I guess my wife loves me

[jerry]

She bought the cultivator attachment for the 32cc Sears weed whacker. It works pretty well. It's not a tiller, but is pretty agressive. It can be made to narrow by removing the outside tines. The attachment switch is easy as pie, I can go to weed wackewr to cultivator in about 30 seconds. I'm eagerly awaiting some ripe maters, but see some fried gree ones in my future

[ArkansasHunter]

Jerry does it look like that attachment would be go for hoeing your garden. Some folks call it cultivateing. Working it around your plants ?

I've got matters running out my ears down here LOL

[Oxford]

Jerry, show us pictures of your new garden tool

[jerry]

Originally Posted by ArkansasHunter

Jerry does it look like that attachment would be go for hoeing your garden. Some folks call it cultivateing. Working it around your plants ?
I've got matters running out my ears down here LOL

Yep.

Originally Posted by Oxford

Jerry, show us pictures of your new garden tool

Will Do.

[troy2000]

Does your wife love you? Or does she just consider you a gardening implement, that would be more efficient if equipped with the requisite accessories?

[Cross Hair]

I could really use one of them myself!

I must be pretty special too, 2 years ago the wife, mom and mother in law all pitched in and bought me my tiller for my b-day! Its great, but could use a small cultivator attachment or one of those mantis tillers to do the all summer weed controllin!

[jerry]

Here it is. Used it for the second time yesterday.

The engine is a 32CC & I can switch back and forth from the weed whacker. The cultivator has a back geared gear box so it dosent get turing too fast. The outside tines can be removed for narrower rows.

[Oxford]

I've seen something like that demonstrated on TV informationals. Always seemed to me that they had probably loosened up the soil before they demonstrated it. I've always wondered just how well they work in the real world.

[jerry]

Good point Oxford. It's not a tiller by any means. It's very good at keeping things turned under. If the soil gets a bit too compacted, it has to work harder at it. I think I can go out once a week and run over it, keeping things in check.

[ArkansasHunter]

About the Mantis tiller mentioned by Cross Hair...That thing is one powerful dirt chewing machine !!! My Step Father has been useing one for 8 to 10 years.

It is a handful to control which to me is ovious from the commersial on t.v.

As you've noticed the operator walks backwards with it. You don't really have to that, though the mantis needs to be a little tamer I think and easier to control working rows.
To be little it can handle and handle well the gardens I've seen pictured here as far as breaking up the ground.

I don't think you can regulate the speed on this beast, it may just have one setting...FAST

The only problem I could see with Jerrys is mobility in a garden when useing it and comfort.

[jerry]

The unit is weighted pretty well. The pole is extended, just lay it down and let 'er eat. Walking backwards is normal with this as well as you pull the soil along with you.

If you guys want, I can gen up a demo video.

[Cross Hair]

Thats pretty cool Jerry! I really could use a small cultivator type thing for keeping up on things easier. My tiller can reverse the tines to do a smaller cultivating path, but is still the large cumbersome machine and once plants get tall and broad it would do more damage than good.

AH - I've wondered how much power those manits things have, I have a friend that loves their mantis but I've never personally used it. I think in most of our gardens that are already busted up and used every year a mantis or something like Jerry got would save me ALOT of time, but would not replace a full size tiller for fall and spring heavy work.... however I think hour wise I probably use a smaller machine more than the big boy!

[NRAJOE]

Nothing says love like helping you whack yer weed....

[jerry]

Jealous

[ArkansasHunter]

Jerry there are wheels available for weed wackers though you can make your own.
They look like training wheels that you put on a childs bike.
I think they would work good when you use the tiller attachment.
Just a thought...A.H

[jerry]

very well could AH, interesting, thanks!

[Oxford]

My neighbor has a tiller something like the "whacker." He's offered to let me use it. For my main garden my 24" Craftsman tiller would probably work best. But for my wife's raised flower gardens, that whacker might just be the "cat's arse." I should give it a try.

Here's where my neighbor uses his "whacker."

[Cross Hair]

LOL Oxford! Looks like like makes plenty of compost to accompany that big garden! Oh well, at least he is gardening! If thats all I had to keep up with... the weed pullin' cultivating attachment the good lord calls hands would do me just fine!

You better borrow it and check it out... I am afraid that tank of mixfuel is probably 3 years old and you'd be a doin him a favor by running that old gas out before it ruins the engine! J/K!!!

[Oxford]

That green "tank" is a commerecially made composting device. It has a crank on one end for turning it 5 or 6 times when the inside contents reaches a certain temperature. There is a hinged door on one face of the barrel. It allows him to put inside a mixture of grass clippings, leaves, old newspaper and doesn't call for any water. The sun heats up the barrel, the contents start cooking, and it's mixed regularly. Eventually, he dumps out it's contents...which are spread on his garden.

Now...my "passive" compost pile gets almost the same results...but without most of the work he does. And...I didn't pay a premium price for that green barrel, no doubt costing more than it's worth.

To each their own. He and I exchange gardening ideas but his choice of vegetables is considerably different than mine. I'm more of a "meat and potatoes" kind of gardener (tomatoes, peppers, onions, cuccumbers) whereas, he enjoys okra, zukenni, asparagis, and other vegetables that my wife and I don't enjoy.

[Cross Hair]

Those comercial composters like he is using ARE very expensive Ox! I saw some in a gardening catalog and I could pick up 3 Mosins for the price of one of them doohickeys LOL!

I would think the one big plus would be the fact if you sprayed enough water in it and had a drain you could get some of that compost tea I keep reading so much about. I am with you however, my compost pile is well.... a pile on the ground that I havent got around to building a containment device for yet!

I got some pallets like Ezearlin suggested in another post... but have not yet assembled anything. I did like the picture of yours how you used chicken wire and I would think that the extra oxygen and sunshine getting too the vegetation would help speed the process?

I have plenty of wire available and may build that instead since one of the barns on the property used to be a commercial chicken operation and free material is free material!

How often do you turn your pile and how often do you wet it? This is my first year for composting and would rather do this than keep tilling manure in the fall, fertilize add lime and retill in spring. I will still add lime to "sweeten" the soil, but want to get away from using the pelletized fertilizer if possible.