Which cutters are best for digging virgin soil with a cultivator. Basic rules for processing virgin soil and preparing land for a vegetable garden

Tell us how to plow with a walk-behind tractor and are there any special features in setting up the plow? Or is it enough to secure it and immediately start plowing?

Before you start plowing, it is necessary to carry out initial preparation of both the walk-behind tractor itself and the plow used. The preparation of the walk-behind tractor consists of putting special iron wheels of small diameter, called lugs, on it instead of standard wheels. To improve stability, sometimes elongated hubs are used, on which lugs are placed.

Then, using a hitch, the plow is attached to the walk-behind tractor. Initially, it is not recommended to tighten the fastening nuts and bolts on the hitch, since they will have to be loosened during future adjustments.

Before starting work, it is necessary to adjust the plow itself. For the convenience of adjustment work, spacers or bars with a height of about 15 cm are placed under the lugs. This value is determined by the required plowing depth of 15-18 cm.

If you need to go deeper into the ground, it is advisable to increase the size of the bars.

After this, the walk-behind tractor is balanced - a stop is placed under the supporting leg, which prevents it from tilting relative to the plow. The handles of the walk-behind tractor are directed parallel to the ground.

Using the adjusting bolts on the hitch, it is necessary to establish the correct position of the plow body. Body tilt is considered normal when the heel of the plow is parallel to the ground.

The angle of inclination is a very important parameter. If installed incorrectly, the quality of work will certainly drop, the load on the motor of the walk-behind tractor increases many times, which can lead to unexpected breakdowns, and the tension in the operator’s hands also increases, as a result of which his labor productivity decreases. After the plow has been adjusted, the fastenings must be tightened.

Now you can begin the main work. First, you need to perform the so-called control plowing - plow one furrow. In this case, there is no need to push the walk-behind tractor or put pressure on the handles; it is necessary to keep them in such a position that the nose of the plow does not bury itself or, conversely, does not lift up. Using the control furrow, the quality of the blade, the depth of the furrow are determined, and the load on the walk-behind tractor and hands is assessed. If any of these criteria are not satisfied, an initial adjustment of the plow is made.

If you have no experience working with a walk-behind tractor and a plow, it is advisable to mark the approximate path of the walk-behind tractor using a ribbon stretched straight along which the first furrow will run.

There are two main methods of plowing - tipping and waddling.

Plowing

With this method, plowing begins from the center of the plot. Having plowed the furrow to the end of the field, the walk-behind tractor turns around, the right wheel is installed in the center of the furrow and plowing is carried out in reverse side. In this way, the entire area is processed. This method characterized by the fact that in the middle, after the walk-behind tractor has passed in the opposite direction, a stall ridge is formed. This plowing method is good because snow is better retained in the furrows in winter and the soil is saturated with moisture.

Plowing while waddling

Work begins on the right side of the plot, upon reaching the opposite end, the plow is turned to the left and plowed from the other edge of the plot. In this case, it is permissible to plow in a circle, however, as you move towards the center of the cultivated field, movement will become more difficult. With this method of plowing, a split furrow appears in the center of the plot, and ridges form along the edges.

To reduce the number of ridges and furrows, the field is divided into several smaller rectangular areas called paddocks. In this case, even-numbered paddocks are plowed in a huddled manner, and odd-numbered paddocks are huddled.

Surely every villager, summer resident or farmer acquires gardening equipment over time. After all, there is a lot of work on the site, and it takes a lot of effort and time to complete it. This is when cultivators come to the rescue. Naturally, each unit comes with an instruction manual, but it is more technical in nature than practical. Therefore, many owners of cultivators are faced with problems of how to plow a garden with a motorized cultivator. Let's try to figure this out now.

Plowing the soil with a motor cultivator is a very simple process and does not require much effort. Yes, additional practical skills would not hurt, but still it is not difficult to cope with such equipment.

How to plow with a cultivator

We place the cultivator at the edge of the plot.
We turn on the higher gear.
We hold the unit and follow it.

That's basically the whole plowing process. But I would like to draw your attention to a few more features. The equipment is dug into the ground by about one and a half shovels, and in order to achieve such a depth, you can slightly rock the unit from side to side. With this swing, the knives will dig into the ground one by one, and the result of the work will be more effective.

What to do if the equipment gets stuck in the ground?

In this case, you need to swing the equipment in different sides, which will allow it to be gradually released from the soil. It is worth noting that there are a number of motorized cultivators that will perform excellently on hard virgin soil. Usually, of course, during the initial plowing of stubborn virgin soil, a plow is used. But if the cultivator has good power, then it can also cope with such soil using conventional cutters. And in this case, many owners may encounter a problem with such soil cultivation: the unit begins to bounce due to the hardness of the earth. To hold the equipment in place and give it greater stability, you can use additional weight.

