Field cultivators

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Many of the dry land boys who plant winter wheat use field cultivators as an operation to keep the weeds in check during the summer months on fallow ground & prior to their planting in the fall.

This operation, which usually follows a plow or chisel, also brings the tillage depth up a notch "shallower" towards where it needs to be for planting because small grains just do not do well in loose soil.

Then, many of them still use the old rod-weeder to till as the final step prior to planting.

In other words, they have their tillage operations planned throughout the summer as to not only control the weeds & grasses in the future seedbed, but also to bring the tillage depth up from deep towards shallow, so that when the new seed is planted, it has the best chance for germination.

Have a good one,

Allan

In the old days a disk was popular for secondary tillage (after a plow) along with a harrow.

Today, more modern field cultivators are the only thing you see after plowing. Disks pack & plug too much, we all use field cultivators.

These old models did not have enough clearance tho, & plugged up badly. So they were used in really worked dirt to dig up quack or thistle patches for the most part.

--->Paul

• cultivators

Gary

Your comment on the guide rod for rear mounted cultavators made me smile and brought back some fond memories.

I think it was somewhere around '55 or '56 when we switched to rear mount cultavators and did just as you say; we bolted a small metal electric fence post to the tractor's frame rail and bent it down so that it "pointed" down over the row.

After about the first 50 or 60 acres tho, we soon realized that it was unnecessary. It got to the point that you could almost "feel" that row; and we never used that rod again.

Plus, the rear mounts are a heck of a lot easier than watching those front mounted shanks.

With them, you come to the end of the field, stop and look up (with a kink in your neck), and the real estate just seems to be "rolling" away from you.

Kind of a dizzying effect like unwrapping your brain or something, ya might say. :>)

Thanks for the walk back in time,

Allan