Large Garden Tips needed

[cuboodle]

Soooo I'm a self admitted newbie to the orange. Own a 2601. I plan to start a large hobby garden- potatoes, a few rows of corn onions radishes, peppers etc etc.. I am used to the old troy built horse as a kid at my parents place and that thing used to till DEEP. I have watched 100s of tiller videos on the tube. They only seem to go down 4 to 5 inches even though they are listed at 7 inches. I am tractor poor....no cash for implements. What are the first purchases I should make. Thinking single moldboard plow, tiller, and a combo hiller/cultivator/middle buster. Attached is a pic of the area ill be turning into a large garden using about 3/4 of the green yard to the right of the driveway.
Any suggestions on what I need to start buying as far as implements go??

 

[rc51stierhoff]

I think a lot really depends on your goals and amount of space planning to use…from the pic it’s really hard for me to guess length and width. To each their own, but a lot of stuff (seeds/hose/etc) you buy for gardens is sort of packaged for 50’ length…if your rows are too much shorter than that, that B is going to seem huge in the garden…I’d recommend make rows longer vs shorter IMO.

a couple things come to mind from your post:

0. If not used used garden implements on your machine, be aware that you need some space at each end of the garden to get in / out without driving over what you just did…basically leave some edge for you self. I think first chore is layout the space and remove the sod…you can till it, but it will leave a lot of clods…I’d scrape the sod off and then till (if planning to plant now). If not plantinguntil next year you could either spray and kill the grass or turn it over in fall and let it decompose and then till in spring for next year planting. But if planting this year remove the sod IMO.

0.5. You want separate units or something that does all? I think heavy hitch has a combo unit with end of arm implements that fit into a 2” trailer hitch…I don’t have any experience with heavy hitch branded items. (I have land pride tillers and EA bedder and potato plow….I would buy from both those companies again…I’ve had good luck/results with both)

1. Regarding tiller, they are awesome compared to any walk behind I have ever used…they are pricey, but awesome. Maybe consider you want forward or reverse rotation. There are several schools of thought, but IMO the reverse rotation does a bit better job…similar to when you pull a forward rotation cultivate rear wards…if that makes sense…they dig in a little better.

2. Regarding a bedder / hiller…I’d think about the reason for it. I have one that I am using one for my potatos and love it…for stuff that grows up like a potato they are helpful. I don’t have soggy soil, but I would think if you do it would have a similar benefit as a raised bed? (But I really don’t know that).

3. I have a middle buster I used to pop the potatos up but I don’t use it for anything else…I have no ideas how that would do behind a B sized machine and maybe depends on your soil. I’ve only used it on the MX and it is almost undersized for an MX…but the Mx doesn’t know it is even there.

4. I don’t have a moldboard, but I am in the market and will have that problem solved shortly.

Good luck.

 

[ferguson]

I use a home made "s' tang harrow & a piece of heave metal grating hanging off the back. Have for 20 plus years. Every yr i tell my self to buy a tiller then talk my self out of it. ( Going to use it one or days a year ?? ) Not that i cant afford one just the practical sied of me wins all the time. Used 3point disks or spring tooth harrow are all over market place cheep 100,150 bucks. My two cents

 

[rc51stierhoff]

Oh yeah…before getting to happy with the throttle, maybe also consider the range of implements, and the spread of the pins (if buying used or older implements may not all be the same pitch between pins) use 3pt arms as purchased, or a Pats set up, or a QH…personally if using a variety of implements that are not all same size (which many aren’t), I’d recommend to plan to put everything on a dolly and just connect direct to the 3pt or use a pats set up. But I’d encourage to figure that out before buying anything with a PTO shaft.

 

[cuboodle]

Oh yeah…before getting to happy with the throttle, maybe also consider the range of implements, and the spread of the pins (if buying used or older implements may not all be the same pitch between pins) use 3pt arms as purchased, or a Pats set up, or a QH…personally if using a variety of implements that are not all same size (which many aren’t), I’d recommend to plan to put everything on a dolly and just connect direct to the 3pt or use a pats set up. But I’d encourage to figure that out before buying anything with a PTO shaft.

