Author Topic: Rotovators  (Read 11549 times)

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Online ideasguy

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Rotovators
« on: April 02, 2012, 11:51:55 PM »
I'm thinking of buying a petrol rotovator.
Anybody have one? Are they a good buy?
Has anyone any advice?
The ones Ive looked at vary in weight from 11kg (24 lb) to a whopping 50kg.

Theres a few examples here:
http://www.gardenlines.co.uk/rotavators-and-tillers/rotavators-and-tillers
I imagine a heavy one would not be bounced around on hard ground, but I would be worried about how difficult it would be to maneuver and keep under control.

This one looks good but a bit expensive. 41kg, 148cc. I'd like to be sure they are worth the money before committing.
http://www.diy.com/nav/garden/garden-tools-equipment/garden-power-tools/lawnrakes-scarifiers-cultivators/Mountfield-Cultivator-Manor-Compact-9333218


I started on this when a leaflet arrived from Mantis.
http://mantis.uk.com/mantis-tillers.asp
I rang then and they were very helpful - free delivery to N Ireland.
I'm a bit concerned at the small capacity of that engine though - only 25cc.


« Last Edit: April 03, 2012, 12:24:57 AM by ideasguy »

NightHawk

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #1 on: April 04, 2012, 11:27:12 AM »
Sorry I can't help you on the rotovator George - never used one as none of our gardens have not been large enough to warrant one.

Hopefully at least one of our members will be able to give you some advice.

Laurie.

Offline bossgard

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #2 on: April 04, 2012, 11:39:32 PM »
George:

Maybe I can help you; maybe I can’t, with your inquiry on whether any Forum Member has, or ever used a Rotovators. (As way of explanation, here in the US of A, we probably would refer to this piece of garden equipment as a Rototiller. So just substitute the words, they mean the same.)

I’m going to quote some wise words from a book entitled ‘Gardening Made Easy’, published by the Meredith Publishing Group, which is a famous publisher known for its Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) magazine. I can remember my mother, years ago, subscribing to this magazine.

“GROW YOUR GARDEN: SOIL
The key to gorgeous flowers and pumped-up plants is the soil they grow in. They need rich, loamy soil that nourishes and supports them.

Start with good soil, and your garden will reward you with healthy, happy plants. The type and quality of your soil affect how well your plants will grow—and how much extra time you will spend working in your garden.

All soil is not equal. The ideal soil is loam, a humus-rich balance of silt, sand and clay. Healthy soil is easy to dig in, well-draining so it isn’t boggy and has enough organic material to hold moisture to hydrate plant roots. How do you know what kind of soil you have? Start with a good soil test. You can buy a kit and do it yourself or you can send a soil sample to your state extension service. A soil test measures the levels of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) in your garden.

Here are some guidelines for ensuring nutrient-rich, easy-to-plant-in soil:
FIX YOUR SOIL FIRST, for long-term success it’s better to feed the soil than the plant.
FEED IT EVERY SEASON, feed your soil in spring, summer and fall and every time you plant, using organic matter such as compost, rotted manure and chopped dry leaves.
TAKE A CRUMBLE TEST, work soil when a fistful of it crumbles easy in your hand. Don’t dig in your garden when soil is too wet or too dry because that damages the soil.
TREAD LIGHTLY, don’t walk on your beds. Stepping on soil compacts it, preventing air, water and nutrients from reaching plants.
DON’T OVERDIG OR TILL, excessive digging or rototilling destroys structure, leaving it powdery or rock hard.”

With this last line guiding your thoughts George; let’s find out why you want a Rototiller, and where you are going to use it.

How big is the area that you want to till? What is there now, has it been tilled before, or is it virgin soil, still in weeds, wild grasses, etc. When you are through working with the plot, are you going to plant something in or on it? Will it be part of your garden landscape?

My own experience with Rototillers, began just after I had retired and starting pretending to be a full-time farmer/gardener. My vegetable garden came as my first project. So I started by clearing an area

of blackberry bushes (an invasive here), and started working the soil by turning it over with a garden shovel. That meant that weeds and grasses and other assorted flora got turned over and buried approximately 4 to 6 inches below the surface.

