rotavator

Dunedin

thinking of upgrading my rotavator. I have a 72 inch howard which is going perfect but it's doesn't cover both wheels.


thinking of a minimum 84 - 90inch. however, there seems to be a very poor selection out there especially of anything half clean.

I'm in the midlands and not looking to spend a fortune (which mightn't help my cause!!).

any suggestions?

X6.430macman

Ive rarely seen them come up for sale. Both cheap and in good nick.

Dawggone

Dunedin wrote: »

thinking of upgrading my rotavator. I have a 72 inch howard which is going perfect but it's doesn't cover both wheels.


thinking of a minimum 84 - 90inch. however, there seems to be a very poor selection out there especially of anything half clean.

I'm in the midlands and not looking to spend a fortune (which mightn't help my cause!!).

any suggestions?

You should be able to pick up an old Dowdswell 90" for small money. Iirc they were gear driven on side casing whereas the Howard were chain driven.

9935452

Dunedin wrote: »

thinking of upgrading my rotavator. I have a 72 inch howard which is going perfect but it's doesn't cover both wheels.


thinking of a minimum 84 - 90inch. however, there seems to be a very poor selection out there especially of anything half clean.

I'm in the midlands and not looking to spend a fortune (which mightn't help my cause!!).

any suggestions?

Howards selectatilth? Hard to beat them. We have a few at home and have the same problem but it covers one wheel perfectly so we eithre start at the outside and work our way in.
personally Id stay with that model howard, some of the newer howards are not as good as the older ones. Part of the problem is they are getting old at this stage and worn out .
Have you tried midland machinery in tullamore , normally have a few.
Alexander mills have them and deliver too.
A good one wont be picked up for small money though.
try a wanted add in donedeal.
Also i believe the width on the howards was measured in increments of 10 inches, not feet

Dawggone

9935452 wrote: »

Howards selectatilth? Hard to beat them. We have a few at home and have the same problem but it covers one wheel perfectly so we eithre start at the outside and work our way in.
personally Id stay with that model howard, some of the newer howards are not as good as the older ones. Part of the problem is they are getting old at this stage and worn out .
Have you tried midland machinery in tullamore , normally have a few.
Alexander mills have them and deliver too.
A good one wont be picked up for small money though.
try a wanted add in donedeal.
Also i believe the width on the howards was measured in increments of 10 inches, not feet

Howard imho were manufactured from recycled cola cans. The Dowdswell were much heavier and robust...and I should know. Buy one with 540 pto and stick it into 1000 pto and turn up the radio!

9935452

Dawggone wrote: »

Howard imho were manufactured from recycled cola cans. The Dowdswell were much heavier and robust...and I should know. Buy one with 540 pto and stick it into 1000 pto and turn up the radio!

The newer ones were light alright
The one with selectatilth on the gearbox were fairly indestructible.
Last count there is 4 at home , 60, 70,80,90. as the tractors got bigger so did the machinery.

Dunedin

9935452 wrote: »

The newer ones were light alright
The one with selectatilth on the gearbox were fairly indestructible.
Last count there is 4 at home , 60, 70,80,90. as the tractors got bigger so did the machinery.

as a matter of interest, do you use rotavators mainly for tillage or grass re-seeding.

have most lads moved on to power-harrow for grass re-seed?

lab man

Pm'd u there dunedin

djmc

I picked up a 90 inch Howard selectatilth spike Rotavator last year locally off done deal for 600 euro.
It was left in a ditch for a few years before pulled out and painted all it needed was a bearing and it ran like new.
Very happy with it for my own work and find it fast enough to use too.
If you had a lot of land like tillage maybe a power harrow might be better but for my dairy farm doing a few acres every year its ideal.
It's a very simple machine that was built to last and has already paid for itself twice over.
I know a power harrow at any way near that money would be only fit for the scrap heap.

djmc

I picked up a 90 inch Howard selectatilth spike Rotavator last year locally off done deal for 600 euro.
It was left in a ditch for a few years before pulled out and painted all it needed was a bearing and it ran like new.
Very happy with it for my own work and find it fast enough to use too.
If you had a lot of land like tillage maybe a power harrow might be better but for my dairy farm doing a few acres every year its ideal.
It's a very simple machine that was built to last and has already paid for itself twice over.
I know a power harrow at any way near that money would be only fit for the scrap heap.