Yep I agree on the PTO shaft length I have the PATS quick hitch setup.

 

[cuboodle]

I use a home made "s' tang harrow & a piece of heave metal grating hanging off the back. Have for 20 plus years. Every yr i tell my self to buy a tiller then talk my self out of it. ( Going to use it one or days a year ?? ) Not that i cant afford one just the practical sied of me wins all the time. Used 3point disks or spring tooth harrow are all over market place cheep 100,150 bucks. My two cents

That's what keeps me from getting one (tiller) they have the 5 foot on sale at TSC but cant see dropping 1800$ and use it 2 hours a year. It would be nice though!!

 

[ferguson]

Not a good picture but you get the idea

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

Soooo I'm a self admitted newbie to the orange. Own a 2601. I plan to start a large hobby garden- potatoes, a few rows of corn onions radishes, peppers etc etc.. I am used to the old troy built horse as a kid at my parents place and that thing used to till DEEP. I have watched 100s of tiller videos on the tube. They only seem to go down 4 to 5 inches even though they are listed at 7 inches. I am tractor poor....no cash for implements. What are the first purchases I should make. Thinking single moldboard plow, tiller, and a combo hiller/cultivator/middle buster. Attached is a pic of the area ill be turning into a large garden using about 3/4 of the green yard to the right of the driveway.
Any suggestions on what I need to start buying as far as implements go??

Wife and I have a very very large set of gardens. Not sure how many acres you are talking about but I am going to guess we garden just over 2 acres for the two of us. Our land is very sandy / poor quality so last 5 years we have been collecting yard grass from a commercial residential grass cutter and roto till it in really heavy. After 5 years our soil is now excellent. Holds water well and we use impulse sprinklers mounted to wooden fence posts that cover 80" each and attached to timers to water daily from our well. We have excellent and ample water. We fertilize with 20-20-20 commercial fertilizer 25 pounds per 1000 square feet 1/2 before planting and half mid season.

Everyone we know says our yields are huge with 80+ tomatoes per plant, cabbage a good 20"+ across, corn 2 - 3 heads per plant. We plant 100 tomato plants, 50 heads of cabbage, 100 - 150 corn plants, 350 square feet asparagus and about the same amount of ground cherries, 500 square feet raspberries, and a multitude of other stuff that is common like onions/cucumbers/carrots, potatos, etc...


WRT tilling, we rototill about 5" depth and this is more than adequate. Once tilled once. We find we have no need at all for a plow. Our soil is mostly sand as deep as our backhoe can dig so we have no need for middle buster (but they are cheap at $300 new and much less used).

On virgin ground maybe consider a 1X rental of plow or find a local who will plow for you. Around here a case or 2 of beer normally gets a friendly neighbour really excited about a little tractor work if they have a plow and tractor setup already. Depending on how big you are going once plowed you may never find need for the plow again. Once our ground was broke we never used a plow again only the tiller.

For potatos we are only growing enough for about 6 people for a year and hill by hand and fork in the fall. Not that hard and if a 80+ y/o can fork potatos for 6 I don't think I need equipment on back of a tractor.

I love equipment but as you said if budget is of concern I would start with a good rototiller. If you think the rototiller cannot handle your ground maybe find a local to do the first busting and then maintain with your tiller. If ground is so / so you could run your a cheap middle buster shallow and follow up with your rototiller.

So a lot depends on your soil condition but IMHO which is not worth much more than you are paying for it a lot of equipment for a small garden like your proposing maybe not required. I love lots of equipment and have lots but find I rarely need and often don't use.

