Weed control, does it ever END!

NOT while a crop is growing!

Introducing the ROTARY HOE

This gadget that goes on the back of a tractor is called a rotary hoe. It is composed of dozens of little wheels and each wheel has a bunch of hoes on it.
As the wheel turns, a little hoe goes about 1 inch into the soil at the front of the turn and flips soil out at the back of the turn.
Any plants with only short roots gets pulled out of the ground.






It can be used to weed in fields that have been planted before the seeds germinate.

It can also be used in fields where the crop has broken surface.

When a bean plant breaks surface it has established a root that goes down several inches anchoring itself. We can now operate the rotary hoe again in these fields.





When the weeds seeds germinate they are in the top 1/4 inch of soil, a small root starts and a small green sprout breaks surface.

During this stage they are vulnerable and easily taken out by the rotary hoe. The crop is not affected by the little hoes.

You can see the rows of beans behind the rotary hoe as it passes over them.





Robert is operating the rotary hoe again this year. It is a time consuming job as each field must be redone every 3 to 4 days. If one waits longer the weeds get a longer root and can no longer be take out with this machine. Bad news if this happens.









This piece of equipment can operate for 2 twelve hour days at 10 miles per hour doing many fields for the same price as a large crew of hoer's working for 1 hour.

Yes, even with the cost of fuel as it is now.









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