Five Types of Cultivators

1. Disc Harrows

2. Tine / Chain Harrows

Tine & Chain harrows are mostly a finishing tool. They are a pattern of small tines and chains that are designed to break up and knock down the larger clods left behind by passes from larger & heavier cultivation gear, such as spring or rigid tine cultivators or disc harrows. These are sometimes towed behind discs or tine cultivators as shown in the picture.

3. Power Harrows / Rotary Tillers

Power Harrows differ from the other types of cultivators in that they are PTO driven. They do not rely on the forward speed of the tractor to till the soil, bladed rotors spin vertically, usually using a system of gears from a central gearbox, and this works the soil into a fine seedbed.

Rotary tillers do a similar job to power harrows, but instead of having vertically mounted tines, they have a drum with tines attached which spins around. This does cause some soil inversion in the top layers, as the soil is dug up with every rotation of the drum.

The downside to power harrows & rotary tillers is the amount of moving parts and the PTO horsepower requirement, which can make operation with a lower hp tractor painfully slow.

4. Spring Tine Cultivators

Perhaps the type of cultivator that everyone thinks of, the spring tine cultivator is a simple and effective means of seedbed preparation that has proven it's worth for decades.

From 15 to 70 spring steel tines with either cast or reversible points are fitted to these machines, or 1 inch coil tines for the grubbers, with reversible points.

Floating wings and land wheels make a clean, tidy, smooth & consistent seedbed finish for maximum seed germination & growth on the machines this is applicable to. Mingsin offers a full range of spring tine cultivators. 

This is also the category that most row crop cultivator fits into. Row crop cultivation equipment is designed to till the soil between the rows of crops, both aerating it and also uprooting and killing any weeds.

Choosing which spring tine cultivator is right for you can be a daunting task as there are several options, and these depend on how fine you want the seed bed, how much trash is lying around & tractor size.

Here are some tips to help decide which is the best ones for you:

1. The larger and more heavy duty models with 50mm tines such as the 812 (Trailed) and the 813 (3PL Mounted) are suited to harsher more trashy conditions. To give more trash clearance the tines are spaced further apart, resulting in a seedbed that is less fine than the 103 (Trailed) or 203 (3PL Mounted) models.

2. The 103 and 203 have lighter tines than the 812 or 813, but they are spaced closer together. This results in a finer seedbed, allowing for less passes, although the cultivator itself has less trash clearance.

3. Tractor Horsepower is an important consideration when selecting a cultivator. For our cultivators with 50mm tines, allow 3 hp per tine. For models with 32mm tines, allow 2 hp per tine, and finally for the grubbers with their 1 inch coil tines we allow 4 hp per tine. These figures are ballpark estimates only, actual required hp will depend on soil conditions.

5. Rigid Tine Cultivators (Chisel Ploughs)

Rigid tine cultivators, otherwise known as Chisel Ploughs, have a rigid leg attached to a main frame, usually with a spring protection system of some sort.

They are used for deeper tilling than spring tine cultivators, and do not invert the soil. Chisel ploughs may be used as an alternative for ploughs as they can loosen the soil to a similar depth.

Finding the right cultivator can be a daunting task, one many farmers have to find out through costly trial and error. Give our friendly team a call today to discuss what the best options would be for you.