Cheers and good luck. We grow way more than we can ever consume just wish during our long winters stuff could store fresh longer.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Soooo I'm a self admitted newbie to the orange. Own a 2601. I plan to start a large hobby garden- potatoes, a few rows of corn onions radishes, peppers etc etc.. I am used to the old troy built horse as a kid at my parents place and that thing used to till DEEP. I have watched 100s of tiller videos on the tube. They only seem to go down 4 to 5 inches even though they are listed at 7 inches. I am tractor poor....no cash for implements. What are the first purchases I should make. Thinking single moldboard plow, tiller, and a combo hiller/cultivator/middle buster. Attached is a pic of the area ill be turning into a large garden using about 3/4 of the green yard to the right of the driveway.
Any suggestions on what I need to start buying as far as implements go??

You have a B2601 and want a tiller not a mouldboard plow.

Dan

 

[cuboodle]

Wife and I have a very very large set of gardens. Not sure how many acres you are talking about but I am going to guess we garden just over 2 acres for the two of us. Our land is very sandy / poor quality so last 5 years we have been collecting yard grass from a commercial residential grass cutter and roto till it in really heavy. After 5 years our soil is now excellent. Holds water well and we use impulse sprinklers mounted to wooden fence posts that cover 80" each and attached to timers to water daily from our well. We have excellent and ample water. We fertilize with 20-20-20 commercial fertilizer 25 pounds per 1000 square feet 1/2 before planting and half mid season.

Everyone we know says our yields are huge with 80+ tomatoes per plant, cabbage a good 20"+ across, corn 2 - 3 heads per plant. We plant 100 tomato plants, 50 heads of cabbage, 100 - 150 corn plants, 350 square feet asparagus and about the same amount of ground cherries, 500 square feet raspberries, and a multitude of other stuff that is common like onions/cucumbers/carrots, potatos, etc...


WRT tilling, we rototill about 5" depth and this is more than adequate. Once tilled once. We find we have no need at all for a plow. Our soil is mostly sand as deep as our backhoe can dig so we have no need for middle buster (but they are cheap at $300 new and much less used).

On virgin ground maybe consider a 1X rental of plow or find a local who will plow for you. Around here a case or 2 of beer normally gets a friendly neighbour really excited about a little tractor work if they have a plow and tractor setup already. Depending on how big you are going once plowed you may never find need for the plow again. Once our ground was broke we never used a plow again only the tiller.

For potatos we are only growing enough for about 6 people for a year and hill by hand and fork in the fall. Not that hard and if a 80+ y/o can fork potatos for 6 I don't think I need equipment on back of a tractor.

I love equipment but as you said if budget is of concern I would start with a good rototiller. If you think the rototiller cannot handle your ground maybe find a local to do the first busting and then maintain with your tiller. If ground is so / so you could run your a cheap middle buster shallow and follow up with your rototiller.

So a lot depends on your soil condition but IMHO which is not worth much more than you are paying for it a lot of equipment for a small garden like your proposing maybe not required. I love lots of equipment and have lots but find I rarely need and often don't use.

Cheers and good luck. We grow way more than we can ever consume just wish during our long winters stuff could store fresh longer.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge! I will be putting in about 1.5 acres worth of garden 4 or 5 strips 20' wide and about 150' long I like the idea of a tiller and a middle buster vs plow.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge! I will be putting in about 1.5 acres worth of garden 4 or 5 strips 20' wide and about 150' long I like the idea of a tiller and a middle buster vs plow.

my wife loves 2 of our gardens that we planted in strips. So easy she says to walk up and down the row and not fall over (she uses canes) and pick into the rows, weed, etc....
Downside is we use a lot of water as we are dry, good drainage and little rain so using impulse sprinklers means we end up watering more ground. We could change the sprinkler out but its what we have and money to upgrade to other method not a priority.
I like the square ones for ease of watering which is my job. Rest of the work mostly hers.

 

[bird dogger]

For many years prior to a roto tiller, this was my cheap (less expensive) way to cultivate and prepare a seedbed for our 3 acres tillable ground. All was picked up used at auctions or just before they hit the scrap dealer.

This setup was used behind my older 20 HP JD750 MFWD tractor.

The rolling baskets added to the rear of the s-tine cultivator does a fine job of breaking down the clumps and leveling the loose ground behind the cultivator. I added some "wings" to the cultivator to match the width of the double baskets. The rolling baskets would get removed once the seed bed was prepped.

