Front mount or rear mount cultivator?

DLMKA

Member
We're looking into getting into some niche crops and some vegetables on our small (12 acre) farm. I wanted to start with sweet corn and eventually start doing some unique dry beans as well as other vegetables. I work a regular job 40 hrs/week and in order to speed up some of the weeding I want to get a cultivator on a tractor. A friend offered me a 3-point, 4 row cultivator and a deere 494 planter for a good price but I don't have a tractor with a 3-point. I've also been looking for a Farmall A or Allis B, C, or CA with cultivators. Came across a really nice Farmall A for $1600 with a full set of cultivators that runs and starts good with good tires and original paint in nice shape. I'm thinking for what I want to do that 4 row equipment is overkill and I'd be better off with a two row planter and front cultivator. Thoughts?
 
here is the Farmall A I found. Hard to find a nicer specimen that is original I think. I've always been fond of these and other small tractors which is swaying my thinking too.
mvphoto15131.jpg
 

IMHO frt mount cultivator are more difficult to mount but will do a superior job of controlling weeds/grass than a 3 pt model. If one has contour or point rows frt mount wins hands down.
 

That A would get cultivators mounted and likely stay mounted until I either sell it or restore it.
 
Definatly the front mount. You have supperior control over what you are doing. And for different crops yopu will want different row spacings and with the A with the one row you can do that. The thing it that a Farmall A does not have hydrolicks to raise cultivator but a exaust lift that after time probably would not work and no repairs would be acaible. If you want an A then look for a Super A that would have the hydrolicks. Myself for that job I would look for a Cub as it will cultivate just as well and infact better for you as there is way more cub equipment out there for vegetable cultivating and for single row work they are narrower and you would be able to cultivate narrower rows with than the A. And the A you can find a better tillage tractor than it is with no chance to use a 3 point. Also skip the allis Bor C and look for a CA that would have the hydrolics and could also handle AC mounted implements or have a 3 point added for the tillage tools you would need.
 
I have about worn my neck out looking back at equipment behind tractors. Part of that was a rear mounted cultivator. I would not hesitate to go with the front mounted. In my opinion it makes it much easier to do a good job. I guess you could say if you get the front mounted you will never look back! lol
 
Cub, I would say go with a cub. If you
have a long bad truck you can fit it in
your truck to haul it even. My neighbor
has one with all kinds of goodies and he
uses it more than his H. And a cub is very
easy to make implements for. I have
recently jumped on the cub band wagon and
don't regret it one bit. It is a one row
tractor. They have some with hydrolic lift
and some are not. Go hydrolic. Not quite
as much power but lots more versitile.
 
The older I get the harder it is to be looking back. I've mounted mirrors on all my tractors but its still not the same.
The A looks like it would be just the ticket for your needs. The price seems fair.
 
The Farmall A with a one row would be slow going,but great visibility.
I've done a fair whack of cultivating with an Allis Chalmers C,they were OK. I probably cultivated with a Farmall H as much as anything else,along with a 2 row on an Oliver 66 or a 4 row on a 77.
I've got a rear mount Oliver 4 row. They're OK if the crop is tall so you can roll along a pretty good clip but short stuff with the shields on,not so much. I always found that with a rear mount,if you turned around to look back,you'd get off the row and start taking out corn.
 
Front mount is more time/ effort to hook up, but easier to
maneuver

Sounds like the front mount is the direction you prefer, and will
work good for you.

Paul.
 
I started out with 2 row rear mount, Next year I switched with Dad to the 2 row front mount on a unstyled Deere A with hand lift 2 row cultivators, Was I think 14 at the time. Have had both 2 and 4 row front and rear mount since then. When got the Ford 4100 tractors got rear mounts, Was not long till parked them and went back to the 4 row front mount on Deere A & B without power steering and parked those rear mount. One reason I recemonded the Cub over a A or Super A with hydrolics is with the cub you can cultivate 1 row at a time narrower than the A-SA, The A series probably about 36" as narrow as you could go but the Cub to probably and I am just guessing 30" rows. But you could set either up to cultivate 60" rows for some crops. So first decide exactly what crops you want to do and then the row width you need. The row widths for an AC B would be same as the Farmall A. A AC CA would be good for a 2 row setup of either 30" or 40" rows but you could not move from one row spacing to anouther with something like that. And most AC C did not have hydrolicks to lift cultivator.
 
