Vegetable farm equipment

[Mud2Money]

Hi everyone. We have a small vegetable farm. Being only a few people we try to mechanize things like weed control etc.

My self I like to fabricate what ever I can from the scrap pile.

What are some implements you guys have made ? Currently working on a Diamond tool bar. I’m going to mount my bed shapers on it , cultivators etc. I plan to either get the clamps and stretch the frame or make another tool bar. I’d like to make a mulch layer setup.

 

[bmaverick]

Hi everyone. We have a small vegetable farm. Being only a few people we try to mechanize things like weed control etc.

My self I like to fabricate what ever I can from the scrap pile.

What are some implements you guys have made ? Currently working on a Diamond tool bar. I’m going to mount my bed shapers on it , cultivators etc. I plan to either get the clamps and stretch the frame or make another tool bar. I’d like to make a mulch layer setup.

Ah, you are from the MI thumb area. Depending the area, some of the soil is alright and other locations like solid clay.

Composting and disc harrowing work great together.

Planting rows about 4FT apart for large plants allows mowers to keep the weeds down. Work well for potatoes too.

 

[workinonit]

I have a 3 tractor fleet of Farmall 140s. Cole planters, fertilizer distributors for each tractor and all the sweeps, hillers and rolling cultivators. I plant on 4 foot rows and can easily control weeds and grass/weeds with Treflan and Atrazine. I've looked at the bedding/rolling implements but that's just too much trouble for my little operation.

 

[Mud2Money]

Yeah I’ve been doing 3-4’ rows depending on the crop , and yes I’m a native thumb bum lol. The thumb either seems like muck land or hard clay for the most part. I’m 1/4 mile off the lake and it’s hard clay here. I’ve been subsoiling the last few years to combat water issues and that’s greatly helped with our soil.

I have a 49 case sc I just recently got with the full set of cultivators. I’ll be using it for sure. Vegetable implements can be cheap or expensive depending what you need.

I built my own bed shaper from some large I-beam I had laying around. It works well and adjustable for bed width. I had it on my 7’ tiller. I use a old ford cultivator but it’s pretty light. I’m going to transfer the cultivators to my new tool bar cause it’s heavier. I have two Holland disc transplanters set up for close spaced crops.

 

[old and tired]

Just came across this post... look functional for weeding... linking the post:

Culti-weeder results....

FINALLY got to really work with the culti-weeder today. First run looked like you drug a box blade over the hard clay I have for dirt. So, back to the shop and fab'd up two long and skinny teeth and welded them on the blade of the culti-weeder in hopes of better ground penitration. That was...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[Mud2Money]

Just spotted that as well this morning. No fab work today just lots of moving plants. Just moved over 700 tomatoes into our greenhouse, a few hundred cabbage , cauliflower , and broccoli.

 

[farmideas]

Hi everyone. We have a small vegetable farm. Being only a few people we try to mechanize things like weed control etc.

My self I like to fabricate what ever I can from the scrap pile.

What are some implements you guys have made ? Currently working on a Diamond tool bar. I’m going to mount my bed shapers on it , cultivators etc. I plan to either get the clamps and stretch the frame or make another tool bar. I’d like to make a mulch layer setup.

Practical Farm Ideas recently featured. (Vol 32 - 4) a sit-on buggy that straddles a 4ft bed, powered by battery, motor and drive off an electric bike, foot operated throttle and steering so both hands free for picking, weeding etc. w: farmideas.co.uk.

 

[rScotty]

I have a 3 tractor fleet of Farmall 140s. Cole planters, fertilizer distributors for each tractor and all the sweeps, hillers and rolling cultivators. I plant on 4 foot rows and can easily control weeds and grass/weeds with Treflan and Atrazine. I've looked at the bedding/rolling implements but that's just too much trouble for my little operation.

I can't imagine a better tractor for gardens than those old Farmalls. A tractor built to last forever.

Farmall built dozens of attatchments for them, and you used to be able to pick them up for scrap prices.
Probably still can.

I'm curious if you use the original 2pt Fast Hitch or have put on an aftermarket 3pt?
rScotty

 

[2manyrocks]

Does anybody actually make anything new today that even compares to the Farmall 140s?

 

[rScotty]

Does anybody actually make anything new today that even compares to the Farmall 140s?

I don't know of anything new that combines low tech, high crop, quiet, durable, and inexpensive.
I don't even know if our industry could do those things today. The Farmall 100s were from an era when cast steel was inexpensive and there was a lot of unused industrial capacity. And even at the time their design emphasized basic technology and simple design.

But there seem to be used Farmalls just sitting everywhere you look in rural USA. I've wondered just how much it would cost to take an old one and make it work like new again.
I'd bet there is someone somewhere doing that very thing. Hope so, anyway.
rScotty

 

[bmaverick]

Does anybody actually make anything new today that even compares to the Farmall 140s?

This is the perfect home garden tractor other than the vintage Cub Cadets.

Why is it sooooo good, it's compact, small, and the weight will not compress the garden down while working it. I have a Yanmar and I have to do a double pass to work small garden plots due to the size and weight of my machine.

This Farmall size is the perfect type.

Model A, Super-A, Cub 12Hp, 100, 130, 140 are a good size too, don't go bigger.

Shop around for a good machine and not a beater. There are clubs too for these smaller machines.

 

[Mud2Money]

Still a few old allis G’s around here. One vegetable farm has it setup with baskets for weeding muck land onions. Tilmor makes a custom ag tractor still. Other then that, not much for options when it comes to specialty vegetables.

 

[bmaverick]

Yanmar has the SA series, yet who will buy a $16K+ machine to garden with for the base SA221 model?

A person can buy a low hour Yanmar Cub Cadet for under $7K for the SC2400.
Right now, a restored Fredricks YM machine is priced over this more modern model.

And this one was a STEAL of a deal as it had the mid mower, 3-point and loader,

This machine would be great for gardens. Loader move the compost and mulch, cut your homestead lawn, and just add a 3-point PTO tiller. PERFECT!

 

[workinonit]

I can't imagine a better tractor for gardens than those old Farmalls. A tractor built to last forever.

Farmall built dozens of attatchments for them, and you used to be able to pick them up for scrap prices.
Probably still can.

I'm curious if you use the original 2pt Fast Hitch or have put on an aftermarket 3pt?
rScotty

There has never been made a better one row farming tractor. all of us in the south know their value because we rode on them so much plowing tobacco. That's what they were used for here for 50 years. Mine all have the fast hitch and belly cultivators. I don't pull anything behind mine except a planter and middle buster. The days of getting them cheap are long gone.

 

[Mud2Money]

Sadly yes. Cheap old iron is just about gone these days. At least highly versatile older ones. Still find some cubs and As with lots of attachments around here but they are getting harder. Lots goes to scrap around here. I’m always on the lookout for implements for my sc.