Mowing down cover crop with a rotary brush mower. The tractor pictured is in the 30 hp range and the mower has a 4 or 5' deck. Photo taken at Foxglove Farm in BC
A basic 5' rotary brush mower. These are relatively inexpensive and will go through heavy brush and grass. They tend to leave cut material larger and to throw to one side. Photo taken at Skyline Farm in OR.
This is a heavy flail mower which will chop cover crop finely and deposit it evenly on the ground. Flails like this are heavy enough to go through thick stalks and even small orchard prunings. The tractor pictured is in the 80 hp range and the flail is 6 or 7'. Photo taken at Eatwell farm in CA
A wide flail mower showing the gangs of blades inside. These spin on a horizontal axis chopping material into small pieces. Different blade shapes are available for different applications. Photo taken at Stone Barns in NY.
The flail lays down very even clippings. Note the grass clover height in front of the tractor.
A heavy duty reciprocating spading machine turning in sod. This spader is 4' wide and mounted on a narrow 55 hp tractor. Photo taken at Sauvie Island Organics in OR.
Another version of a reciprocating spading machine. This one shows the skids on the sides for setting depth and the spades for digging. Spading machines work 6-10" deep. Photo taken at Zephyros Farm in CO.
A heavy duty rototiller showing the blades. Photo taken at Foxglove Farm in BC.
A rototiller with lawn mower wheels bolted to the back "gate" in order to mark lines for pathways and for planting. Photo taken at Blue Fox Farm in OR.
Another rototiller with a large roller in the back for setting depth and leveling and firming the bed. Photo taken at Hearty Roots in NY.
A small two wheel tractor with a narrow rototiller mounted for working narrow strips. Photo taken at Blue Fox Farm in OR.
A heavy chisel plow on the back of a 90hp tractor. Chisels are a good pairing with a rototiller, loosening soil deeply and breaking pans. Photo taken at Foxglove Farm in BC.
A crawler tractor with rippers. Rippers are similar to chisels but they work more deeply and are not spring loaded so they don't vibrate. Photo taken at Ayers Creek Farm in OR.
A classic three bottom mold board plow. This is the tool most people think of when they say plow. The round coulter wheels are castered and run in front of the plow to help cut a clean strip through field trash for the plows to flip. Photo taken at Hearty Roots in NY.
A broad fork is a hand scale tool for working soil deeply. It's small size makes it appropriate for intensive plantings in greenhouses. Photo taken at Stone Barn Center in NY.
A very heavy three point disk. This disk is about 5' wide with 24" disks for working soil deeply. Photo taken at Gaining Ground Farm in OR.
Another view of a three point disk. The angles of the disk gangs can be adjusted to make the tool move more or less soil depending on needs and conditions. Photo taken at Hearty Roots in NY.
A drag type disk. Hydraulic remotes allow the rubber wheels to lift the disk off of the ground for transport. Drag type disks can be heavier than 3pt versions since they have their own lift mechanism. This one is dragging a roller, which is a typical configuration. Photo taken at UCSC Farm in CA.
A basic field cultivator. The shanks are called Danish S tines and vibrate as they are pulled. Small duck feet are mounted on the ends of the shanks to work soil up to several inches deep. By spreading out the shanks there is better flow of soil around each shank. This field cultivator is followed by a simple spike tooth harrow and a cage roller to break clods and smooth the surface. Photo Taken at Whistling Duck in OR.
A view of a field cultivator with two cage rollers following. Photo taken at OSU in OR.
A chisel plow that has a Mater Mac fertilizer spreader and tine weeder hooked up behind it. The fertilizer hopper is run off of the tractor battery and tines smooth the soil and work in the fertilizer. Photo taken at Hearty Roots in NY.
A basic drop spreader. These drop fertilizer or seeds out of the bottom of the hopper and the metering mechanism is driven by the wheels. They are dragged behind a tractor and work well even in windy conditions. Photo taken at Boistfort Valley Farm in WA.
A simple hand push drop spreader designed for spreading lawns, but in use on a 1.5 acre vegetable operation. Photo taken at Skyline Farm in OR.
A drop spreader with a 3pt attachment. Photo taken at Mountain Bounty Farm in CA.
A 3' Gandy drop spreader that has been modified to mount under the belly of an Allis Chalmers Model G tractor. The tractor can spread fertilizer or seed with this set up. The tractor is also pulling a Cultipacker.
A self propelled broadcast spreader. The hopper drops fertilizer or seed onto the horizontal disk in front which spins and throws the fertilizer or seed. This is a fast way to spread material, but is subject to wind and frequently is somewhat uneven. Photo taken at Stone Barns Center in NY.
Two small broadcasters that are carried by a farmer and hand cranked. This is a common way to spread seed but is very messy with fertilizer. Photo taken at Sauvie Island Organics in OR.
A Mater Mac spreader attached to the front of a tractor. This allows spreading to happen in front of the tractor while tilling or some other operation happens behind. Photo taken at Blue Fox Farm in OR.
The inside of the hopper on the Mater Mac spreader. Photo taken at Blue Fox Farm in OR.
The controls for the Mater Mac spreader, which is electrically driven. Photo taken at Blue Fox Farm in OR.
A typical maure/compost spreader. Photo taken at Stone Barns in NY.
The back end of a manure/compost spreader showing a walking floor and beaters. The chains pull the material slowly to the back where the rotating beaters break it up and fling it into the field. This spreader has tall sides added for extra capacity of light material. Photo taken at Mountain Bounty in CA.
A compost spreader that has been modified to spread to the side in orchards. Photo taken at La Mancha Farm in OR.
A "tilther" run by a cordless electric drill. This is basically a very shallow rototiller for giving a fine finish on beds before seeding small seeds. Photo taken at Stone Barns in NY.
Using a 2x4 with string to "drag" a bed, which flattens it. The same basic concept has been used on all scales of farm for millennia. Photo at Stone Barns in NY.
Using a hand scale roller to flatten and firm a bed. Flattening and firming beds before or after seeding helps with germination, and eventual cultivation. Photo at Stone Barns in NY.
A large smooth roller and a set of ring rollers. Smooth rollers give a very even surface, but don't do well with clods. Ring rollers help break clods and leave small ridges in the field. Photo at Eatwell Farm in CA.
A ring roller being pulled behind an Allis Chalmers G tractor. The tractor has a 15hp Kubota diesel motor. Photo taken at Sauvie Island Organics in OR.
A power bed shaper. This is similar to a rototiller, but the tines are smaller and straighter and there is a pan shaper that is heavily weighted on the back to press the loosened soil into a well shaped bed. Photo taken at Eatwell Farm in CA.
The front of a pan type bed shaper. This would be used after a field is loosened with other tools. The fur rowers and disks help move soil into the center of the bed and to raise it. Drip tape can be laid at the same time. Photo taken at Foxglove Farm in BC.
A side view of the pan shaper showing the pan in the back which flattens the bed. there are also wings on the sides to make even shoulders for the bed. Photo taken at Foxglove Farm in BC.
A custom pan shaper which makes very narrow beds with wide pathways. Photo taken at Ayers Creek in OR.
A plastic mulch layer. Disks behind the tractor wheels open furrows which the plastic edges are laid into. The rubber wheels behind the white roller (which presses the plastic flat onto the bed) press the edges into the furrows and then the disks in the back cover the edges of the plastic with soil. Photo taken at Foxglove Farm in BC.
A basic tool bar with two furrowers pulling furrows for planting leeks. Photo taken at Skyline Farm in OR.
