring, etc. Then on the beds I<ve been applying that kind of tighter spacing. But you seem to be doing rows. In your view, would you favour rows over beds? Also, with this kind of row spacing, are you actually able to get a 2-wheel tractor in between? My beds are 30 inches beds and on those beds I'll typically have four rows of carrots, three of onions, two of lettuce, one for all fruits, 4 of peas, three of beans, etc...

 

[Catman8]

Buckeye Tractor Co

 

[jeff9366]

Consider this highly adjustable Tool Bar Cultivator:

VIDEO: Weed Control Using Cultivators - July 2�1� - Growing a Garden - YouTube