What Is a Cultivator

A cultivator, also known as a rotavator, is a type of agricultural equipment used for secondary tillage. This term can refer to two different types of machines. One type has frames with teeth, also called shanks, that penetrate the soil as they are pulled through it linearly. The other type refers to machines that utilize rotary motion, such as rotary tillers, which use disks or teeth to achieve similar results.

Cultivators of the toothed type resemble chisel plows in appearance, but their functions are distinct. The teeth of cultivators operate close to the ground surface, primarily for weed control, while the shanks of chisel plows penetrate deeper into the soil, breaking up the compacted layers below.

Small toothed cultivators, which can be pushed or pulled by a single person, are typically used as garden tools for small-scale gardening, such as household gardens or small market farms. Similarly sized rotary tillers combine the functions of both a harrow and a cultivator into one versatile machine.

Cultivators are typically classified as either self-propelled or as attachments that can be connected to either two-wheel or four-wheel tractors. For two-wheel tractors, cultivators are usually rigidly fixed and powered through couplings connected to the tractor’s transmission. In the case of four-wheel tractors, they are typically attached using a three-point hitch and driven by a power take-off. Drawbar hookups are also still commonly used around the world. Additionally, draft-animal power is still utilized in some areas, particularly in developing nations, although it is quite rare in more industrialized economies.