Mechanical cultivation for weeds

[firefighter9208]

I've been meaning to get it printed. I was on my Kubota M4800 getting ground ready to plant the pumpkins. I looked up and saw grandad on the hilltop plowing. I took that picture with my Motorola Droid cell phone.

Chris

 

[bjr]

The high wheel small garden tractors are hard to find. I've 35hp 4 wheel drive Jinma and was thinking of putting a farmer built midmount cultvator on it. I've posted question about doing so, but, I must of been the only one that wanted to mount a cultvator in the middle of a modern tractor. Ground clearance will be a issue for sure. I've considered putting 4" taller tire all the way around, but then, besides the initial cost of the wheels and tires, the speed of the tractor would increase some as well. Has anyone ever mid mounted a cultivator on a newer 4 wheel drive tractor? bjr

 

[chrisdvorak]

yes, they are high wheeled and offset for better visibility.

 

[bp fick]

Remember the old adage. "Best time to cultivate or hoe for weeds is before you see them."

 

[flusher]

Not wanting to spray 10 acres of row crops for weeds every year, is getting a dedicated cultivator like a Farmall Cub, or Model A, or 140 or Super C still a realistic method of weed control? Or is using a high wheeled tractor and cultivators a technology that is past it's time?

Thanks for the input.

I have a 1948 Farmall Cub and a 1951 Farmall Super A. You can find these models pretty regularly on eBay and Craigslist (where I found these two). I paid $1100 for the Cub and $1300 for the Super A. Why not invest in something like this and try cultivating with them for a while? If you don't like it, you can sell the tractor pretty easily.

Good luck.

 

[Duffster]

According to the USDA, 70+% of the 2011 corn and cotton acreage and 94% of the 2011 soybean acreage was planted with herbicide-tolerant (HT) varieties, all up from minuscule amounts in 1996 (ERS/USDA Data - Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S.). So, cultivation is still taking place on some acreage, but that acreage is dwindling. I suspect that some acreage will continue to be cultivated by organic row-crop producers.

Those numbers tell us the percentage of GE-HT crops planted. The bulk of the balance are still most likely sprayed with herbicide.

 

[JoeBiscuit]

Thanks for the input guys. It's good to know people are still growing w/o constant spraying.

ChrisD: That high wheel kubota is a NICE looking tractor. I'd hope to be able to move up to a dedicated tractor that nice one day. Until then I'll probably start with an older/smaller machine.

Flusher: I've looked at some older machines, but don't have any experience with any of them. Obviously the cub has some appeal with it's smaller size, and the A has more power and ground clearance. If you've used the two machines, which would be your go to choice for dedicated cultivating?

Thanks,

 

[jfay]

You would be better off with a Super A, 100, 130 or 140. Great cultivating tractor and better availability of parts and attachments, both new and used. Not much of a price difference over a Cub.

 

[flusher]

Thanks for the input guys. It's good to know people are still growing w/o constant spraying.

ChrisD: That high wheel kubota is a NICE looking tractor. I'd hope to be able to move up to a dedicated tractor that nice one day. Until then I'll probably start with an older/smaller machine.

Flusher: I've looked at some older machines, but don't have any experience with any of them. Obviously the cub has some appeal with it's smaller size, and the A has more power and ground clearance. If you've used the two machines, which would be your go to choice for dedicated cultivating?

Thanks,

My Cub and Super A are retired parade tractors. If I had to use one for cultivation, I'd chose the Super A (more power, 3pt hitch gives more choices for implements).

 

[YesDeere]

I am still setting up the cultivators on my great grandfathers 48 cub. Ran out of time for the early grow season. But I plan on using it for kale and collards this fall. I need 2 more shanks for the sweeps. Just rebuilt the carb and clean her all up. Sure is a fun little tractor. Also has quite a following. Just google farmall cub