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Many have already appreciated the benefits of working with a motor cultivator. This is a universal technique that has become simply indispensable for housekeeping. With it, you can perform a huge amount of robot on your site. The motor-block quickly and effectively prepares the soil and copes with other tasks. For example, many gardeners weed potatoes with a walk-behind tractor. They can also very conveniently and quickly spud bushes. To do this, there are a huge number of nozzles and devices. In this article we will see how weeding potatoes with a walk-behind tractor.
Advantages of working with a walk-behind tractor
Gardeners have long adapted to walk-behind tractors and almost all procedures for growing potatoes are performed by them. For example, a walk-behind tractor does an excellent job with the following tasks:
- soil plowing;
- planting potatoes;
- weeding;
- hilling potato bushes;
- harvesting.
And these are only those works that directly relate to potatoes. In addition, owners of motor cultivators can mow grass with them and perform other manipulations. Further, in the article we will consider special devices for weeding potatoes.
Paws for weeding potatoes
Most often, weeding potatoes is carried out using special paws. This is one of the simplest, but very effective devices. They are easy to install and store. Paws carefully cultivate the soil without touching the root system of vegetable crops. The main thing in this matter is to correctly set the depth. For looser soil, a depth of about 4 cm is suitable, and for trampled and dense soil, you will need to set the device 7 cm deep.
The width between the paws is set depending on the width of the furrow. In this case, one paw should be located slightly behind. Thanks to this, the space between the paws will not become clogged. There are several types of paws:
- lancet;
- one-sided;
- double-sided.
Weeding with a walk-behind tractor with the help of a flat cutter-weeder
The next device is no less popular. A flat cutter is a special attachment for tilling the soil and removing weeds from the topsoil. With it, you can prepare the site for planting or simply process the aisle. There are flat cutters with special drums for discarding weeds and simple ones with ordinary knives.
When weeding potatoes with a walk-behind tractor, the wheels must be in the furrows. During the movement of the cultivator, the knives gradually cut off all the weeds from the aisles, and the drum throws them back. It is also very important to consider the age of the weeds. While they are not yet strongly rooted and strengthened, it will be much easier to remove them. But mature and strong plants will succumb to far from every adaptation.
Hedgehogs for weeding potatoes
A hedgehog is a special attachment that consists of rings of different sizes. They are placed in the shape of a cone. On the rings there are spikes or teeth that plow the ground. Hedgehogs should be installed on a motor cultivator with a slight slope. It is very convenient when the device is made of rings. Sometimes there are homemade hedgehogs made of steel discs. In this case, the soil along with the weeds accumulates between them, while the holes in the rings allow the waste to fall to the ground.
In fact, hedgehogs are a smaller version of large rotary harrows. These devices work on the same principle. Hedgehogs sink a little into the soil and rotate, thereby loosening the soil and removing weeds from it.
Weeding harrow
A large number of gardeners claim that weeding potato rows with a walk-behind tractor is best done using a special hinged structure. It consists of a frame and mesh with sharp teeth. This type of harrow can be called a drag harrow. Each cell in the grid has a length of about 20 cm. The most common cells are rectangular, hexagonal and square. The mesh harrow perfectly weeds the aisles from weeds and slightly loosens the topsoil.
Conclusion
Now you know exactly how you can use a motor cultivator for weeding potatoes. This universal device allows you to perform a large amount of work on your site. With it, you can weed and spud potatoes, as well as other vegetable crops. Such processing of the site takes little time and saves energy. Anyone who once tried to use a motor cultivator will no longer want to return to an ordinary chopper. In the video below, you can see how weeding potatoes with a walk-behind tractor with hedgehogs.