I think that's a super A. looks like it has hydraulics. iam doing the same thing you are. sweet corn potatos beans and all the rest with a regualar farmall A. the equipment for the super is a lot ezer to find. bob
 
(quoted from post at 10:35:45 01/18/15) I think that's a super A. looks like it has hydraulics. iam doing the same thing you are. sweet corn potatos beans and all the rest with a regualar farmall A. the equipment for the super is a lot ezer to find. bob

The ad said it was a super and mentioned hydraulics but the hood emblem is not for a Super.
 
Without pulling out my manual...I believe the narrowest you can set the wheels on a Cub is 38 inches. Definitely not 30 unless you go to straddling two rows.

Ben
 
You got it figured out.4 rows is too big for your
needs.2 rows is perfect. That is a good
price,especially with the cultivators.Btw,5 years
ago my sister sold her 'older restoration'SA (bare)
for $3500.There isw still a bunch of A/SA equipment
out there.So dont waste any more time,get that SA
before someone else does.
 
I'm running Farmall and IH cubs for planting and
cultivating. Here is my "unstyled" cub with front
and rear cultivators. It does a nice job on a small
truck farm and prices on Tractors, cultivator and
other implements are reasonable.

Kirk
100_0927.jpg
 
Hood/grill decals/emblems can (do) get changed. I
think that is a repaint SA with A decalls.The grill
emblem and hydralics say Super A. Look at the SN to
be sure.
 

I now own a red tractor. Sending check Tuesday to hold it until I can pick it up in a week or two.
 
AC Models B and C had hydraulics available. I have a B without, but have the components to change to hyd. Most Cs I"ve seen had hyd, and if not, it"s very easy to add a pump to the rear housing.
 
1 or 2 rows should be fine at one time for that size of operation. Farmall cub A,B,C(or similar size of other brand should be all the bigger of a tractor you'd need. Cubs and A's are "classified" as 1 row machines but can run more. The B's and C's are designed as 2 row. Have a cub set up with a "modified to work" set of cultivators from an A on for use in our garden. Also made a bracket to mount a Plant JR. planter on the lift on the A. On occasion use the 2 row trans-planter or 2 row cultivators on the C. Front cultivators work better in my mind since you don't have to keep looking over your shoulders to see what your doing.
 
It has been only perhaps the last 10 years I found out that hydrolics were avaible on them as I had never seen it before and I was raised in their prime time. Other areas it may have been popular not here.
 
38" wheel track would make tractor about 45" wide so on that at 30" spacing it would easly fit between the row on each side of tractor with one row underneeth with a 7 1/2" spacing outside of tire to next row, a 28" row spacing would give you 5 1/2" and you could before crop gets too big cultivate 28" rows.
 
There was a truck farmer i met from wisconsin some years ago at a small farmers conference. He like to use the farmall A s I believe it was. he had several different types of cultivators and had one on each tractor so he wouldnt have to spend valueable time in the season changing them back and forth.
 
I love the front mounted cultivator. Front mounts don't slop around like a 3 point. I bought a JD 725 6RN & mounted it on a 4430 in 1993. Still have it today! Also don't have to turn around behind You, just look down left, & right. I just wish I had a non - cab tractor. I like to stand up once in a while, & cabs prohibit standing.
 
I have a 4 row cultivator mounted on a 'dedicated' tractor.Built the cultivator around it.Pd $800 for a wide front Farmall M.Built a hard canopy for sun protection.For just a few days a year,it is perfect!
 
Grew up using a 2N with a rear mount we had a guide that attached to the front axle to keep us on the row, you only glanced back once in a while to check on things. Later in life used a front mount on a JD A that was the berries! Later tried to use the 2N rear mount and had trouble keeping my eyes forward, tore out a lot of corn before I got re-aquanted with it.
 
