Haven't Given Up Hope For A B2320

[bp fick]

Truly love my BX, and if I could, I'd have a tractor for every project!!!

But in the real universe, everything is a compromise. Today, I ran into a task the BX cannot do, it was expected. It wasn't a surprise. It cannot cultivate taller crops and it cannot pass over potatoes to hill them at the proper time. This was alot of hard, hand work today. Before and after pix below.

If someone has a BX oriented solution, I am all ears. Meanwhile, I still think about that B2320.

 

[EE_Bota]

Truly love my BX, and if I could, I'd have a tractor for every project!!!

But in the real universe, everything is a compromise. Today, I ran into a task the BX cannot do, it was expected. It wasn't a surprise. It cannot cultivate taller crops and it cannot pass over potatoes to hill them at the proper time. This was alot of hard, hand work today. Before and after pix below.

If someone has a BX oriented solution, I am all ears. Meanwhile, I still think about that B2320.

That's a pretty tall order, pun intended. Hard to make the BX taller.

Think about in tobacco growing, the concept of a "sled row" but have a sled row between every row, and call it the BX row.

Depending on how much garden space you have, I wonder if it would be possible to make your rows wide enough for the BX to go through between rows. If so, it might be possible to do the cultivation without passing over the plant. Also, it might be possible to make or modify a hiller that is much like a turn plow such that after a pass is made on both sides and from opposite directions, the row is hilled.

Also, I wonder if you made the rows that were merely tall, but would need no hilling, wide enough to accomodate a BX, would it be possible to plant a row right in the middle of the BX row. That squatty row would be cultivated in the traditional manner, but the neigboring tall rows would thereby be cultivated in the same pass (rather, one side of two tall rows would be cultivated each time a squatty row got cultivated.)

I have no garden, and I have never attempted any of the things I described above. I just thought that would be what I would try if I ever did plant a garden.

 

[schrand]

Nice looking garden! Does that fence work to keep the deer out? I put an 8' fence around my edamame (edible soy beans) to keep the deer out of them, but they went right over it like it wasn't even there! I swear that stuff was like crack cocaine to those deer - they just had to get at it once they had tasted it.
As far as the potato hilling goes, I just use a walk behind rototiller with a 'V' plow attachment on the back to do most of the hilling. Not that you don't have a perfectly valid reason to buy a new tractor! I'm just putting that out there in case you have to do this again before you get the new machine.

 

[bp fick]

Nice looking garden! Does that fence work to keep the deer out?

It's called deer netting, its a poly product. Light and easy to install. So far, so good, I've been watching the "herd" divert and go around. It's a new thing this year. We shall see. BTW, you are looking at 1/3 of the gardens in the photos.

As for walk behind roto tilling, Yeah, that is what I do now, but no attachment. Unless you call a rake or hoe an attachment, but it only goes in my hands. :laughing::laughing: I'm not getting any younger, and this hand work, while enjoyable, takes too big toll on me. Gotta be something else, going forward.

 

[bp fick]

That's a pretty tall order, pun intended. Hard to make the BX taller.

Think about in tobacco growing, the concept of a "sled row" but have a sled row between every row, and call it the BX row.

Gave that some consideration, I did. Productivity, or production is cut in half with 82" rows instead of 42". Maintaining 42" rows while alternating "high" and "low" crops was another thought, but there isn't enough "short" plants to make it work.:laughing:

 

[638]

bp, take a look at this web site. I'm growing taters in straw this year, no hilling or hoeing. Sweet

Growing Potatoes in Straw

 

[oldballs]

:thumbsup:BP that is one beautiful potato garden. I'm envious because this is the first year that I didn't get the potatoes in. I too hill mine with a walk behind tiller, hoe and rake. Used to store about 1000 lbs per year in my cold bin. Then it didn't seem like so much work, but today hilling and harvesting all those spuds without my family of six is just too much. I've heard of that straw method of growing, but never tried it. Back in earlier days( before annexation, leash and gun laws), my Lab kept the deer out of the place. But she is gone now too. Thus what garden I do have is surrounded by that 8 ft deer netting. I hung mine above the 4 ft field fence using 1/2 plastic water pipe with draw ties. The bottom 2 ft also has chicken wire added. Thus no deer or rabbits enter. Now as to the BX, I don't think a good solution is at hand except for the above ideas of using more space. I almost bought the B2620 when shopping, but decided on the BX2660 instead for my current usage which is mostly MMM and FEL work. Having to fence in the various garden plots also complicates using a tractor viz., turning. Darn, I wish it was legal to have a free ranging dog or shoot the over population of deer nowadays.:licking:

 

[EE_Bota]

Truly love my BX, and if I could, I'd have a tractor for every project!!!

But in the real universe, everything is a compromise. Today, I ran into a task the BX cannot do, it was expected. It wasn't a surprise. It cannot cultivate taller crops and it cannot pass over potatoes to hill them at the proper time. This was alot of hard, hand work today. Before and after pix below.

If someone has a BX oriented solution, I am all ears. Meanwhile, I still think about that B2320.

Ok, let me try again with a different idea.
Why not purchase a B2320? It has the following advantages:

1)It what you want to do anyway.

 

[bp fick]

Ok, let me try again with a different idea.
Why not purchase a B2320? It has the following advantages:

1)It what you want to do anyway.

A simple matter of $$$$, but wouldn't that be nice? We shall see. Maybe the tooth fairy will show up this fall? Could happen, right?

 

[wdchyd]

BP,

It's too bad we weren't closer.....I'd love to bring over my new B2320 in exchange for the chance to divert one of your "Herd" right under my tree stand:licking::licking::laughing::laughing: