Tractor Gardening Noob

I'm completely new to the tractor gardening arena. I'm getting a moldboard plow and have a set of cultivators (image below). I'm looking at disc harrows, wondering if they're needed too, but I've never worked the soil with a garden tractor before. I'll be working virgin land too, if that make a difference.

I've tried looking online and cannot seem to find a Tractor Gardening for Idiots guide anywhere. I want to know what implements to use when and for what outcome. The plow is easy, a tiller is easy.. it's the cultivators, discs, and all other items that I'm not so sure on.

I need to plant my crops in raised rows (to prevent erosion or flooding) and want everything from tomatoes to potatoes to melons.

[finsruskw]

What do you have to pull these with is the first consideration?

If you don't have ag tires or turfs w/chains plus lots of weight, you re going to be in for lots of frustration. Especially if you are dealing w/unbroken sod ground.

If you have a disc, I'd disc the crap out of it in both directions before trying to plow. You will need lots of weight to make it work though.

Once you get set up and through the first season, it gets easier.
I always fall plow and the till in the spring. Makes for perfect seed beds.

How big a garden are you planning size wise?

Good Luck!!

[J-Mech]

You should NOT disk before plowing. Plows work far better with firm soil than soft.

How can we teach you how to be a farmer in thread.....

Trial and error. If you are using raised beds or plan to plant on a ridge, that cultivator will be of no use. I'm not sure why you would need to go ridge plant and raised beds in a garden. If the area you want to garden is low.... haul dirt in and raise the area.

[drglinski]

Originally Posted by J-Mech

You should NOT disk before plowing. Plows work far better with firm soil than soft.

.

X2. Discing is for after plowing.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by drglinski

X2. Discing is for after plowing.

I'll be using my 122 with ag tires and wheel weights. I'm also considering loading the tires, but want to see how plowing goes before I go through that.

I'll put a photo of the main garden area below. I would say it's about an acre in this area. We have plans to do another 2-3 garden plots on the land elsewhere. They will be on sloping land. The main garden space is bordered by a creek that flows about 4' below the grade of this land. We did some small scale gardening (see photo) this summer and lost some seeds due to heavy rain and flooding/washing-out of the beds. That (plus the plan for potatoes) is why I want to raise up the planting beds some, which is semi-naturally done when using a tractor for gardening--the tires compress the non-planting areas as you drive. Hauling in dirt for raising the land is not an option.

Anywho... sounds like a plow and set of discs are the main implements. What about the cultivator set, any real use for it other than scratching ground and doing some weeding of rows? I wondered about getting a couple of discs and using the cultivator as a tool bar to hill up my rows for potatoes, etc.

I'm only new to tractor-style gardening. I've gardened in raised beds for many years.

[64fleetside]

I was kinda disappointed with the cultivator performance. This year I have added weights and duck foot shovels versus the chisel points.

Originally Posted by 64fleetside

I was kinda disappointed with the cultivator performance. This year I have added weights and duck foot shovels versus the chisel points.

Thanks! I was a little skeptical about how well the points were going to do. Kinda seemed "close enough to sell" for back in the day, while there are better designed feet nowadays.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by MrSam

while there are better designed feet nowadays.

Shovels


If the creek is that close, I'd cut a ditch to drain the garden.

A garden tractor won't compact the soil enough for the seed area to be "raised". If you are using a cultivator the right way, you can ridge the dirt when the crop gets larger. While it is small, the only way you can do that is to plant on a ridge, but that will be tough with a GT. You would really need to step up to a compact tractor. The GT's just aren't tall enough for what the farming world calls "ridge till".

A tiller is far more useful than a Brinly disk. While I own and use one, it really doesn't work very well. The angle of the disk blades isn't steep enough, and it's hard to get it to do much tillage. The 3pt version that was built is far better than the sleeve hitch version. I'd suggest finding a mounted tiller for the rear before getting a disk. By the time you disk the plowed ground enough times that you make a good seed bed, you will have it packed so tight it will not raise a good crop.

Check out these threads:

http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=39111

http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=33055

[Yosemite Sam]

I'm not knocking plowing, I just don't do it. My Brother and I use the tillers.

Personally, I don't think the sleeve hitch disks are heavy enough to do any real work in freshly plowed ground and I don't know if you could get enough weight on one to get the job done either (others will disagree).

The cultivators, like you have pictured, do ok for keeping weeds down between the rows if you use them often enough and have your rows spaced far enough apart. Some of the more hardy weeds may be difficult to knock down with a cultivator though. But if you have a tiller... you don't need to cultivate, just run down between the rows.

We don't put in all that much garden so I go back a hoe around and in between the plants.

Here is part of a recent thread with some pictures of guys plowing and tilling.

http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...t=42344&page=2