My father had purchased a Rototiller when he and my mother were raising us hungry children. Since their deaths, this rototiller had been stored back in a corner in the garage quite for quite a few years, until I had remembered it was there. I pulled it out of storage, cleaned up the spark-plug, changed the oil, put in fresh gas (petrol) and sure enough it started.when I pulled on the rope cord attached to the pulley. No automatic starter on this baby! I chased after it, as it pulled me out to the garden area.
I set it in motion, by pulling the lever that tightened the belt against the engine pulley. I might explain that the digging tines were on the front of the tiller, and two regular wheels approximately 8” in diameter behind the tines. The tines started to turn over and slowly the front end with the tines sunk into the soil that I had previously worked with the showel. Down, down, it went!

I grabbed the two handles and pulled backward against the force of the engine, but no way good I get the machine to go forward on its own power. Since then, that is the way I have rototilled my vegetable garden, by pulling against the engine. (And what a job that’s been!) 

I had used this method to till the vegetable garden every since, except last year I think I wised up a little bit. I started reading some books, authored by such gardeners as Eliot Coleman (known for his 12 months continuous vegetable harvest and the broadfork), Mel Bartholomew (Square Foot Gardening), Derek Fell (Vertical Gardening), etc.

The concept I am using now for renovating or rejuvenating the vegetable beds; is after final harvest in late fall I start placing on top of the beds, material such as cut up tree pruning, decaying leaves, and other clean composted material, along with rotted steer manure, and rake or work that material into the top 2 to 3 inches of dirt. The theory here is that if you can bring the soil into contact with the nutrient rich materials that I’ve added, they will rot and decompose by themselves. Then the sun and the rain will take over and work the wonders of the decaying materials into the soil, promising a good harvest for the next season.

So, George, I think the whole premise here, is when and if you do purchase yourself a new renovator, don’t bury the things that you are trying to get rid of such as weeds along with their seeds, plant diseases, and other pests. Put the beneficial goodies on top of the surface of soil, so if you do get weeds they will be easier to control. Don’t bury the seeds way down there to germinate several years later, when you till with your renovator and turn them over again. If you are going to get weeds, keep them on the surface so your can control them!

If you follow this link, you will see a video about a new ‘rototiller’ for me, that I use to work these nutrients into the two or three inches of my vegetable gardens. http://www.thepowerpaws.com/

So, tell me and other Forum Members, George, what do you want to do with you new Renovator?

- Toby


Online ideasguy

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2012, 12:44:46 AM »
Thanks for that informative posting Toby. You sure don't do things by halves! That's a thorough posting!

I don't have enough time to keep all the garden under control. When left "fallow" for even one year, an area reverts to nature! My biggest problem is grass with deep white roots.
Example:
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=283
I have a number of "varieties" of grass with this type of root, and they form an underground thicket and infest and eventually kill my plants if neglected.
The fallow areas would also have lots of nettles - very difficult to dig out when allowed to mature for two or three years.
Dandylions as well, but they are easy to dig out if in open ground. However, they have a nasty habit of self seeding in any plant which stops them when the seeds become airborne when ripe, and up they come right in the middle of your favourite plants >:(

My plan is to use the rotovator to dig over as much of these areas as possible:
a)  to level some areas and allow the grass and the area kept neat by mowing.
b) some areas for flowers
c) some areas for veg
Most of the areas have been dug over at one time or other in the past 5 years.
This winter has been exceptionally mild, and as a result, the grass has grown all winter and is a big problem at the moment. I made a good start last week when we had fine weather, but I realised that digging with a fork and removing the white roots manually is very slow and much too time consuming - and I sure don't have a lot of that with the software projects I have on the go. I just wont have time to get the place in shape without the rotovator.

I have tried a) spreading compost and b) spreading wood chippings over some areas before.
The grass soon makes its way through again.

I don't think it would be wise to plant anything without getting rid of those white roots, and that is an ongoing job. The problem of course is that the rotovator will shred them up and they will possible multiply. However, if the ground is loosened once with the rotovator, I can dig over the ground with a fork and remove the worst of those perennial roots.

I don't like weedkiller. Perhaps I need to take the advise in the RHS article above and use a Glyphosate-based weedkiller?

