Which cultivator to buy? - Opinions

I"d like to ask someone who uses or has used cultivators, a few questions about them.

I planted a few acres of corn this year, now I need to buy a cultivator to get the weeds out of them. I"m not going to spray, I"m going to do it the old fashioned way.

I plan to buy a 4 row, 3 point cultivator. Here are 3 that I found on Craigslist for around $400 and would like to ask the difference between them? Which one is better?

1. This JD RM cultivator has been shedded, so it"s in better condition, but the tines are curved, with a spring.

2. The 2nd JD cultivator has the "S" tines, also called Danish tines. These "S" tines are supposed to be better, right? Although it looks like this cultivator has been sitting out and is rusty.

3. This IH 183 also has Danish "S" tines.

Can anyone give me some advice on which cultivator is better? Are cultivators with S tines newer? Which one would do a better job getting the weeds out?

Or other cultivators? Any other comments?

I have both John Deere and Case/IH dealers in my area, so that"s not a problem.

Here are some better pictures:
http://s790.photobucket.com/user/photo_1776_bucket/library/Cultivators

Thank you,
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Cultivator pictures
 
The Danish tine are newer they became real popular
till notill came along

You can drive faster with the Danish tine the other one is built heavier

Most of the cultivators that were replaced with the Danish tine where the solid shank cultivators
the spring cultivators were real good cultivators

It is a matter of opinion which one is better
Everybody has a different opinion
 
The first cultivator with th springs will not plug as easy because it has two beams between each row. The beams move up and down independently so in real trashy conditions they will clear themselves better. The S tine vibrates and is a better shank. If the first frame had the S tines on it you would have the best set up,
 
I have three cultivators. I have one with rigid shanks, one with the curved shanks like the top picture, and one with danish tines. Of the three, I like the danish tine cultivator the least. If you have weeds it will just dance around them. If you don't need to cultivate it will leave the ground level but you can set the C-shank cultivator to be pretty level as well. I just bought one with the C-shanks and like it. It vibrates to help clear trash but stays put to get the weeds. I notice these are wide-row cultivators. With the setup the danish tine cultivator has it won't do very much with the wide spacing and narrow shovels. It's kind of like my dad used to say "like dragging a tom cat backward". Go with the curved shank cultivator. Mike
 
I'd see if I could find a front mount for my tractor. My first tractor, a Case VAC, came with the front end cultivators. Best thing since sliced bread as far as I'm concerned.
 
Danish tine!!After 10 years,I never go back to any other type!You can run faster,they do a nicer job,dont leave clods in dry/hard ground and are not effected by rocks.As for not getting 'big'weeds,they must be 'trees' to not be taken out by the danish tine....
 
Go with the red one.The wider shovels will do a nicer,more complete job than the other one with the chisel points.Those sweeps are avalable in several widths,up to 8".Btw,the JD is a much older machine than the red one.Didnt notice if the red one had shields/'fenders',they are helpful(but not nessasary) in small/short corn.
 
Steve, sometimes you do have weeds that get rooted down. I've seen the danish tines jump right around weeds in my soil. I have a lot of tight gumbo ground and the danish tines are definitely NOT the way to go. A properly set C-shank cultivator can go nearly as fast as a danish tine. I've done it. Mike
 
The danish tines are a high speed deal. They need speed to get the job done. That being said , the most inportant cultivating is the first one. You need to get all the little sprouting weeds BEFORE they get big, AND even more important is setting everything right to COVER the weeds in the row itself. Usually you won't get that with a high speed cultivator. You will be going slow on the most critical cultivation so get the one that does a good job slow. Probably the spring shank one. And throw away those rolling shields. If you set the shield up enough to get soil to roll in and up around the plant stem and cover the weeds then it is up high enough to not even be needed. FIRST TIME IS THE KEY! Soil , speed , depth , and weed growth stage all have to be right . After the first time any cultivator will work. Dad never believed in spray because back in the '60,s/'70,s most was hit and miss and expensive. We raised mostly soys and cultivation was weed control so we had to perfect it. One thing we used if conditons warranted was a rotary hoe to tear out those little two leaf weed sprouts that got up ahead of the beans. Worst thing you can do is plant right before a rain. Those weeds will sprout instantly and always be ahead of the crop. If you can plant after working the soil up and letting the top dry a day then your seed will be down in the moisture but the top where the weed seeds are will be dry and not germinate anything letting the crop get up and get a headstart on the weed. You need the crop to be 4" high when those weeds are just two leafers so you can bury them in the row first time over. How you do it is up to you , and the weather unfortunately.
 
I would go with one in the top photo, just my preference. Back when we were farming we ran anywhere from 4 to 6 of this exact cultivator when we were cultivating. They were pretty easy to set and done a great job of cleaning the middles. Man I miss cultivating. I always seemed that the crop grew a couple of inches while we were still in the field.
 
The only cultivators around here for years were JD. The last new cultivator sometime in the 80's was a Brillion with "S" tines. It was basically worthless in our soil. It would skate right over the top, and as Mike says, "dance" around weeds.
That's a job I don't miss at all.
Neighbor had a big fold up JD cultimulcher with "S" tines. They wouldn't take the grief, and were all bent back.
It may well be different where you are, but I have no use for "S" tines.
 
Thank you very much to everyone for your comments. Seems like a variety of responses, maybe a few more prefer the IH with S tines, so I think I'll buy that one.

I have a couple of more questions;

When is the right time to cultivate early?
How tall should the corn be?
Or About how long after planting should you do the first cultivation?

It's passed that now, but thinking of next year.

Also, how heavy is a 4 row IH 183 with Danish tines?
I'd like to put it on a small trailer that I have, to bring it home, and I hope it's not too heavy for the trailer.

Thank you,
 
The first time to cultivate is when the corn is 2" tall and with the rolling fenders even with the danish tines and still go slow so you do not throw too much dirt, second time when corn is 6" tall and then if the tines do not throw to much clumpy dirt you can take the fenders off as long as you are not covering the stalks, third and last time hopefully would be when the corn just fits under tractor and cultivator without dammage. Depending on weeds you may have to do a 4th cultivation that would be between second and layby or last cultivation. And you do nee to big guide disks on a rear mount cultivator. Started with rear mount, then front mount 2 row then front mount 4 row, then rear mount 4 row and went back to the 4 row front mount.
 

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