I always thought a Farmall cub, A or even one of these AC rear engine tractors would make a great truck patch cultivator tractor.
a179912.jpg
 
offset seat Cubs, A's, 100 series were designed for cultivating with front mount units. Cubs do one row of field row crops but their are some 2 row rigs for garden crops- 'Beet' units set to do the double rows with 6 to 8 inch spacing between rows or a 12 to 14 inch row spacing of other veggies- including beans and peas. A's and following 100 to 140's also have the garden cultivator multi row rigs for narrow rows, doubled up wide rows. AC G is another front cultivator unit originally designed for commercial garden use. Old A's without hydraulics can be fitted with hydraulic pumps of various kinds- the IHC board has some threads of use of a PTO driven unit, the addition of belt drive pumps from snowplows and short term use of Electrolift pumps after 12 volt conversions. Shallow cultivating with a hand lever unit and counterweight/springs developes a fairly good arm but does work as good as on garden tractors. H was a 2 row field cultivator with time hydraulics so front lifted first and 3 seconds or so later the rears lifted- on a cornfield that meant the back section lift about same spot in row that the fronts had lifted- no unbroken ground with wheel track strips. Idid a lot of field cultivating with 2 row H and 4 row M, a few times did some with JD B of grandfathers. Trouble came when I tried quick stops by press left clutch pedal that wasn't- sharp left turn instead then I'd remember to grab that hand lever and pull back. JD had a quick mount cultivator unit- subframe with hinged sections mounted to front of tractor- JD or IHC or Case- and the main beams hinged and clipped to subframe- cultivators could be mounted and removed in about 5 minutes after subframe mounted with practice. Get the front mounts and go play in the dirt. RN
 
I've used a lot of different cultivator set ups on different brand tractors but the best I've used in vegetables is my Hines H-1600 tractor with its cultivator under the front and the engine in the rear.Similar to an AC G but has more power,hydraulic lift front and rear and hydrostatic drive.
 
Is there anyone that specializes in buying and selling implements for these smaller truck farm tractors? I'm pretty good at engineering (it's what I do for a living) and fabrication so don't mind adapting something to work elsewhere. The more I think about it I'd like to find a planter to go on this thing too.
 
Cole built and continues to build planters just like you need.They are fairly common,easy to find plates and parts for and can be adapted to most any tractor lift system.Tuff-Bilt Tractor company still builds a reasonably priced great little truck patch tractor that uses Cat 0 implements.
 
Just where would you go to find a Cole planter? Deffinatly not in Ohio-Indiana. Never heard of them except here.
 
They were built in NC very common on CL ads in NC,
VA,MD,SC and NJ.Most were 1 row set ups but I have a nice 2 row outfit with disk openers.Its a double plate planter in each box so two types of seeds can be planted in the same row at the same time.I have a collection of about 200 of the Cole planter plates.They made a plate to plant about any crop you can think of.
 
I sure like a front mounted cultivator. I never could help but look over my shoulder at a rear mounted and then tear out some crop.

That's a good price on that A. I'd buy it then start finding the
original mounted planter and fertilizer side dresser
attachments for it. I think it's a little small for tillage but sure
will do it. It will just take more time. They made a mounted
plow for it and you can find the drag type discs,drags etc.

I started looking for a IH Super A back, several years ago,
when they were red hot at $3-4k around here.
I ended up
finding a IH Super C with fast hitch for $500. I started
collecting all the period correct implements for it. I have the 2
point fast hitch plow,planter,disc,spring tooth harrow and more.
Everything needed to do far more than the 1/2 acre I'm
gardening.
I bought a Farmall 200 and have it configured as
shown. The SC is set up for tillage work. I'm set up with the
fast hitch on both so just hook and go. I don't spend much
time reconfigureing tractors. Just start the appropriate one
and go.
a181777.jpg

a181778.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 10:32:33 02/04/15) I sure like a front mounted cultivator. I never could help but look over my shoulder at a rear mounted and then tear out some crop.

That's a good price on that A. I'd buy it then start finding the
original mounted planter and fertilizer side dresser
attachments for it. I think it's a little small for tillage but sure
will do it. It will just take more time. They made a mounted
plow for it and you can find the drag type discs,drags etc.

I started looking for a IH Super A back, several years ago,
when they were red hot at $3-4k around here.
I ended up
finding a IH Super C with fast hitch for $500. I started
collecting all the period correct implements for it. I have the 2
point fast hitch plow,planter,disc,spring tooth harrow and more.
Everything needed to do far more than the 1/2 acre I'm
gardening.
I bought a Farmall 200 and have it configured as
shown. The SC is set up for tillage work. I'm set up with the
fast hitch on both so just hook and go. I don't spend much
time reconfigureing tractors. Just start the appropriate one
and go.

Nice looking set-up there. I have an Oliver 77 for any tillage, the SA would be for planting and cultivating.
 

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