3 pt Cultivators

I would like to use a 5ft or 6ft...is that too much? They make a 4ft...but...would hate to be limited to that one.

Gerald J.

Another problem of working the ground with a roto-tiller is that it buries all residue and really makes the ground fine. Nice seed bed, but if you get a dashing rain it seals it up and then you get run off, maybe severe run off depending upon just how flat your ground is. With seal up it crusts over and makes it hard or impossible for seed to break through.

I use a 56 inch roto-tiller behind my 23 hp tractor. HOWEVER I am using it in very sandy soil, and PTO rpm speed in low gear provides about .7 mph. That is approximately one foot per second vs. 7.3 while discing with a wider implement (6').

If pulled a 6 row narrow three point cultivator too but after an hour or two couldn't lift it.

Gerald J.

Robert

Hate to disagree with ya, but that actually is the easy part.

A good cultivator will have a rolling vertical stabilizer, usually in the form of large disks, which will keep the cultivator going in one direction and limit that 'sideways' or laterial movement.

It works kind of like a farmer's gyroscope thing.

The trick is to set the tractor up in such a way as to let the hitch "sway". This let's the tractor wander all over the place and the cultivator stays centered over the row.

Kind of like hitching to a plow, you don't hook the plow up rigid, but rather, let it 'sway' back there.

One of the reasons you can cultivate so much faster with a 3-point cultivator than with a rigid front mount model.

But yes, a certain amount of "driving" is necessary, of course. But not anything like those old front mounts; those things made ya drive 'em. :>)

Allan

Because he's trying to use such a small tractor, i assumed he was going to buy one of the snall cheapo units i see guys trying to get by with to save $$.

You know what they say about ASSUME.... :>)

Robert

If you're talking about a real bone-fide row crop cultivator, bet that tractor could handle a 15 foot size. (6-row narrow).

Don't know for sure as I've never owned one of those tractors, but cultivators just don't pull all that hard.

Allan

I was talking about the kind where the PTO turns the blades..."churns up" the dirt so you only have to make one pass to prepare the soil. Think a MF 35 in pretty good shape would pull a 5ft one without too much trouble? Most of the fields we are involved with (food plots for deer/turkey, etc) have already been plowed and disked before...they just need some preparation for the next planting. It just takes a lot of time to plow them again AND then disk them again. Seemed like we could do it in one pass with a cultivator.

I don't think I need a 6ft one...but hated the thought of doing too much work with a 4ft one.

Thanks folks!

You most definately don't want a 6'er with that sized tractor. In fact, a 5'er will work it to death in tough soils. If you go to a 4'er, get an offset model so that one side is even with the outer extremes of your rear wheels. That'll keep wheel tracks out of your prepared seed bed.

The biggest liability with older tractors and too big of a tiller will be the LACK of a low enough low gear. Long story short.... You might not be able to go slow enough to handle a 5'er. Provided you're not working a big acreage, I'd highly recomend a 4'er with that tractor.

I use a 6'er behind a 60 HP tractor. It handles it well, but in SOME soils, it's a load when I'm working down deep. (6" to 9")

Good luck! John

Again...GOOD LUCK!