Re: Rotovator/Tiller Hire

On Jul 17, 9:59 am, "Pat Gardiner" <patgardi...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I have used one for the past eight years, both following pigs (tricky
because of stones brought to the surface) on nettle patches (very tricky)

I have lots of these on the patch in question :-(

The most likely cause of wrecking the machine is nettle roots wrapping
arround the axle or wet clay clogging everything up. Their is a pin which
breaks and therefore protects the tines - keep a spare handy!

I have clay soil AND nettle roots :-( I was hoping to cover the plot
in a 3 inch thick layer of rotted horse manure and then rotovate the
whole lot in; hoping that this would also destroy the roots (these are
from plants already treated with glysophate so they should be dead).
Your saying this is just about the worst scenario. :-(


If the soil is very dry hard or wet heavy clay, I found the best way was to
make several passes setting the tines, to go deeper each time, on wet soil
leaving it a few days between to dry out.

This is what I was planning: Repeated passes getting deeper each time.
Has anyone got any dry soil at the moment? :-) Not round where I live
anyway :-)

The one thing that did surprise me was that the bigger rotavators are
actually easier to use that the small garden variety. If working on clay,
you may find as I did, that clogging was much reduced by removing the
adjustable protective side panels. Be careful though of your safety,
remember to keep your feet out of the way, if you do that. On dry land, you
should replace the panels, both to reduce the risk of stone flying up, and
to reduce the dust thrown up.

When I bought our rotavator, I got it right, but looking back that was luck
not judgement. I would be tempted to employ a landscape gardener type chap
and watch carefully. You get a lesson on how to do it - and with luck if you
get on, he will hire you one of his.

So, is it better to get a largish hand rotovator and just wheel it out
when the conditions are right and be prepared to have to do the same
area 2 or 3 times? I have about 200 sqm to do at the moment though,
TBH, I was hoping, a couple of years down the line, to expand this
patch to include a section in a tunnel.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Rotovator/Tiller Hire
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