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Cultivator Grinds Away Weeds
Dig up a weed with a traditional cultivator and you expose new weed seeds for growth. But if you can grind up the weeds at the surface, weed seeds will stay buried. That's the idea behind Johnny Reyenga's Earth Grinder, and it works even better than he expected.
"It grinds away the weeds and throws dirt up betwee
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Cultivator Grinds Away Weeds CULTIVATORS Cultivators (58C) 31-4-25 Dig up a weed with a traditional cultivator and you expose new weed seeds for growth. But if you can grind up the weeds at the surface, weed seeds will stay buried. That's the idea behind Johnny Reyenga's Earth Grinder, and it works even better than he expected.
"It grinds away the weeds and throws dirt up between the plants in the row to bury grass and weeds growing there," he explains. "It's easily adjustable. I can run it at the surface and barely throw any dirt or lower it into the ground and throw more."
Reyenga mounted two 12-in. dia. drums with 1-in. high blades on a 22-in. shaft with a gearbox at the center. An upright shaft connects the grinding mechanism to a drive pulley powered by a belt from Reyenga's 10-hp Sears garden tractor. The entire mechanism mounts ahead of the garden tractor.
"I just increase the throttle on the tractor to increase the rotation speed and throwing action of the Earth Grinder," says Reyenga. "Because it mounts in front of the tractor, I can steer as close to the row as I want to. I can keep it engaged whether I am in forward, reverse or standing still."
Reyenga designed his prototype to fit his 4-ft. row spacing. He makes two passes on each row. However, it could be modified for different row spacing, mounted on a tiller or mounted in multiples on a tractor toolbar.
"It can cover ground 10 times faster than a tiller and can be used to level ground as well," says Reyenga. "The other day, someone drove over my lawn and left ruts too deep for the lawn mower to cross. I took the earth grinder out there and worked the ground back smooth."
Reyenga plans to modify his Earth Grinder with a hydraulic motor so he can run it off his Cub Cadet with a hydraulic drive. He is also looking for feedback from FARM SHOW readers on his innovative weeding system.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Johnny Reyenga, 2452 Hwy 371, Prescott, Ark. 71857 (ph 870 887-3678).
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