With a multifunctional walk-behind tractor you can perform wide range work in the field, cottage and garden. Used with the device different kinds attachments that help to quickly and efficiently process arable land and virgin soil. The most common soil-cultivating implement is the ploughshare plow. Instructions on how to prepare it for work and plow it correctly are described in our article.

How to install and plow a mounted plow

The main working parts of the tool are a metal ploughshare and a blade. The ploughshare carries out plowing, it cuts the upper layers of soil and directs them to the dump. And the blade wraps the earth raised by the ploughshare, crumbles it and throws it into the furrow. Thanks to this process, deep loosening of the soil occurs, during which it is saturated with oxygen and gets rid of weeds.

The picture shows what a ploughshare plow looks like, designed for plowing with a cultivator or walk-behind tractor in the garden. Different models of plowing devices may have some differences among themselves, but mostly they are all designed this way.

Before you start plowing the ground with a cultivator or walk-behind tractor, assemble a removable plow. To do this, take two bolts and use them to attach the hitch to the rack mounted implement. The assembled unit is hung on the cultivator bracket, lightly fixed and then adjusted according to the following parameters:

plowing depths;
blade tilt angle;
angle of inclination of the heel (field board).

To adjust to the required plowing depth, the motor-cultivator is rolled out onto stands 12-20 cm high and placed as level as possible, so that the field board is in full contact with the surface of the earth, and the stand is perpendicular to it. The mounted plow is adjusted to the required position at which it will plow, and then secured with an adjuster screw and a lock nut.

To adjust the angle of the blade, tilt the cultivator to the side. To do this, remove the stand from under the right wheel (or lug), leaving only under the left one. The nuts securing the hitch to the hitch are slightly loosened, the plow is slowly turned, giving it the optimal position for plowing.

Changing the angle of the heel (field board) is carried out by rotating the adjusting screw of the cultivator hitch. If it is necessary to increase the height of the heel lift relative to the plowshare, turn the screw clockwise and vice versa. When adjusting, be sure to ensure that the distance does not exceed 3 cm, otherwise the nose of the plow, when plowing in the garden, will begin to burrow deep into the ground and worsen the traction force of the cultivator, as well as a walk-behind tractor or a walk-behind tractor. After completing the adjustment, tighten all nuts well with a wrench. You can take a more detailed look at the process of setting up a plow for plowing with Salyut, Neva and other motor cultivators in the video.

After making the above settings, the plow is completely ready for use and you can try plowing in the garden. Before you start plowing thoroughly, especially virgin soil, you perform control plowing and evaluate whether the plow is adjusted correctly, what the depth of the furrow is and the quality of the soil dump. How to properly plow with a cultivator is well shown in the video using the Neva walk-behind tractor as an example. You can also watch a video about how it behaves heavy walk-behind tractor Zirka when plowing virgin soil.

When the plow is adjusted correctly, the power unit moves evenly during plowing, without jerking, without burying the “nose” of the ploughshare deep into the surface. The furrows from under the moldboard are smooth and do not “overlap” each other during plowing. If the site has hard soil, plowing is carried out in two passes. During the first plowing, a shallower depth is set, and during the second, a greater depth. In the same way you need to plow virgin soil. To cultivate small areas, they mainly use a cultivator and plowing cutters. Medium-sized plots are also cultivated with a cultivator, but with the use of a huller or a light plow, and heavy and virgin soil - with the help of a powerful motor-cultivator (for example, Neva) and a mounted plow.

What attachments does the walk-behind tractor work with?

Any experienced farmer knows that with the help of a walk-behind tractor, cultivator or other motorized equipment, almost all agricultural work can be mechanized, from cultivating the land to prepare it for sowing and ending with transporting the harvested crop. Motor units have become universal due to the possibility of using a variety of attachments. For example, for cultivating plowed land and cultivating virgin lands, not only moldboard and other plows were created, but also:

harrows;
hillers;
rotary cutters;
flat cutters-weeders.

Harrows are used to plow virgin soil, as well as for pre-sowing or post-harvest loosening of arable soil to a depth of 7-14 cm. Using harrowing with a walk-behind tractor or cultivator, the surface is leveled, moisture is covered, and weeds are destroyed. The working parts of such agricultural implements are metal teeth or spherical disks. In this video you can clearly see how to properly plow with a walk-behind tractor and a homemade harrow.

