Garden Implement Basics for the Beginner

[Don87]

Travis R-- the KK tiller is right down the road from me.. Notice the phone number.. now go to the KK offical site and look up dealers in TN and see the phone number... I have talked to the guy about new tillers in the past and was close to getting one from him when the tiller I got came up.. Dont know about this one?? Still like my Italian made one better.

AndyG

I'm can't 'diss' the KK tillers, my BIL has the KK 72 inch tiller that he is using behind his JD790. It does a good job.

But what I can say, is as far quality of the tilled ground, My italian made Bush Hog does just as good a job as the KK(if not a little better).:thumbsup:

 

[Agrantina]

Yes- the Bush Hog is an Italian made one..Good tiller..Buddy of mine has a 48 inch KK that we have used for years.. Only problem was lower arm pins would slightly bend after hrs of use. I fixed with a small welded brace. Great tillers those KK.. I just like the fit and finish of the Italian made ones.. Just seem to be made with alittle more quality, but you pay for some of those Italian jobs..

I have always said the finest shotguns in the WORLD are made in Italy. So they have figured out there machining.. ALOT of metal machining started in the gun and farm equipment..:confused2:

AndyG

 

[nybirdman]

Don87
I don't think you can bolt direct to where the cultivators are,that's why I fabricated the frame-work.They are horizontal and you need to be vertical.
As far as deer go;I purchased PLOT SAVER(Cabela's) worked well for the deer;but the rabbits had a feast.
The cultivator is at the other property,if you need some dimensions I can get them for you.

 

[Don87]

Don87
I don't think you can bolt direct to where the cultivators are,that's why I fabricated the frame-work.They are horizontal and you need to be vertical. As far as deer go;I purchased PLOT SAVER(Cabela's) worked well for the deer;but the rabbits had a feast.
The cultivator is at the other property,if you need some dimensions I can get them for you.

Thanks for the reply, wasn't sure if it would work or not. haven't purchased the discs yet, but, I will be soon. Either way, they are going on the cultivator.

 

[RalphVa]

I garden organically and have a 50 by 75 garden plot done in 20 raised rows. It provides plenty of veggies for us and lots of friends and doesn't work me to death, but still is plenty of work.

Initially, I broke up the (mostly) fescue grass with a Gravely rotary plow. If I had to do it again, I'd likely rent a big tiller, as I'd only need to use it for the initial removal of the grass. I recommend killing the grass first with Roundup. I didn't do this but would do it if doing it again. Roundup doesn't stay in the soil; so, it would fit with later organic pursuits.

I first made some raised rows with the rotary plow but later ripped it up with my soil ripper and used some disc hillers (pics below of these) to make new rows. Went from 13 rows with the rotary plow to 20 with the disc hilers, just because the JD could do the rows much neater and closer. Haven't used the disc hiller or soil ripper since. I've covered between the rows with weed screening or plastic and mulch the raised rows.

You can get both a soil ripper (e.g. like the "cultivator" tines now) and disc hiler from Agri Supply using their Keulavator rig to mount either. The discs I used were 20".

Ralph

 

[oldballs]

Three acres is a big organic garden, especially for a beginner. I would get the basics for tilling, a plow and disc or rototiller, worry more about learning about growing plants organically.

It doesn't take much work to get the ground ready to plant. It can be a lot of work if you get some kind of blight or insect that attacks your plants; being new you could loose most of them before you even knew there was a problem, especially if you don't use hybrid seeds that have resistance to a lot of common problems.

Start small, learn the basics of organic gardening, enlarge your garden as you go. I actually would be surprised if you ever decide to use the entire 3 acres unless you intend to sell a LOT of produce, and do a LOT of work.

:thumbsup: I agree with Argosy. If all the attachments were free, there is so much to learn. I'd start small, maybe do several 50 x 100 plots. There is a lot of labor and learning involved even if you are in it just as a hobby vs trying to make a buck. As to organic gardening, that's almost up there with global warming IMO. Diesel fuel, oil, antifreeze and lots of money ain't organic. Then there is the labor of harvesting, canning, storing in large quantites. I had a wife and four kids to do much of this and without a tractor...just an 8 HP front tine tiller, several hoes, rakes and lots of grunt. We had 20 trees in an orchard, a raspberry patch, 40 x 60 strawberry patch, 50 x 100 potato/onion patch and then the main garden 50 x 100 for corn, beans, tomatoes etc. Fertilizer, chemicals, lime, soil conditioners, straw, water, etc is expensive. I tried to use as little as possible and live with the losses. The dog kept the deer/squirrels/rabbits out as a rule. But I always wished for an occassional plowing. Now that I have a tractor, I may try some garden attachments even though I just give it all away now. How's that for a different view?