There you have it. What would you folk advise?

Offline Jacquiht

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2012, 08:15:01 PM »
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/iowa/msg0822222824362.html?18      This might, or might not, be of interest????

Offline newplantguy

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2012, 09:14:03 PM »
McCulloch are one of the best I believe.
If you can get a Howard Rotovator 2nd hand these are the best used to be made local to me, now out of business.
An electric type will not be man enough for the job you have in mind.
For the nettles use a Glyphosate weedkiller its the best way and Glyphosate is inactive in soil, but it will kill the roots.  Do not use when rain is forecast (within 6 hours) or drought conditions. :)

Online ideasguy

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #6 on: April 05, 2012, 10:03:29 PM »
Thanks for that link Jacqui.
Fortunately, my garden isn't compacted. Its 2/3 of an acre, and Ive either dug or prepared every bit of it in the 25 years I have been head gardener here ;D so know what its like!
I even did some double digging :o Boy that was fun!
Its quite remarkable, but the soil is different in different areas of the garden. That has taken a bit of getting used to over the years.

I'm looking at the models on the McCulloch website now Paul.
http://www.mcculloch.com/uk/products/cultivators-tillers/
I'll take your advice on the way to deal with the nettles! I used some weed killer at the end of the gardening season last year - the first time ever. It did the job well in the test area I treated.
To be continued...



Offline bossgard

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #7 on: April 06, 2012, 03:52:52 PM »
George, this is an excerpt from an article appearing in the American Gardener Magazine of March/April 2006, a publication of the American Horticulture Society. It is authored by Shepherd Ogden, who is Director of Heritage Organics. He has several gardening books to his credit including Step by Step Organic Flower Gardening and The New Kitchen Garden.

I thought it might become a sort of blue-print for you when you start to work your future landscaping project that you are discussing in this Forum Topic.

“START IN THE FALL
   If you start a garden from lawn in the spring, killing the grass without herbicides requires considerable effort, so try to start in the fall. Wait until the active growth of the lawn has slowed down, then get rid of the grass. Spraying a herbicide on the ground where you intend to grow food seems foolish to me. For a small garden, say under 250 square feet, my advice is to just strip off the sod with a garden spade.
   For a larger garden, such as mine, you will need a two-step strategy. Start by rototilling the area, making multiple passes, first in one direction, then in another, then another. While the first couple of passes will only chop up the sod, if you keep at it, you should be able to work down four to eight inches – the depth of the tines.
   After rototilling, cover the entire space with black polyethylene. The thicker, “six mil” plastic works best and is available in different sizes at most hardware stores. Weight it down well with loose bricks or pieces of lumber so it doesn’t blow off during the winter, then leave it until spring.
   Over the course of the fall, the black plastic will catch the heat of the sun; raise the temperature of the soil, and cause the chopped sod pieces to regrow. But, deprived of sunlight by the plastic they will use up their energy reserves and die, then rot. Because the plastic also sheds water, come spring you’ll have a relatively easy job of preparing the garden for planting even if the rest of the yard is still soggy and cold.”

This magazine article was beautifully written and illustrated with before and after photos showing the area that Mr. Ogden worked. I tried to get access to the AHS website to get a link to the actual magazine article(s), even though I am a member of the society, it wouldn’t let me in. AHS indicated that they were having trouble with Microsoft’s IE to make it available to members. Hope this helps you.

- Toby

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #8 on: April 06, 2012, 05:28:56 PM »
Thanks for taking the time and patience (and going through frustration trying for that link) to post that information Toby.
It explains things in what I "want" to go, and I always feel inclined to one method above another based on what I think makes sense (rightly or wrongly ::)).
I like that one :D

A covering of black plastic is good. Ive done that in the past, accidentally! In fact thus year, I had a sheet of old corrugated iron (from the roof of a dismantled shed) covering an area approx 3 x 6ft. When lifted last week, there were some white roots creeping along the surface, but no "greenery". That part was easy to dig over with a fork.

Doing other things this past couple of days so haven't purchased yet.