Once the crops were up, the s-tines and shovels would get changed around for cultivating between the rows. For not much money (if you're lucky to find used) this setup works very well. A spring tooth drag section pulled behind the cultivator works well also.

If you have a junk dealer or metal "clean up" person nearby, it might be worth looking into to see what they might have ready to go through their crusher and to be sold for scrap metal.

David

 

[Motion]

If the ground hasn't been broken in quite a while, consider a subsoiler, not sure your tractor has enough power, maybe pay someone to break up the hard pan. Add some amendment and get everything mixed up really well. Consider your water needs, try to level as best as possible.

 

[ferguson]

For many years prior to a roto tiller, this was my cheap (less expensive) way to cultivate and prepare a seedbed for our 3 acres tillable ground. All was picked up used at auctions or just before they hit the scrap dealer.
View attachment 103827

This setup was used behind my older 20 HP JD750 MFWD tractor.

The rolling baskets added to the rear of the s-tine cultivator does a fine job of breaking down the clumps and leveling the loose ground behind the cultivator. I added some "wings" to the cultivator to match the width of the double baskets. The rolling baskets would get removed once the seed bed was prepped.

Once the crops were up, the s-tines and shovels would get changed around for cultivating between the rows. For not much money (if you're lucky to find used) this setup works very well. A spring tooth drag section pulled behind the cultivator works well also.

If you have a junk dealer or metal "clean up" person nearby, it might be worth looking into to see what they might have ready to go through their crusher and to be sold for scrap metal.

David

Nice rig. I have bin looking for squirrel cages have not seen a small set / big farm stuff only.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

For a tiller I rent one from my local Kubota dealer/Farm Store. It is $100. I pick it up Friday after work and return it Monday morning. It does a really nice job and I would love to have one of my own, but since it is a use once or maybe twice a year for maybe and hour type of attachment for me I can't justify the expense.

As far as the depth of the tilling. There are a lot of different thoughts on it, but I am in the shallow tilling crowd. That is unless you need to till deep for a specific reason (dug things out and brought in soil/compost to mix).

I spread a bunch of topsoil and compost this year and then tilled it in, but not too deep since I was trying to not disturb the clay bed I was covering.

 

[retired farmer]

Several ways to do what you want to do. On new ground, I always like the turning plow first then disk or till, I have even used old bed springs to level and bust clods.

Best thing I ever had though was my Cub Farmall and all the attachments /plows for gardening.

rr

 

[The_Wingnut]

For a tiller I rent one from my local Kubota dealer/Farm Store. It is $100. I pick it up Friday after work and return it Monday morning. It does a really nice job and I would love to have one of my own, but since it is a use once or maybe twice a year for maybe and hour type of attachment for me I can't justify the expense.

As far as the depth of the tilling. There are a lot of different thoughts on it, but I am in the shallow tilling crowd. That is unless you need to till deep for a specific reason (dug things out and brought in soil/compost to mix).

I spread a bunch of topsoil and compost this year and then tilled it in, but not too deep since I was trying to not disturb the clay bed I was covering.
View attachment 103915
View attachment 103916

Is that top soil or cotton dirt? If it's cotton dirt be aware you will fight weeds for a while but in the end it's ok.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

Is that top soil or cotton dirt? If it's cotton dirt be aware you will fight weeds for a while but in the end it's ok.

It is topsoil with compost tilled in.

I brought in 22 tons of topsoil. Then topped it with 6 yards of compost. Tilled it all together.

Hoping for good results. Each year I try and add a little and increase the quality of soil. I started with nothing but clay.

 

[The_Wingnut]

It is topsoil with compost tilled in.

OK...the compost is what gives it the look of cotton dirt. Looks like some good rich soil!

 

[JeremyBX2200]

OK...the compost is what gives it the look of cotton dirt. Looks like some good rich soil!

Im hoping. When I started 3 years ago it was just clay. Trying to improve it some each year