To facilitate their summer chores, far-sighted owners acquire all kinds of equipment. Units for working with soil are especially carefully selected, because it requires not only annual digging, but also cultivation, harrowing, weed removal, etc. And in this case, a cultivator is indispensable for gardening. But there are so many options that it is difficult to choose the most suitable. It is important to consider how you plan to use it, on sites of what complexity and how often. Let us analyze the existing types of cultivators in terms of their most advantageous application.
Hand cultivators: climb into any slot
Despite the obvious mechanization of country work, do not rush to discount such a useful thing as a hand cultivator. It will come in handy in those places of the site where the equipment on wheels will not work - on alpine hills, flower beds, discounts, near the fence itself, etc. For the life of flowers and perennials, you must periodically "slow down" the soil to give the roots more oxygen. You can’t process the rose garden with technology, because you can damage neighboring plants, and there’s simply nowhere to turn around. Therefore, in the narrowest places, a manual cultivator comes to the rescue.
Star cultivator (rotary)
Its cutting mechanism is a shaft on which disks resembling asterisks are worn. The cultivator is planted on a long handle to move the soil without bending. Due to the uneven pointed shape of the discs, the tool cuts into the soil and grabs it, lifting and slightly turning. Together with the soil, weeds also fly out.
The rotary type manual cultivator is able to work in the most inaccessible places, such as alpine slides, narrow slopes and along fences
It is very convenient for them to move high ridges of cucumbers, to grow up potatoes planted locally by hand (for example, varietal), to cultivate the soil under conifers on a lawn or flower beds, etc.
The only drawback of the instrument is that it moves poorly heavy, crusty earths. He is not able to break clay soil.
Cultivator cultivator
It is a device with three or five curved teeth, pointed at the ends. They easily “bite” into the soil, compacted or nailed by rains, breaking the crust. When working, it is necessary to swing and lower the cultivator with force so that the teeth go deep into the soil and then pull towards you. There are models on long handles (for the garden) and on short ones (for loosening seedlings in boxes and indoor plants).
It is convenient to work cultivators-cultivators with a small handle in greenhouses where seedlings or potted plants are grown in boxes
Motocultivators: light, medium and heavyweights
In addition to manual models, petrol or electric powered cultivators are available.
Depending on power and weight, they are divided into three groups: light, featherweight (medium) and heavy. But you can’t say which group the best cultivator is hiding in, because each one has its own pros and cons.
Light cultivators
In this group, most of the units are electrical. Due to the lack of a motor housing, this technique has high maneuverability. It is easy to manage. And when you consider that many of the earthwork we have to do for women, these cultivators seem to be made for weak, tender hands. The total weight of the unit does not exceed 15 kg, but there are also very miniature options - about 9 kg. It is not difficult to take them under the armpit and transfer to the other edge of the site, because the mass is equivalent to a ten-liter bucket of water.
Light cultivators are easy to manage and lightweight, so any woman can cope with them without the help of a man
The main problem of the electric cultivator is a wire tangled underfoot. It must be ensured that he does not fall under the cutter and does not jump out of the socket
Light machinery is not able to cultivate soil to a depth of over 20 cm (precisely because of its weight). It is designed to process small areas (up to 10 acres) with loose, well-crafted soils. Heavy soil is too tough for her. But in greenhouses, where space is limited, such a "beast" will be a good helper. The only inconvenience of electrical options is a cord that limits the area of work and gets confused underfoot.
And you can also design a cultivator with your own hands, read about it: //diz-cafe.com/tech/samodelnyj-kultivator.html
Medium Cultivators
This group includes units whose weight ranges from 15 to 35 kg. The level of their power (3-4 hp) allows you to process areas of 10-30 acres. Most of the "middle class" - gasoline. Due to the heavier weight, they cultivate the soil deeper and are not afraid of heavy soil nailed down by rains and feet. But it’s more difficult to manage them than light equipment, therefore such an aggregate is not recommended for pensioners and women.
A medium-power cultivator is most suitable for suburban areas of 10-15 acres, because it shows good endurance in combination with an affordable price
Powerful cultivators
This group is the most motley, because it includes not only cultivators themselves, but also motoblocks. We will not make such a mistake, because the walk-behind tractor is a kind of mini-tractor, and it has its own tasks on the site. Therefore, we restrict ourselves only to models whose weight is from 35 to 60 kg, and power - up to 6 hp. This group is exclusively gasoline, because it is designed for sections of 30-50 acres, and the electric cultivator simply cannot pull such a volume of work.
A powerful unit digs the earth most deeply, so if there is no virgin land on the site, then they can produce autumn and spring plowing of the garden
The solid weight of the cultivator and its dimensions should be taken into account. On narrow beds, this technique is very slow. Her field of activity is planting potatoes, beets, carrots, which have wide furrows and are arranged in long rows. A powerful cultivator is very convenient in digging around tree trunks. It easily raises wheat grass, sow thistles and other weeds, and helps maintain the garden in a tidy condition. But again, there should be free space between the trees so that the equipment can maneuver.
Nozzles for a cultivator: which are the most useful?
Attachments are attached to each cultivator, which allow for various agricultural operations. Part comes immediately in the kit, and some are offered as optional equipment.
Before choosing a cultivator, read what is included in its kit. But keep in mind that the lighter the model, the fewer operations it is designed for. For example, the “potato digger” nozzle will only be in the heavy equipment group, because it works at great depths.
The most necessary nozzles:
- hiller;
- ploskorez;
- potato digger;
- plow;
- aerator for lawn;
- rotary mower;
- garden garbage shredder;
- snow shovel.
Note that the width of the cutter will depend on the power of the cultivator. The more powerful the beast, the wider the seizure of the cultivated land. This can be a drawback if the beds are small. Therefore, select equipment for the size of your garden.
