What implements are best for my garden plot?

[trollingfever]

I had a 50x75 garden plot for about 13 years until I got congestive heart failure and gave it up in favor of 7 raised beds up here near the house. I originally tilled up the tall fescue and made raised rows with a Gravely rotary plow. After I got the JD 4010 (more like a JD 2019 today if they existed in this hp) in 2004. A friend of mine gave me an old soil ripper from his JD 18 hp gas tractor. I converted it to 3ph and retilled the garden. Then I mounted some big discs on it and made 20 raised rows perpendicular to the 75' dimension. Pictures below. You can make this same rig today with a Keulavator ordered online.

Then I went no till. Mainly what I did was haul mulch for the raised rows. Between rows, I placed plastic to keep the weeds down. Picture of mulch hauler below, too.

Ralph

thanks, i sure like the looks of what you built. the mulch hauler looks like its built off a king butter carryall? my keen interest is how you build the 2-2.5" cross bar and attach the no till style chisel plow? i haven't found 1 to purchase, but yours looks very strong. where did you get it, or parts to build it?

thanks
joseph

 

[xtruckerbob]

A BX is a great size for your garden. The plants you named are going to be too big to cuiltivate no matter what size tractor you have.--My garden closest to the house is 18 rows x 800 feet long. The rows are set on 44" centers. I don't have a tiller so I use a middle buster, then I disc it several times before using a home made hiller. I don't have a problem with weeds because I spray Roundup in the spring and wait 2 weeks before working my garden. After my plants get to 6-8 inches I spray "Select" (mostly between the plants on top of the row) for weed control which is good for most gardens plants. I have a 1 row cultivator I use ever 2 to 3 weeks to get rid of the few weeds that do grow but mostly because it good.

 

[RalphVa]

Joseph,

That big bar is what's called a "tool bar" from JD M days (50s; I think). A friend with it and an old M gave it to me. I designed the thing to keep the hitch from rotating on the 3 ph, and he did the work in a machine shop. The bar attached to a draw bar on the M. I then designed the hardware to attach another top link to enable the back to be lifted. Not sure how the M lifted the back of the thing. The bar actually had to have about 8 to 10" cut off it to fit within the tires of the JD 4010. I then bought the big discs from Agri Supply.

You can buy a similar bar and cultivator tines from Agri Supply, called a Keulavator. Then you can buy the discs and attachment hardware for them from the Agri Supply website as well.

Ralph