I bought a used John Deere tractor and it does plowing, rototilling, leveling, removable loader, forklift,backhoe,raking. I get to sit. I set the wheel spacing to 5' 3" centers so I run a rainflow plastic mulch layer with drip tape. I come back with a waterwheel planter, or for tomatoes I just plant by hand. No weeding
and lots and lost of hard pan ! ( add a subsoiler ) My BCS 853 with a rotary (routere action) plow will plough much deeper ( 13") in one pass than your deere will do with a rototiller in 4 passes with NO HARD PAN (Plus Im not compacting my soil with those big tires with 1000 + lbs on each tire my BCS 853 puts less than 150 lbs per tire so my soil structure has much more air and water space for superior root spread and health than a ride on tractor with a rototiller would leave . The overall health of the field is superior after 10 years of use with a berta rotary plough . It sis vastly superior to any rototiller and so are the crops ( fertility being equal)
rbbiefah In the winter, I clean off all of the beds. Our county has free soil testing, I add tons of manure from a local stockyard and hardwood sawdust from a nearby mill. I add ag lime as recommended by the test and then plow 8" deep with a mould board plow. I lay out the beds and shape them using a disc gang set to heap up the centers. I never drive or walk in the beds except to pull out a root ball or stone. After a final rototilling I lay drip tape under plastic mulch. Hook up the fertigation system and plant stuff. It's not evil like you make it sound. I am a great steward of my land. When I bought it ,the ass hole was using it as a junk yard. Now it attracts folks who come to by veggies to freeze or can. I have been cleaning this up for 13 years.
Your mold board plough goes down 8" my rotary plough goes down 13" your roto tiller is definitely creating hard pan even if you never walk or drive on the bed All you need is a subsoiler that will go down 12-13" to bust up your hard pan every 2-3 years and you will be in good shape besure y
Tilther on crack, with even less vertical tillage and a bed roller. I love it. I was surprised to learn that steadfast doesn't use the full wheel extensions more often to keep weight off the beds, but it makes sense with how much clearance it takes up driving in the walkways and how much harder it is to maneuver.
It's because those extensions are on a pin and slide system, and unless you have a floorjack to jack the bcs up, it's not so easy to slide the wheels with 200 lbs or more of BCS weight on them! I have the same system. Actually with the wheels way out it turns quite easily.
Hi curtis off topic here can you make a video on how you keep your work area clean i.e greens bubbler, drying rack packing area.Thank you for all your great content by the way your a inspiration to me :)
Hi curtis, on raised bed, would you use the power harrow after flailing the previous crop, or Jm fortier's technique with the rotary low throwing the soil on it?
Such a cute harrow, is there such a thing as a harrow-seed combo in market gardening? What you would call a single pass system in full scale agriculture.
I just sprinkle turnips on the surface by hand after making a pass with the harrow WITH OUT THE ROLLER ( too thin is better than too thick !!!!) and water them in OR I use the harrow with roller and the use a JANG push type seeder
Kody, don't be "tractor crazy". For less than 5 acres the walking tractor is the way to go! Plus you can buy a walking tractor with every tillage attachment that one would need for less than the price of a sub compact 4 wheel tractor with no attachments. If one is market farming for a living they know that soil preparation is the least labor intensive thing they do! Cultivating, harvesting, and preparing for the market take up the bulk of one's time!
Land size and configuration, price, weight, slope of the land, consumption. Are the usual reasons to choose one vs the other. On the American side of the pond, farms tend to be bigger so if some wasted space goes into paths, etc. it´s no big deal. We see that tendency in Argentina, Brasil, Mexico, USA and Canada. Not so much in Peru, Bolivia... In many parts of Europe and steep/mountainous regions a bit everywhere, etc where farms tend to be much smaller the walk behind tractor wins far and wide. Worth mention in steep areas it´s way safer from "roll over" than a 4 wheel tractor and can reach areas a "normal" tractor can´t. I´m precisely at the point of comparing both for my small farm (1.2 ha~2.9 acre). A walk behind tractor vs a mini/sub compact tractor. Even thought about a garden tractor (dismissed in 30 seconds). LOL It might come as a surprise, but until now the walk behind is far ahead in the comparison. I´m talking about work, not comfort, so seating is not important. Although several implements come with seat or can be used with. ;-) Notice that here it´s used for a lot more functions than exemplified in this video. 4x4 trailer(I need 4x4), plows, power arrow, baler, water pump, harvester, generator, brush hogs and mowers, cultivators, shredder, log splitter, etc, etc! In short the only thing it can´t have is a front end loader, or a back hoe. ;-) Price wise, either to buy or maintain. Well there´s no comparison at all. Apples & oranges, in second hand (mostly what I´m looking) for a third of the price. I can get it with an average of four to six implements. The tractor, also 4x4, much more expensive would come completely bare, not even front weights included! Worth considering for the right applications/conditions. ;-) Cheers
The aerial shot of the farm in the beginning is so beautiful!
I do love how you let the students get their hands on the equipment, it instils a lot of confidence. 👍🏼
What are the top five implements needed for a BCS and a Market Garden?
