Raised Salad Beds,

[Lickey]

Our raised salad beds are between 3/5 mtrs long and a mtr or so wide, when the produce is ready, the market lady takes the lot, giving me the job of cleaning,manuring and reseeding the bed, this usually takes about 2 days for 1 bed, !!!

Now if i had a small rotavator, like a Merry Tiller or Howard, it would only take 2 hours, do any of you good farmers here know where i could buy such a thing in Thailand, Ive looked at the Kubuta type thing, but its far to unweildly for what i want, thanks for any help and advice, Cheers, ickey,

[turnpike]

Our raised salad beds are between 3/5 mtrs long and a mtr or so wide, when the produce is ready, the market lady takes the lot, giving me the job of cleaning,manuring and reseeding the bed, this usually takes about 2 days for 1 bed, !!!

Now if i had a small rotavator, like a Merry Tiller or Howard, it would only take 2 hours, do any of you good farmers here know where i could buy such a thing in Thailand, Ive looked at the Kubuta type thing, but its far to unweildly for what i want, thanks for any help and advice, Cheers, ickey,

i searched hi and low for one for a long time with no luck. finally found one at the farmer fair (agricultural exhibition) in khon kaen, so you might want to check out something like that if there's one in your area. i forget the name of the company but pretty sure it was in udon thani.

mine works good. even if the ground is hard as concrete, a good heavy watering will soften it up enough to make it "tillable".

hope this is of some help.

[ozzydom]

Lickey, I noticed one of our local farm supply shops had them, they were about the size of a little Howard Gem (12-15 inch cut) I think they available complete or frame with tiller and a little transfer case for providing your own motor.

Will check it out when I go up town and let you know..

[chownah]

I've seen tillers for sale in Chiangrai too and even some relatively small models have appeared in the last year or so....the ones I have seen are not as small or light like the old Merry Tiller I had long ago in the US and more expensive too. The smaller ones I saw were all chinese made but looked sturdy enough...they looked a bit top heavy too but manageable. I've been looking for a small tiller too for quite awhile and if you search the forum you might be able to find the post which told where they could be purchased in Chiangmai.

Chownah

[Maizefarmer]

Bangkok - the area where all the tractor dealers are alongside the mainraod on the rhs heading out of Bkk - the are literaly 100's if not thosuands of them - all imported 2nd hand from Japan and South Korea - they get changed every 2years (Japanese farming policy - if it gets scratched change it) - so they're all in good condition:

Prices - from Baht 8000 for a 1m thru to around 15/16 000 for a good condition 2 - 2,5m unit.

Get it hooked up to a tractor before paying for it and check:

1) both side bars are centred on their axis when turning.

2) no oil puddle under where the unti was lying before you purchased it.

3) all blades are in good conidition and present (ask if spares baldes are avalible and buy a set to take home)

4) 3point hitch is the same as your tractor e.g Cat 1 to Cat 1 and Cat 2 to Cat 2.

5) gear box has oil in it

6) check tractor pto speed is the same as the rotor rated pto speed (dont run a 560 rotor on a 1000rpm pto output shaft)

7) check the shaft spline on the rotor is the same size as that on your tractor pto shat

8) get a pto shaft extension

9) get 3 point hitch mounting pins (cheap - a set will cost Baht 300 - but get them)

[Lickey]

Thanks all for your replys,

Turnpike, our salad beds have a mini-sprinkler system so they are never dry, but after 2 months of growing salad things, it seems very hard 3in down, and its helluva job with a thai spade to loosen this up, so im looking for excactly as you say, a rotavator with a 18in/2ft wide to loosen the soil and till in the manure,

Ozzy, my dad had a Howard Gem,it was about 1955 vintage, 600cc sidevalve ,3-speed i think,rubber tyred, with a reverse gear, in his own inventive way, he took off the original exhaust and fitted an open -ended megaphone pointing at the ground, then advance the timing so great flames would come out onto the ground, it was his method of pest and weed control, with a tremendous racket from the machine,

I would like a complete machine, please keep me posted Ozzy, mrs knows Udon very well, Thanks,

Chownah, I had a merry tiller in the UK, 5hp, briggs and stratton engine, 2ft wide cut, removeable wheels, height adjust skid toe, thats what i want here, it was a great machine, just pull on the handle bars and stop it, make it dig in till it buries the rotors, you are then near 14/16 inches deep, and the engine never missed a beat,

MF, good info, but i need a small petrol powered rotovator, yes it would be good as you describe for tractor hitching, but not much good in totally enclosed raised salad beds, cheers, Lickey..

[jaideeguy]

Sounds like what you are looking for is a 'mini tiller'.....

I looked all over CM for a small tiller, then ended up bringing in a Honda 'mini tiller' from the states on a trip back. It turned out to be worth the effort as this machine is lite enough to lift with one hand and turns on a satang. the engine is a honda 4 stroke, the size they use on weed wackers and turns fast enough to loosen up our hard clay soil and digs in manure and other suppliments that i add regularly.

I brought it in as excess baggage and it did stump the customs people as they didn't have a clue as to how to classify it and eventually just charged me 1,800baht to bring it in. it has paid for it's self in saving my back. maybe it could be shipped direct from a dealer in the states....google 'mini tiller' and you'll get the dealers. or have a friend bring one when they visit.

[ozzydom]

Lickey. I had a look at the tillers today,they have a 3 foot cut and available in 3.8 or 6 hp, the pnuematic tyred wheels come of to fit the roto-tiller ,(just slip on and insert pin).

Price is 29k for 3.8 hp and 40k for 6hp.

They are Thai made ,I got the website so you can look see...www.patipong machine.com.

The machine is a 14 in 1 as you can get 14 different attachments including hilling set,chemical sprayer,mower,shredder etc etc .

ozzy

[Lickey]

Ozzy, thanks for your time on this one, i tried the web site and got a load of stuff about antirhinums the othe sites wernt much help either, dating ect, S/H stuff, do you have an adress in Udon please, and in your opinion, are these machines well built and durable, Thanks, Lickey.

[ozzydom]

Ozzy, thanks for your time on this one, i tried the web site and got a load of stuff about antirhinums the othe sites wernt much help either, dating ect, S/H stuff, do you have an adress in Udon please, and in your opinion, are these machines well built and durable, Thanks, Lickey.

Yes mate ,the site only shows pics of the different models(maybe more if I could read Thai ) , according to the dealer map ,the dealer here in Sawang Daen Din is the only one in this area.

They look to be fairly solid (by Thai standards) Design is fairly basic as is the norm for this type of machinery,I suppose you cant expect much for less than a thousand dollars inc motor.

Its only 70km from Udon so might be worth a look.

cheers

ozzy