small rotovator

[croftrobin]

Saw this small rotovator for weeding outside a shop but did not have time to ask the price.

 

Does anyone have an idea how much this may cost?

 

 

 

[kickstart]

I would say it is Chines, did not recognize the make, should not be more than, 12- 15 000 baht. 

[croftrobin]

Do you get local made ones or do you mean like Honda etc?

[kickstart]

I do not know where you are, but this subject comes  up often, look at TV  back posts .for rotavators 

Batie-Pat are a company in Pattomthaie, north of Bangkok, they make and sell small rotavators, there is a link to them in a back post.

[djayz]

It might help if you tell us where you live. Members living near you might be able to recommend a particular shop.

[kickstart]

If the op is near Bangkok, look at patipong.com, they allso sell chipper /shredders .

[drtreelove]

Be advised that this type of light duty rototiller pictured is not suitable for all jobs on all types of soil.  It's okay for soil that is already in tilth, loose, friable, been turned before, and you just need to go over it maybe for light weeding or incorporation of crop residues or soil amendments. 

You may be sadly disappointed if you buy it without experience or at least a trial on the type of soil you intend to cultivate. It may not penetrate a hard clay soil at all. 

 

 

[kickstart]

The good doctor is right  ok for some interrow weeding, as for land work,I would not have one as a gift, if the land can be rotavated, lift  a piece of rotavated soil out the way ,and on some soil types, especially heavier land, you will see were the rotavator blades have smeared the soil  causing a pan ,this smearing will prevent water from draining though ,and in a tropical country ,like Thailand ,in the rainy season waterlogging will occur. 

If the land .has had a shallow pass with the rotavator, the plant roots will not be able to penetrate the pan , leading to a stunted plant, and as most land will have at least 2 passes, the problem could be increased 

On light land, on a very fine rotavated  seed bed  they will be some air in the soil, rain comes  the soil sinks, land drys out ,a hard cap is formed any small seeds  planted will have a job to emerge ,the hard cap prevents them ,I have seen this on a farm garden in the uk ,soil was more like Pattaya beach very light .

Not looked at the link I put in for a long time  ,if the company has a machine with tines on, that would be far better, than a rotavator ,could be used on heaver land in dryer conditions  ,will be able to work the land to a deeper depth ,which should help prevent the water loging problem ,and no smearing of the soil, you would almost certainly have to have at least 2 .maybe 3 passes to get a good seed bed, especially  for small seeds, if your timeing is right after some rain you should end up with a  good seedbed. 

When I work on farms in the uk , back in the 70's rotavators were popular, on light land one pass after ploughing, a seedbed, but after a few years, the above problems emerged, mainly the pan problem.and they were confined to the corner of a field .

[drtreelove]

2 hours ago, kickstart said:

The good doctor is right  ok for some interrow weeding, as for land work,I would not have one as a gift, if the land can be rotavated, lift  a piece of rotavated soil out the way ,and on some soil types, especially heavier land, you will see were the rotavator blades have smeared the soil  causing a pan ,this smearing will prevent water from draining though ,and in a tropical country ,like Thailand ,in the rainy season waterlogging will occur. 

If the land .has had a shallow pass with the rotavator, the plant roots will not be able to penetrate the pan , leading to a stunted plant, and as most land will have at least 2 passes, the problem could be increased 

On light land, on a very fine rotavated  seed bed  they will be some air in the soil, rain comes  the soil sinks, land drys out ,a hard cap is formed any small seeds  planted will have a job to emerge ,the hard cap prevents them ,I have seen this on a farm garden in the uk ,soil was more like Pattaya beach very light .

Not looked at the link I put in for a long time  ,if the company has a machine with tines on, that would be far better, than a rotavator ,could be used on heaver land in dryer conditions  ,will be able to work the land to a deeper depth ,which should help prevent the water loging problem ,and no smearing of the soil, you would almost certainly have to have at least 2 .maybe 3 passes to get a good seed bed, especially  for small seeds, if your timeing is right after some rain you should end up with a  good seedbed. 

When I work on farms in the uk , back in the 70's rotavators were popular, on light land one pass after ploughing, a seedbed, but after a few years, the above problems emerged, mainly the pan problem.and they were confined to the corner of a field .

You reminded me of one of the first books I read on soil management; Plowman's Folly by Edward Falkner.  It's more about the moldboard plow than the rototiller., but some similar principles that you have pointed out.   It's a classic, check it out. 

https://www.amazon.com/Plowmans-Folly-Edward-H-Faulkner/dp/0806111690

 

And speaking of classic, don't forget the local labor pool option. 

[kickstart]

Reading that book review, all those years ago he could see problems with mouldboard plough, the practice of ploughing natural fertilizers deep in the ground, and it still goes on now, now and then ,it is "We have been doing it this way for x years why change ".

The modern way, a one pass system a machine with cultivator tines, a crumbler bar and a set of harrows, one pass for a seedbed job done, or as famerjo is trying direct drilling, works well all our sunflowers are direct drilled, with good results.

When I was farming in the uk most straw and stubble from wheat and barley crops use to be burnt, then the field was ploughed, then the environmentalists  arrived and straw burning was banned, farmers up in arms, 'How do we get rid of all our straw "incorporate in to the land ,was the reply ,"How said the farmers".

So, they put straw choppers on the combines, they chopped the straw as it comes out the back of the combine ,then most farmers used disc harrows ,some used cultavators worked the straw back in to the land ,most farmers found in 2 years soil fertilty increaced, it was the very heavy land farmers that complianed the most about, trying  to incoprate straw in to clay land ,espealliy in a wet year , and it was them that stared to reap to most from better soil quality,then the one pass cultivator arrived ,for a lot of farmers the plough was put in the back  of the shead ,farmer I use to know still ploughed a field every 4 years .

So,in the age of the internet, space travel etc, Mr Faulkner was proved still to be right.

I just wish Thai farmers would change more, now most are ploughing in sugar cane, and last years corn fields, ploughing as deep as they can, ploughing in some fertile land, and bring up dead land from way down.

Something  said for the local labor pool, even if it does cost a bottle of Lao Khow and a dish of  Gao Lao,(same as  dish of  noodles, meatballs, soup, bean sprouts, but without the  noodles.) at the end of the day 

[croftrobin]

On 13/04/2018 at 6:31 PM, djayz said:

It might help if you tell us where you live. Members living near you might be able to recommend a particular shop.

Near Prakhonchai, in Buriram province

[djayz]

6 hours ago, croftrobin said:

Near Prakhonchai, in Buriram province

You're in luck. In Buriram City there's a supplier with English (and German) speaking staff. I know they have a selection of those rotovators because I've inquired about them. 

Check out: 

Ruangsangthai Ltd. 

114 Moo. 14 Buriram - Phutthaisong Highway 2074

Chum Het, Muang Buriram 31000

Thailand

(66) 044-666-484

 

[croftrobin]

12 hours ago, djayz said:

You're in luck. In Buriram City there's a supplier with English (and German) speaking staff. I know they have a selection of those rotovators because I've inquired about them. 

Check out: 

Ruangsangthai Ltd. 

114 Moo. 14 Buriram - Phutthaisong Highway 2074

Chum Het, Muang Buriram 31000

Thailand

(66) 044-666-484

 

I think this place is where my wife buys chlorine tablets for our  swimming pool from.

 

Thanks