Manual cultivator for the gardener - an essential tool

What is a hand cultivator? It is a device for domesticating the earth with mechanical devices and the strength of the hands. As varied as the work of caring for the beds and flower beds, there are also many hand tools made by hand and in an industrial way. It is generally accepted to consider cultivators for manual use soil cultivators, with a grip of no more than 20 cm, on a long or short handle.

Why do we need cultivators

Even the most technologically saturated area will not be well-groomed if the hand of a person with a narrow tool does not walk along it, which will loosen the ground next to plants and flowers, break the soil crust and expose, tear the roots of weeds. This tool is called a hand cultivator and its purpose:

• loosen the soil, ridding it of the crust and saturating the air with oxygen;
• cut furrows for sowing plants, and then sprinkle the new plant;
• rid cultivated plants from the neighborhood of weeds;
• smooth the surface with breaking lumps - drill through.

These are not all the functions of cultivators. A tool with a comfortable grip, sometimes with handles and a wheel, is used to cultivate the land on a par with cultivators on electric or gasoline traction.

Varieties of working bodies of cultivators

A manual cultivator for a summer residence, such as in the photo, is always in operation.

Among the many shapes and sizes of tools, they are classified into several types according to the shape and function of the working body. So, a pitchfork with curved horns, winding the roots of the ubiquitous wheatgrass, was invented relatively recently, and was called "Tornado" for the effect of combating malicious perennial plants.

Of the new tools, one can note the plane cutters of engineer Fokin, with a three-sided sharpening of a narrow strip of tool steel. They have a rectangular handle, an adjustable angle for work, and can remove any weed from a narrow crack. Loop-shaped such rippers - weeders cut the roots at a depth and do not turn the topsoil, keeping mulch on the surface. Toothed hand cultivators, on the contrary, are needed to loosen the top layer.

Rotary cultivators are used for loosening, weeding. They are efficient, requiring little effort to propel the stargazer. Miniature arrowheads on curved shafts are excellent rippers and are often fitted to DIY tools with hand-drawn wheels.

So, according to the form of the working body, cultivators divide;

• flat cutters and hinges;
• serrated, with a flat, sharp and sagittal end, from one to 7 links;
• rotary, with a set of rotating sprockets;
• straight vertical rods - rake tools.

Some models combine two functions, for example, a manual rotary cultivator with a loop weeder.

The well-known manufacturer of the EM-1 Baikal preparation for improving the soil, has created a tool for soil cultivation. Plane cutters of various widths, assembled in a set. Their difference is that the strip is sharpened on both sides and the efficiency of work doubles. Handles for these flat cutters are selected separately. The goal is to cut the roots of weeds, which will then destroy effective microorganisms.

Any summer resident dreams that he always has the right tool at his fingertips. Therefore, they buy them and create their own designs based on well-known shapes, but changing the size, handle height, and grip width.

How to make a hand cultivator with your own hands

Everyone can put a nozzle on the handle. We offer you to build a hand cultivator with your own hands from an unusable bicycle and improvised means. The wheel is best taken from a teenage touring bike with a wide rim. Only the front wheel with fork is used. The working part on the frame can be made in any way - teeth in 2 rows, sprockets or a flat loop. The main thing is homemade In a hand-held cultivator, the frame must be sturdy with bolted stiffeners, connected to handles made of plain or glued wood. Light tubes of non-ferrous metal can be used instead of wood. Convenient and lightweight ripper is indispensable for processing wide row spacings, tree trunks.

Another equally effective hand tool is the rotary hand cultivator. The main nodes in the drawing:

• working elements of an asterisk or discs - 1;
• axles for fastening working sprockets - 2;
• bushings for assembling the assembly - 3;
• connecting brackets, large and small - 5, 4;
• frame rod passing into the tube and connected to the transverse handle - 6,7, 8.

The discs are spherical, they are created by forming. But with the same success you can use manual "hedgehogs", and with their help to assemble the working body. A detailed drawing of a hand cultivator with your own hands to help you.

Among the designs of homemade products, there are full-fledged walk-behind tractors, created on the basis of chainsaws and other motor equipment. The value of these home-made devices for the owner is that he used the means at hand and created a tool for his needs. On the other hand, the cost of factory models does not always allow you to buy a cultivator from a well-known reliable manufacturer. How else can you assemble a manual cultivator with your own hands, watch the video:

Meet the factory-made cultivators

If a tiller does not have the opportunity to create an inexpensive effective assistant for himself, Ukrainian engineers did it. Without motor, with one wheel and handles, simple design makes site work easier. One of 6 working units is attached to the socket. Therefore, the device is called the universal manual cultivator Zemlerob 6 in 1.

The device weighs 9.5 kg, controllability is good, female hands can easily cope with the cultivator. The details shown in the photo represent working tools:

1. The hiller, which is the main working tool. Cutting of furrows, raking of potatoes is done using a hiller. But it is replaced with a disc ripper in the kit, which performs the same function as the hiller.
2. The flat cutter with installed "razor" knives, which cut the roots of weeds, is adjustable to the width of the rows with plants.
3. The inter-row cultivator is used for loosening, cuts the grass. This tool has adjustable axial tilt and depth of sinking into the ground.
4. There is a plow, it is used for cutting furrows when sowing seeds in the ground.
5. They loosen the earth when crusting with asterisks that are included in the kit.
6. The set contains a furrow former, a marker is included with it. The node is used for sowing.

The factory design cannot withstand heavy wet conditions. Therefore, in the reviews of the masters there is advice, to strengthen the wheel mounting frame and strengthen the handles with two rigid jumpers. The handles need to be lengthened somewhat and made more comfortable.

It is worth paying attention to the design of Vinnitsa craftsmen. It was named without any frills - Hand cultivator "Universal soil digger 5 in 1". The product costs 450 hryvnia, in terms of Russian money, 3000 rubles.

The following tools can be mounted alternately on the base frame:

• hiller;
• inter-row worker;
• plow with marker;
• razor;
• cultivator.

As a result, there is a frame with a size of 64x30x30 cm with a hitch. The nimble tool will become an indispensable assistant when planting and hilling, weeding and loosening the garden.

We are used to getting the harvest by hard work. The principles of smart farming suggest something different. Do not dig the soil unnecessarily, this will break its structure. Do not loosen the top layer deeper than 5 cm for the same reason. Do not weed the beds until the last weed. Mulch the soil more often and more and breed beneficial microorganisms in it. Labor will become easier, and the harvest will be greater.

Flat cutter will clean up the top layer of vegetation, trim the roots and weed furrows with an arrow. To raise the earth, saturate with air, there is a ripper and a cultivator. They will destroy the crust after watering or rain. The included markers will help you adjust the width of the attachments. The plow and furrow holder are indispensable spring tools.

The hand cultivator contains parts made of high quality steel. The robust, keeled opener determines the depth of soil cultivation. The handles are comfortable and durable. The set of tools is optimal, and the dimensions are such that the cultivator will fit into any nook.

DIY manual cultivator model - video