9935452

Dunedin wrote: »

as a matter of interest, do you use rotavators mainly for tillage or grass re-seeding.

have most lads moved on to power-harrow for grass re-seed?

Potatoes and veg and fodder beet too.
The father would have a tendency to use it for reseeding but for that job it isnt the best , it tends to create too much soil and turns up weeds IMO.
If given the option i borrow a power harrow.
Its a case of every machine has its purpose.

Sami23

Can someone please explain the correct way of setting up a rotavator please.
The Howard rotavator I have has 3 speeds that can be adjusted by a handle on the gearbox.
Going doing a bit if resending shortly and just wondering what gear to I start with and do I need to change it as the field gets cultivated.
Also, presume I should drive very slow for 1st few passes and then speed up ?
I have it s few years now but only really guessing on how to properly use it if I'm honest

Tileman

Sami23 wrote: »

Can someone please explain the correct way of setting up a rotavator please..
Going doing a bit if resending shortly


Did u not get the rain last night Sami

lab man

Sami23 wrote: »

Can someone please explain the correct way of setting up a rotavator please.
The Howard rotavator I have has 3 speeds that can be adjusted by a handle on the gearbox.
Going doing a bit if resending shortly and just wondering what gear to I start with and do I need to change it as the field gets cultivated.
Also, presume I should drive very slow for 1st few passes and then speed up ?
I have it s few years now but only really guessing on how to properly use it if I'm honest

Go fast first as if u hit a rock shell hop over it then slower and slower

Sami23

Tileman wrote: »

Sami23 wrote: »

Can someone please explain the correct way of setting up a rotavator please..
Going doing a bit if resending shortly


Did u not get the rain last night Sami

We got it alright. When I said shortly I mean in next few weeks

Sami23

lab man wrote: »

Go fast first as if u hit a rock shell hop over it then slower and slower

Do you mean fast tractor speed or fast rotavator speed

Base price

The faster the rotor speed and the slower the tractor forward speed makes for a finer seed bed with the back door closed down that is assuming that the ground conditions are right.

Tileman

Sami23 wrote: »

Tileman wrote: »

We got it alright. When I said shortly I mean in next few weeks

Ah I was thinking. I was hoping to sow my wild bird cover yesterday evening but was taking longer than I wanted to get a decent seedbed. got a breakdown then at 9 and that out paid to that. It’s in some paste this morning. Will take a few good days drying again.

Hard Knocks

Tileman wrote: »

Sami23 wrote: »

Ah I was thinking. I was hoping to sow my wild bird cover yesterday evening but was taking longer than I wanted to get a decent seedbed. got a breakdown then at 9 and that out paid to that. It’s in some paste this morning. Will take a few good days drying again.

Used the rotavator last year for the WBC and noticed the fields are much softer this year compared to the other years
Might do again this year as no other option
Will we have to plough next year to open the soil?

Tileman

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Tileman wrote: »

Used the rotavator last year for the WBC and noticed the fields are much softer this year compared to the other years
Might do again this year as no other option
Will we have to plough next year to open the soil?

I ploughed year 1 and year 4. In between years I just use a combination of disc and Harrow. It’s a very bad field for stones so that’s why I don’t plough each year.

Sami23

Tileman wrote: »

Sami23 wrote: »

Ah I was thinking. I was hoping to sow my wild bird cover yesterday evening but was taking longer than I wanted to get a decent seedbed. got a breakdown then at 9 and that out paid to that. It’s in some paste this morning. Will take a few good days drying again.

Have to do the bird cover here too but leave it til end of May to do it