Using a hiller, you can hill up potatoes, cut furrows for sowing seeds, fill in planting material, and also sprinkle weeds directly in the area of the rows. Hilling devices come in single-row and double-row, with fixed and adjustable working widths, distinguishable both by their design and their efficiency. Here is a video of how the Neva MB2 walk-behind tractor performs processing with a mounted two-row hiller-weeder.

With a rotary cutter you can plow virgin soil, carry out pre-sowing and basic cultivation of plowed land. This agricultural implement allows you to mill, cultivate the land and qualitatively prepare it for sowing. It is capable of not only plowing the soil, but also crumbling large layers, mixing with fertilizer, crushing stubble particles, and leveling the sown area. There are rotary cutters for plowing different types, depending on the number of cutting elements. This video shows how to actually plow a walk-behind tractor with a cutter installed on it.

A flat weeding cutter helps to trim weeds, split and cut grooves without turning the formation, plow and crush the soil. Flat cutters come in all possible cutting widths and processing depths, which allows you to select them for specific processing conditions of agricultural plots and crops. This video shows how to carry out processing with a mounted flat cutter in practice using the example of a Dnepr walk-behind tractor.

In addition to the listed removable tools designed to plow virgin soil and cultivate arable land, rakes, wood splitters, seeders, shredders, cultivators, rotary and segment mowers, shovels, sprayers, sweeping brushes, snow blowers, etc. are used with the motorized unit. Having a basic set of mounted agricultural implements, you can use a walk-behind tractor or a powerful cultivator to perform all kinds of economic tasks, in particular, pre-sowing plowing, sowing and planting crops, applying fertilizers, inter-row cultivation of crops, harvesting root crops, and seasonal harvesting of green fodder.

How much does it cost to plow a field?

Manual cultivation of the soil is a rather difficult task, and if it is also virgin soil, then almost impossible. Therefore, farmers and summer residents, in order not to work manually, try to acquire special agricultural equipment - cultivators, motor-cultivators, walk-behind tractors, mini-tractors and various accessories for them. The equipment will allow high-quality plowing of virgin lands and quickly cultivating plowed lands.

But not every owner of a farm or dacha land has the opportunity to purchase a whole arsenal of motorized equipment. Often the power of a purchased cultivator is simply not enough to cultivate virgin soil or plow an abandoned garden. In this case, you have to turn to the owners of more “serious” agricultural equipment for help - powerful mini tractors and tractors. These high-performance machines become especially popular during the pre-planting and post-harvest seasons. They quickly and efficiently process the field, cultivate, cultivate overgrown turf and virgin soil.

Of course, agricultural machinery services are not cheap. The cost of mechanized work performed by a tractor depends on various factors, in particular from:

prices for fuel and lubricants;
dimensions of the treated area;
the degree of neglect of the site, the presence of vegetation on it;
relief and condition of the soil that will be processed;
distances from the place where the equipment is parked to the place where it will work;
kind earthworks and the agricultural implements used for their implementation.

How much it costs to hire a tractor for plowing virgin soil or cultivating plowed land can be found out on thematic forums where experienced farmers and beginners exchange relevant information among themselves and give good advice. Typically, tractor owners calculate the cost of plowing as follows: all costs of processing + 45-50% (virgin soil, naturally, is more expensive). But it’s difficult to say exactly the final amount, since prices can vary greatly in different regions of the country.

The most expensive tractor work is considered to be plowing virgin and arable land using a disc harrow, a tillage cutter and a three-furrow plow (25,000 rubles/1-5 hectares). It will cost a little less to disk the earth and mow the grass if you work with a mini tractor using a mounted rotary mower and a tooth harrow (20,000 rubles/1-5 ha). But even at relatively high prices, the services of tractors and mini-tractors are used by many farmers, including owners of garden and country plots. Whatever one may say, plowing and cultivating without equipment is difficult and time-consuming. In addition, this is a very responsible process that cannot be done without time and financial investments.

Good afternoon, dear readers. A couple of years ago I had a question about when to plow the land. In addition, it became interesting how to properly plow the land. The longer I delved, the more questions and contradictions arose.

Let's just understand when and how to properly plow the garden on your own property. Just for yourself, without delving into complex scientific methods and so on. After all, many people face a dilemma: to dig a garden in the spring or in the fall?

Why is plowing the land necessary?

Before deciding to dig up a garden in the spring or fall, you need to understand why this is being done in the first place. Many, of course, will say that there are fewer weeds or pests, or maybe to fertilize the soil so that it does not become stony, and so on. All this is of course correct, no matter what anyone says.

