Earth Tools Double Ridger question

[vdeal]

First time poster but long time BCS user. I have a question about the Aldo Biagioli Bedshaper (Double Ridger) sold by Earth Tools. My garden consists of permanent raised beds built by hand. These are not beds enclosed with beams, boards, blocks, etc., but merely permanent mounds. Over the years the beds have widened a bit and soil has worked it's way down into the intervening paths from tilling, gravity, etc. I want an implement that I can attach to my BCS tractor and run down the paths and push the soil back up onto the beds some. Chris at EarthTools suggested the double ridger and I was interested in what the folks here think. If it would work for this job I see being able to use it to hill potatoes also. The one video online that I could find was very low quality and did not impress me but I'm open to ideas. Thanks.

 

[vdeal]

OK, surprised that no one has responded. Here is the implement I'm talking about -

EarthTools also has this - which might work better at cleaning out the paths but would be semi-worthless for hilling potatoes. If those plows on this one were one way it might be ideal. I've also thought about the adjustable ridger but I'm not sure it's wide enough.

BTW - EarthTools really needs to add some higher resolution photos of the implements IMO.

 

[Ford850]

My BCS pulls a single hiller (or v-plow, or whatever they call it), which is just like one of the sides in your double picture from Earth Tools (second pic). I hill potatoes with it, but my rows are spaced accordingly. You could remove the 2 outside wings on that double hiller to have a true (or truer?) hiller.

 

[ferrari99]

We have an adjustable ridger it is adjustable from 12in to 21in. For cleaning your paths I think it would be great, but not so good at hilling potatoes we used ours to dig a trench to plant potatoes and also used it to cover them up again it attaches at the back of the rotary hoe so you can kind of dig then hill in one pass (except when covering potatoes it digs them up!). How is the bedshaper going to work to hill potatoes?
This is what we have.

 

[vdeal]

Thanks ferrari,

I plant my potatoes in the beds also so I would straddle them with my BCS and turn the discs in and close to hill the potatoes. Still trying to decide. The bed shaper is awfully expensive at $350 for what you get. Chris at Earth Tools is saying I also need a new tool carrier but I can't see it. I already have a BCS moldboard plow with drawbar and tool carrier that looks like the one on ET's site (hard to see because of the small image sizes). I found a better pic on the Aldo Biagioli website that seems to confirm that I'm right but we'll see. The problem with the adjustable ridger you show is that it hooks behind the tiller and I'm not tilling the paths. The one that hooks onto the drawbar would be a better option. Maybe I'll just adjust my plow and do each side of the bed one at a time - certainly a lot cheaper.

 

[Hiptfarms]

Why not a turn plow? Seems you could go one direction and turn the soil onto the bed. Just a thought.

 

[vdeal]

You mean a moldboard plow? I have one of those and may use it. Was just hoping to do two beds at once.

BTW, if anyone has one of the bed shapers with the discs for sale I would be interested.

 

[Hiptfarms]

Yes I mean a moldboard plow. Down here we call em turn plows.
Good luck with getting your beds back in shape.

 

[farmerboybill]

Did Chris know you're going to be doing this with a 720? You're going to need a lot of weight and bigger tires to pull the double ridger. It can be done. I dug potatoes with a 730 with 100 lbs of weight on each side, 6-12-23 tires, and free-wheel devices. I'm not sure the idea of hilling potatoes is going to work unless you turn the disks to throw out and drive between the rows. With the clearance under the engine and transmission, you wouldn't be able to hill them past about 4 inches without damaging the plants. if you have enough weight and tires, you could buy 2 more disks and hill two rows at a time, though...

Your tool carrier *should* be fine for the ridger. Post pics to be sure.

 

[vdeal]

fbb,

Chris never inquired about the model. In fact the potato hilling was merely a secondary benefit (BTW, I have 6 to 7 inches clearance under my tractor). The main use was to use the device to clean out my paths and push some of the soil back up onto the beds. For the amount it costs I'm probably just going to use my moldboard plow and do one side at a time, though if I can pull the plow through unplowed ground the double ridger through worked, soft ground would be a breeze. I will post the tool carrier pics later.

 

[vdeal]

Here are some pics of my tool carrier. Chris still insists that it won't work because of "alignment" issues.

 

[ferrari99]

Do you think the plow is worth it? With the weight of your machine how does it go?

 

[vdeal]

The plow works fine for me. It's important that the ground be a bit moist. I use it mainly to remove sod and for that it does a very nice job. I have used it before for hilling and will likely do so again this year. I'll be using it to remove sod from an area where I'm planting grapes fairly soon. It's a keeper for me.

 

[farmerboybill]

I just looked in thier price list, and they do have two carriers - one for the plow and one for the cultivators. I would trust his judgement. There must be something different between them.

 

[farm23]

I have not been here for some time so I may have missed something. I also have raised beds and what I do is run my tiller between the beds and then use my rotary plow to throw the dirt back on the raised bed. It works for me and is fast.