 

[bp fick]

NatureGirl admitted that her new Kubota is her first tractor and she came to learn about attachments for a beginner.

But I believe some of us ought not jump to the conclusion that she is also a novice about gardening. Until she states that, I wouldn't necessarily draw that immediate conclusion.

Given her chosen screen name, and her confessed preference for organic gardening, can we not give her the courtesy of respecting her desires on taking the organic route? Linking it to "global warming" is a rather left handed way of of dismissing the entire notion of organic gardening as frivolous and not particularly helpful to find answers to her implement questions.

Agree or disagree about the virtues of organic or sustainable approaches to agriculture. That's fine. Let's try and keep this conversation on point and respectful of differing opinions.

Where I stand on these matters is pretty obvious. But I try hard not to "preach" about it, but try to extend others the courtesy of farming as they see fit, even if it is a vastly different approach to my own. Sorry, done now. Didn't mean to go on about it.

 

[bilrus61]

Congratulations on your tractor! Very exciting isn't it? You'll find that changing implements is a chore. Maybe its just me but changing back and forth from a plow/disk/harrow/cultipacker gets old in a hurry. I have just come down to using a tiller for everything and leaving it on the tractor all the time except for the brush mower. Since your wanting to go orangic a tiller is great for that as it gives weeds/grass a very good kill when you till. Till the garden and then wait a week and till it again. I can grow sweet corn without even hoeing out the row by tilling once a week for three weeks. Yeah the corn is bit trashy but it makes good sized ears and that way I never even touch a hoe.

Your spot looks rich and not very rocky to me. A tiller will toss rocks up to the surface and you can then ride along while someone tosses in the bigger rocks into your bucket. You would be amazed how just 2 or 3 hours of this will make a difference in your garden. I have all the attachments and just use a tiller now.

You can find good deals on old equipment just riding around the country roads. Stop and see if that old grown over implement is for sale.

I like to keep part of my garden fallow for next year. Cover crops are great at building the soil. The cheapest is black oil sunflowers. I just use bird seed. 50 pounds for about 15 bucks. I plant the sunflowers and then till them under when they get about 2 feet tall. They build the soil and shade out the weeds. I do put a little fertilizer on them.

Your tractor has 30 pto horsepower and is just over 50 inches wide so that makes a 5 foot tiller a good bet for you. For your personal private garden use, just about any tiller will do the job and last forever. Keep a eye out on Craigslist for a bargain. Resist the huge urge you have to buy all the different implements for your new baby. Put the money in a good tiller then decide if and what other things you need after you try that for a month or two.

Lots of Amish around here and they make use of plastic mulch for weed control and to conserve soil moisture. The worse you need a rain on your garden the harder it is to get one!......good luck and have fun!

 

[oldballs]

Among others, BP, you have always made valuable contributions to the site and to this thread in particular. The "nature girl" (girl I guess), did say that she is a beginner. My focus was on starting small and not taking on too much because it can be quite disappointing. The side comment about organic methods was disparaging to your business. Sorry about that, but to my knowledge we don't have to be PC to post. And, "Yes", i do get most of my excercise.....jumping to conclusions....and brushing my teeth now that I'm and old geezer.

 

[bp fick]

Among others, BP, you have always made valuable contributions to the site and to this thread in particular. The "nature girl" (girl I guess), did say that she is a beginner. My focus was on starting small and not taking on too much because it can be quite disappointing. The side comment about organic methods was disparaging to your business. Sorry about that, but to my knowledge we don't have to be PC to post. And, "Yes", i do get most of my excercise.....jumping to conclusions....and brushing my teeth now that I'm and old geezer.

No problems here, good buddy. No problems here.:thumbsup:

NatureGirl lists in her bio that she is a professional landscape designer. i suspect that while she's green to tractors/implements, she's got a very green thumb!!! Just a guess. We'll see.