But in reality, everything is much simpler. There are many reasons for plowing; it must be done. And here's why:

Salinization — the main problem soil, especially if humid climate. Even upper layer dries out, moisture remains deeper and salt accumulates. This affects the yield. Plus, when turning the top layer over and loosening it, we enrich the soil with oxygen. This is very important for beneficial microorganisms. These microorganisms are very important in soil fertility.
Weeds and various pests. When plowing, many roots and pests fall to the top and die or die. This is also an important process.
Soil erosion or excessive compaction. Here you need to understand and know how to plow the land correctly.

Well, there are many other small reasons that are also important. But these three points immediately convince me that plowing is necessary. When should you plow then?

When should you plow the soil?

Mini tractor plows the garden

I will not languish anyone; any experienced gardener or agronomist will tell you when to plow the land. Plow it once or twice a year. In the first case in autumn, in the second case in autumn and spring.

But most the main process is autumn plowing. It’s worth focusing on.

Let’s say this used to happen in my family: they cleaned up the garden in the fall and that’s it. Spring has arrived and plowing begins. You definitely need to make it to the potatoes. But I really felt something in my gut. Firstly, the weeds simply prevailed, every year the grass rushes and rushes, rushes and rushes. That's terrible.

Secondly, the yield is simply not that great. You begin to take an interest in your friends and neighbors. Yeah, they don’t have much of a harvest these days, but I don’t have any at all. And when they have a good harvest, I have it too, but not the same.

Then he went to his parents for help. They offered me fertilizers and this and that. As a result, I began to find out who plows what, and here it is. Everyone plows in the fall, but I only plow in the spring. So I learned from bitter experience. Let's figure it out further.

There are many, many myths on the Internet. about the fact that there is no need to plow the garden in the fall. I won't list all the reasons. I’ll just tell you one truth, why you definitely need to plow the land in the fall.

The fact is that we prepare the land in the fall for the new gardening season. The earth is saturated with oxygen and many weeds die off. In addition, beneficial bacteria are restored by spring, which is beneficial for soil fertility.

I think that the most useful thing for many is getting rid of weeds. Of course, you won’t get rid of it 100%, but there will be a lot less of them. This is an incentive.

And of course, if you have “virgin land” and have never planted anything, then you definitely need to plow it well in the fall, and then in the spring, you can also fertilize organic fertilizers. If you grow wheat or other non-root crops, you don’t have to plow in the spring.

Proper plowing in autumn and spring.

We plow and harrow at once

We figured out when to plow the land. In any case, it is necessary in the fall. Now I understand how to do it.

In autumn, deep plowing should be carried out. But when? Plays a big role here climate zone, because temperatures are different everywhere. Plowing should be done in late autumn, after harvesting, when it gets cold. In the southern regions, plowing can be carried out in December.

Here is another example of the fact that you need to plow your garden at the end of autumn, before frost. If you plow the garden earlier, then some weeds will still grow before the onset of cold weather. Which means all your work will go to waste. That is why even garden trees are pruned in September, not earlier.

It is very important to plow the soil before the night temperature drops below +5 ºC. At such a time, the ground is still soft to plow, and the weeds will no longer grow and their seeds will not germinate. In general, for most regions, November is the ideal month for deep plowing of vegetable gardens. Although this is how it is with us - in Kemerovo region, September, somewhere towards the end of the month.

By the way, if the soil is clayey or sandy, then when plowing you can fertilize the soil with humus or manure. This will increase soil fertility. But not fresh. Straw or manure should burn out within a year. Otherwise, there will only be harm to the soil.

What are we doing now in the spring? Everything is simpler here. We only need to carry out soil reservation. This should be done as soon as the top layer of soil dries. Many people now do this: if the garden is large, then they go through it with a tractor cutter. You can do it this way, if you don’t plant it deeply. Then the layer of soil with beneficial bacteria will remain unharmed.

How to get rid of weeds by autumn plowing?

The plow turns over a layer of soil, the roots of the weeds freeze

It is good to get rid of weeds when plowing the ground in the fall. Everything here is simple and banal. The fact is that if the garden is plowed correctly in the fall, then frosts occur. That's when the weeds die. Their horses are simply freezing. And in the spring they do not germinate. Really tested from my own experience.

Previously, we did not plow the garden for potatoes in the fall. The grass just took over. There was so much of it that it was impossible to drip potatoes. Two years ago we plowed in the fall, and next summer we couldn’t be happier. There are much less grass and weeds. It is much easier to process and, especially, dig potatoes. Plowing plays a big role and facilitates the battle with weeds, which sometimes becomes unbearably difficult.

