Easy On Soil, Power Weeder Is Hard On Weeds

Easy On Soil Power Weeder Is Hard On Weeds CROPS New Techniques David Greenberg’s Crop Hopper is a self-propelled “plant caretaker” The lightweight machine produces minimal compaction while the narrow wheels have little impact on vegetation in the rows Equipped with its homemade Reggie-style weeder heads it can stir the soil from 1/2 to 2 in deep Equipped with discs it can hill rows quickly A high-clearance compost/harvest cart adds to the machine’s versatility “It only does one row at a time but it is very thorough ” says Greenberg “It can be as aggressive as you want It can just kiss the surface or send the weeds flying with no soil left on the roots ” The Crop Hopper was first featured on farmhack com an online community of FARM SHOW-type inventors and tinkerers Projects featured are licensed under Creative Commons allowing anyone to use duplicate or improve on designs Greenberg worked with Ari Herel a local engineer and fabricator to fashion the self-propelled cultivator from a 19 hp Kubota zero-turn lawn mower The engine wheels and rear drive axle are mounted to a 2 by 2-in steel tubing frame The front axle with caster wheels is attached to the front at a central pivoting point A hydraulic pump was fitted to the output shaft that previously powered the mower deck It now drives a hydraulic wheel motor connected to the twin weeder heads The 9-in dia heads each hold 6 hay pickup tines The 2 heads are mounted on a parallel pickup arm for vertical positioning with the touch of a finger Left/right movement is controlled by arms in front of the operator while foot pedals control speed and steering of the machine “It is slower than cultivating 3 or 4 rows at once ” admits Greenberg “However it is much more responsive Even doing one row at a time I can cultivate half an acre in 45 min and have a beautiful weed-free crop ” He says the Crop Hopper has excellent traction uses little fuel and is a lot of fun to operate The rig has rack and pinion power steering for the front wheels and hydraulic fluid metering for steering of the rear wheels It also has a bench seat with the steering wheel on the left so one person can steer while a second person controls the weeders “It has a toggle switch that lets the operator bypass the steering wheel and steer with his feet while controlling the weeding heads with his hands ” says Greenberg “Like the original it has a 3-pt hitch sweeps to take out wheel tracks and a rod weeder for the small band between rows ” The new weeder has 2 by 4-in steel tubular framing with a 60-in width This lets it straddle two 30-in rows The 22 hp Kohler is a larger engine Contact: FARM SHOW Followup David Greenberg 182 Red Bank Rd Centre Burlington N S Canada B0N 1E0 ph 902 757-1640; davidgreenberg71@gmail com; www abundant-acres com; www farmhack org/tools/crop-hopper

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.