Offline Trevor Ellis

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2012, 02:15:51 PM »
Hi George,

just read your query about tillers and noted that you referred to Mantis. I bought one about five years ago just as the 4* petrol one came out (as opposed to the previous oil/petrol mix engine). I used it on the vegetable plot which was about an allotment size - maybe a bit smaller and it saved me a great deal of time and effort. The soil on that garden was heavy clay and though it did bounce about a bit at first (very hard baked soil at first use), once into the soil it coped very well indeed and produced a nice tilth. It's a case of evaluating the job it has to do - not "man enough" for breaking a large area of hard ground perhaps but brilliant for decent average garden soil. I'm glad that I bought one. A friend who also bought one used his on the lawn with the scarifier attachment and remarked how amazed he was at the amount of moss etc. that it removed.

Hope this helps - any questions about it - do ask.

Cheers,

Trevor

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #10 on: April 15, 2012, 12:57:32 PM »
That does help indeed Trevor, thank you. I still havent selected anything yet.
I do like the fact that the Mantis can have those attachments.

Offline roiphil

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #11 on: August 11, 2012, 07:04:34 PM »
Hi George
Been a while just doing a bit of catching up, on rotavators i have used howards, i can reccomend them as good machines i used to have a howard dragon 20 plus years ago, one of the bigger models, there is also a howard gem, when we moved i bought over a cheap model called jcb it was loosely based on something like the smaller mcculloch type ranges with no wheels on just blades it did a good job but for stability i would tend to go for one with wheels on the front then the blades at the back,

I used a howard the other week but it is attached to the back of a tractor just a case of sit in press some buttons and steer, takes the fun out of getting clods of mud in your boots though  ;D

did you choose well or not yet, if you can get a second hand howard fantastic
all the best
phil

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #12 on: August 12, 2012, 03:43:22 PM »
Hi Phil, and as Laurie says it great to have you back on the forum.
I finally bought a 5.5HP Grillo Princess, details here:
http://www.thegreenreaper.co.uk/Cutivators_Tillers_Rotavators/Petrol_Cultivators_Tillers_Rotavators/Grillo_Princess_5.5hp_Cultivator.html

I can tell you, it is one awesome piece of kit :D which I have nicknamed (as you might guess) the Gorilla - its a beast ;D
I have used it to break up fallow ground - stones, nettle roots, tangled grass roots, shrub roots - no problem!!!
« Last Edit: August 12, 2012, 07:37:05 PM by ideasguy »

Offline roiphil

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #13 on: August 13, 2012, 01:09:13 PM »
looks good bit of kit the gorilla  ;D nice idea with the discs on the side of the tynes
phil

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #14 on: August 13, 2012, 04:03:36 PM »
Yes, they keep it stable, I guess.
The reverse gear is essential for something that weight and size. It means I can do three point turns and all sorts of maneuvering tricks.
The first time I set it in motion the thing nearly took me off my feet. Mary was watching from the kitchen window and she said I suddenly disappeared :D
The first thing I learned from that was to make sure that stabliser depth control bar at the back is pressed firmly into the ground to create a bit of "drag" :D
Once I got the hang of it, I knew I'd made a good decision :)
« Last Edit: August 13, 2012, 04:05:58 PM by ideasguy »

NightHawk

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #15 on: August 13, 2012, 05:24:35 PM »
The first time I set it in motion the thing nearly took me off my feet. Mary was watching from the kitchen window and she said I suddenly disappeared :D
That could have been nasty George  :o  Must have given Mary quite a scare at first.

Just goes to prove that, no matter how careful you are with power equipment, accidents can (and do) happen.  Always expect the unexpected.
And ALWAYS wear the appropriate safety gear too - which I'm quite sure you were George  ;)

Online ideasguy

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #16 on: August 13, 2012, 06:56:54 PM »
It was just the sudden tug of 5.5 horses Laurie. I'd never used a rotovator or tiller before so I wasn't prepared for liftoff :D
As with most things, its quite easy once you know how.

Offline roiphil

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Re: Rotovators
« Reply #17 on: August 27, 2012, 04:59:28 PM »
Yes one should always be carefull to many accidents are caused by machiney and the constant operator getting complacent and taking short cuts thats when accidents happen, the old dragon rotavator i used to have you started with a crank handle at the front and if you got to close to it as it started it would kick back and you risk looseing some teeth  :-X

phil