And those who plow their garden once or twice a year will say that in this way you can almost completely get rid of weeds. Of course autumn

But there is another factor that affects the quality of plowing. It is necessary that the one who plows understands what he is doing. In other words, it is better to involve specialists when the time comes to plow the land. You need to know how to plow and to what depth.

Which method to choose for plowing: manual or mechanical?

A walk-behind tractor in a small area is ideal for autumn plowing

Many inexperienced gardeners ask this question. There are many methods and devices. answering the question of when to plow the land, the question arose of “what” to plow. Of course, many will say that you need to dig with a plow. We mainly use three types: shovel, walk-behind tractor and tractor. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

A shovel is cheap and cheerful. But you definitely won’t damage the fertile layer. But more often than not, this method will not give much results. You can plow with a shovel if you have a very small garden.

If you have at least 5 acres, then a walk-behind tractor is ideal. They can plow quite deep - up to 25 cm. This will saturate the soil well with oxygen and remove a lot of weeds. They can also plow up all the passages of rodents. Then they will not harm you the next time you land.

But if you have large gardens, then in any case you need a tractor. It is desirable that a person not only knows how, but also knows how to plow the land correctly. The properties of the soil determine which type of tractor is best to use. Some heavy tractors may simply not reach deep into the ground. They may sink into the ground and not really plow.

That's all for me, I think this article was useful to you, share it on in social networks, write comments, bye everyone.

Updated: March 30, 2019 by: Subbotin Pavel

With the advent of specialized walk-behind tractors on the market, farmers immediately switched to full mechanization, realizing that with the help of such units various types of tasks can be significantly simplified. Plowing the land with a walk-behind tractor is the most frequently performed procedure, which has its advantages:

Of course, the main positive feature of plowing with a walk-behind tractor is saving time and applying a minimum of physical effort;
Along with plowing, you can loosen the soil and fertilize it;
The cultivation of the land occurs at a certain depth and evenly, which helps to improve its structural quality and condition;
The soil is saturated with the necessary amount of moisture and oxygen;
Cultivating the soil with a walk-behind tractor helps slow down the growth of weeds.

Statistical data will tell you the best about the benefits of using a walk-behind tractor: according to research, when mechanically plowing, the yield on the land plot doubles.

Tilling the land with a walk-behind tractor: seriously preparing for this process

Before you start plowing the site, you should prepare the unit itself for the process. You need to roll the walk-behind tractor onto a flat surface, use replaceable axles and replace the standard wheels with variants with ground hooks.

Now special attention is paid to the proper installation of attachments:

Fasten the plow to the coupling device, but under no circumstances overtighten the fastening nuts so that, if necessary, the plow adjustment procedure can be carried out;
Connect the hitch to the plow and the mounting bracket of the unit using several pins.

Upon completion of the main installation work, you can begin adjusting the plow.

Plow setting procedure

First, you should place the unit on special stands and balance it;
Then you need to decide on the height of the stands for the ground hooks. For autumn plowing of the garden with a walk-behind tractor, options with a height of 20-25 cm are suitable, and for spring - 10-15 cm;
The next step is to set the angle of the plow body so that its heel is parallel to the surface of the ground;
Now you can remove the walk-behind tractor and begin setting up the control handles. If the walk-behind tractor carrier is located at waist level, the operator’s hands will not get tired.

Before starting work, you should treat a small area and evaluate whether everything is correctly installed and adjusted. For greater efficiency and comfort of the process, you can install a special arable module.

How to properly plow with a walk-behind tractor?

The features of this process depend on the size of the area:

It is recommended to cultivate small plots of land using a cultivation device or a cutter. Often, walk-behind tractors that are light and medium in weight and power are equipped with the specified devices, so everyone can actively use them. As for plowing the soil with a walk-behind tractor, it’s not difficult to start this process. You need to place the unit on the edge of the site, turning on a higher gear and simply follow the device, guiding it and periodically turning it around;
To work on large areas, you should seriously prepare, paying attention to Special attention adjusting the plow. In this case, the methods of plowing with a walk-behind tractor are somewhat different, because first the operator makes a pass with the device from one edge to the other at low speed. In this case, it is important that the walk-behind tractor stands with its right wheel in the middle of the furrow left after the first pass. It is necessary to carefully monitor the plow, because even taking into account the slope, it must stand perpendicular to the surface of the earth. Afterwards, another pass is carried out, during which the depth of the furrows is assessed. In most cases, it is no more than 20 cm. With experience, plowing will become easier, and the furrows themselves will be more even.

Cultivating the land has always been a difficult task, but thanks to walk-behind tractors and many types of attachments, caring for land plots just got a lot easier!