Super A Finally!

I personally use two cultivators; one the traditional 1 row cultivator, where row spacing or bed is same width as tractor. I use this for high bushy crops that require a lot of space, and to take advantage on SA highest clearence right down the middle. That one is often used with wheel tread settings of 48" or 52".

My second cultivator is a tool bar type cultivator, with center and rear mount tool bars. I have used this one with wheel tread set as wide as 68", giving me 4 - 15" rows, with wider spacing for wheel tracks. As Jim Becker points out the planting device, whether seeder or transplanter must plant the same 4 rows on 15" centers. More common I have used 60" wheel tread doing 2 - 30" rows or 3 - 20" rows, ie corn in 30" rows and items like beets, carrots, etc in 20" rows. I must admit I liked the 60" wheel tread and 20" - 30" row option better than 68" tread.

I have always used two tractors, and what I liked best was my Super A set on 52" wheel tread and my 130 on 60" wheel tread. This gave me several planting options, by moving my cultivators from one tractor to another. With the Super A, I could do 52" single rows, beds close to 30" wide and 2 -26" rows. Then my 130 gave me the option of 60" or wider single rows for pumpkin, 4' wide beds, 2 -30" rows or 3 - 20" rows. Doesn't matter what you grow, as I see it the main goal is get a complete crop canopy everywhere except tractor wheel tracks. With that approach, the crop very quickly controls a lot of weeds.

I have also changed a bit in the past few years. I no longer grow vegetables commercially. I do grow flowers to sell. In this northern climate I try to not do any spring tillage. I completely prepare my seed bed in Oct., fertilize quite heavily, let the weeds grow and if old man winter doesn't get them, I assist with a bit of roundup. The goal here is to create an enviorment so every weed seed in top 3" will germinate in the fall. In spring my planting is a no till operation. Spring tillage will only bring other weed seeds close enough to surface for germination. Don't disturb the soil and you will have very few weeds. Some years this works better than others. I have gone through growing season without using my row crop cultivators and precious little hand weeding.

Mixed vegetables operations do not lend themselves very well to chemical weed control. Hand weeding will soon eat up profits. Bear in mind my planting today are a family vegetable garden and about 1/2 acre of marketable flowers. I use 3 - 3/4 acre plots. first one is my current crop, second is summer fallow and third plot is plowdown buckwheat and next years crop. The weeds my buckwheat don't get my fall tillage and germination will.

If your interested send me an e mail I do have some photos scanned of my tool bar cultivator. Bear in mind, my cultivators don't look much like what IH built 50 years ago. Most of my ground working tools have been converted to modern day S tines. Those IH ground working tools are much too costly to on annual upkeep.

With larger and/or spreading crops like summer and winter squash I plant on 7 ft. centers. I have a Ford 2n with a Howard tiller mounted that I'll just make a pass back and forth through the rows just before the plants spread or get too big. It worked well last year.

I too grow about an acre of flowers. I try and focus on easy stuff that grows fast ie. zinnia, sunflowers, dahlias, liatris, amaranthus, bells of Ireland, cornflower.

I like your idea of the 52" tread with 26" rows. I assume that two rows are being tended to under the tractor? I'll send you an email to get some pics of your setup.

This is really helpful. Thanks very much!

Josh

Andy.

I plant with a stringline which gets everything pretty organized looking. No curves in the rows. If there is a row inside each tire and they're straight and I drive straight it seems like it would work, in theory.

Maybe it just "looks good on paper". I don't know. I appreciate everyone's input on this topic. I'll post pictures of the tractor either tomorrow or Sunday.

Josh

Thanks,

Josh