I bought a used John Deere tractor and it does plowing, rototilling, leveling, removable loader, forklift,backhoe,raking. I get to sit. I set the wheel spacing to 5' 3" centers so I run a rainflow plastic mulch layer with drip tape. I come back with a waterwheel planter, or for tomatoes I just plant by hand. No weeding
and lots and lost of hard pan ! ( add a subsoiler ) My BCS 853 with a rotary (routere action) plow will plough much deeper ( 13") in one pass than your deere will do with a rototiller in 4 passes with NO HARD PAN (Plus Im not compacting my soil with those big tires with 1000 + lbs on each tire my BCS 853 puts less than 150 lbs per tire so my soil structure has much more air and water space for superior root spread and health than a ride on tractor with a rototiller would leave . The overall health of the field is superior after 10 years of use with a berta rotary plough . It sis vastly superior to any rototiller and so are the crops ( fertility being equal)
rbbiefah
In the winter, I clean off all of the beds. Our county has free soil testing, I add tons of manure from a local stockyard and hardwood sawdust from a nearby mill. I add ag lime as recommended by the test and then plow 8" deep with a mould board plow. I lay out the beds and shape them using a disc gang set to heap up the centers. I never drive or walk in the beds except to pull out a root ball or stone. After a final rototilling I lay drip tape under plastic mulch. Hook up the fertigation system and plant stuff. It's not evil like you make it sound. I am a great steward of my land. When I bought it ,the ass hole was using it as a junk yard. Now it attracts folks who come to by veggies to freeze or can. I have been cleaning this up for 13 years.
Your mold board plough goes down 8" my rotary plough goes down 13"
your roto tiller is definitely creating hard pan even if you never walk or drive on the bed
All you need is a subsoiler that will go down 12-13" to bust up your hard pan every 2-3 years and you will be in good shape besure y
Couldn’t understand half - mumbles, talks over passing aircraft, ludicrously talking over BCS - thank God for Curtis!
I saw two uses, bed preperation and shaping on new ground with minimal debris and mixing beds that a flail mower went through. What was the third?
Tilther on crack, with even less vertical tillage and a bed roller. I love it. I was surprised to learn that steadfast doesn't use the full wheel extensions more often to keep weight off the beds, but it makes sense with how much clearance it takes up driving in the walkways and how much harder it is to maneuver.
It's because those extensions are on a pin and slide system, and unless you have a floorjack to jack the bcs up, it's not so easy to slide the wheels with 200 lbs or more of BCS weight on them! I have the same system. Actually with the wheels way out it turns quite easily.
Great video, now it makes sense. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
Hi curtis off topic here can you make a video on how you keep your work area clean i.e greens bubbler, drying rack packing area.Thank you for all your great content by the way your a inspiration to me :)
Good idea. It's on the list.
Hi curtis, on raised bed, would you use the power harrow after flailing the previous crop, or Jm fortier's technique with the rotary low throwing the soil on it?
Such a cute harrow, is there such a thing as a harrow-seed combo in market gardening? What you would call a single pass system in full scale agriculture.
optimus prime's little brother who became a farmer.
Yes, they make a seeder for it but it is for cover crops or creating a lawn. Think, clover, vetch, or grass seed. It is a drop style seeder.
hey, i am having some troubles seeding baby leafs, i am wondering if you guys have a video showing how to do it? :)
I just sprinkle turnips on the surface by hand after making a pass with the harrow WITH OUT THE ROLLER ( too thin is better than too thick !!!!) and water them in OR I use the harrow with roller and the use a JANG push type seeder
@@rbbiefah - I like that approach. Less soil disturbance and all. ;-)
Thanks.
Hi
They have enough land to run a tractor
Kody, don't be "tractor crazy". For less than 5 acres the walking tractor is the way to go! Plus you can buy a walking tractor with every tillage attachment that one would need for less than the price of a sub compact 4 wheel tractor with no attachments. If one is market farming for a living they know that soil preparation is the least labor intensive thing they do! Cultivating, harvesting, and preparing for the market take up the bulk of one's time!
Land size and configuration, price, weight, slope of the land, consumption.
Are the usual reasons to choose one vs the other. On the American side of the pond, farms tend to be bigger so if some wasted space goes into paths, etc. it´s no big deal. We see that tendency in Argentina, Brasil, Mexico, USA and Canada. Not so much in Peru, Bolivia...
In many parts of Europe and steep/mountainous regions a bit everywhere, etc where farms tend to be much smaller the walk behind tractor wins far and wide.
Worth mention in steep areas it´s way safer from "roll over" than a 4 wheel tractor and can reach areas a "normal" tractor can´t.
I´m precisely at the point of comparing both for my small farm (1.2 ha~2.9 acre). A walk behind tractor vs a mini/sub compact tractor. Even thought about a garden tractor (dismissed in 30 seconds). LOL
It might come as a surprise, but until now the walk behind is far ahead in the comparison. I´m talking about work, not comfort, so seating is not important. Although several implements come with seat or can be used with. ;-)
Notice that here it´s used for a lot more functions than exemplified in this video.
4x4 trailer(I need 4x4), plows, power arrow, baler, water pump, harvester, generator, brush hogs and mowers, cultivators, shredder, log splitter, etc, etc! In short the only thing it can´t have is a front end loader, or a back hoe. ;-)
Price wise, either to buy or maintain. Well there´s no comparison at all. Apples & oranges, in second hand (mostly what I´m looking) for a third of the price. I can get it with an average of four to six implements. The tractor, also 4x4, much more expensive would come completely bare, not even front weights included!
Worth considering for the right applications/conditions. ;-)
Cheers