[mike1987]

i was wondering  about how to avoid the soil geting compacted when ive been thinkng of makeing one my idea to try to minimise it was to fit one of these to the back of it
   =1398&cHash=2751e57887]http://www.wolf-garten.co.uk/index.php?id=1000&tx_sytproductdb_pi13[showUid]=1398&cHash=2751e57887

[anthonypaul]

Another Rolo Pix.  Its used like any other wheel hoe, but the width of the roller does allow for the preparation of a fine seed bed. The hoes loosen the soil and the roller flattens the  soil. I don't know how it would work on stony or clayey soil. I am on the Somerset levels with an old well-worked garden, so the soil makes a fine tilth.

Using the plough it turns over about 3 in depth, which is then worked down with the tines and then the hoes.

Its well-made with welded metal. I had to send the maker details of my height and the handles were made to fit.

I would guess these were first made in the late 1940's. I have never seen them on Google, apart from one coming for auction last year. I have never seen them - or any wheel hoes for that matter - mentioned in gardening books

[Growster...]

i was wondering  about how to avoid the soil geting compacted when ive been thinkng of makeing one my idea to try to minimise it was to fit one of these to the back of it
   =1398&cHash=2751e57887]http://www.wolf-garten.co.uk/index.php?id=1000&tx_sytproductdb_pi13[showUid]=1398&cHash=2751e57887

Mike, that idea works, and I made one from a very old three prong cultivator head, and screwed it to the underside of the wooden block. These are usually much cheaper than the Wolf ones, which I was peering at in a store only last week!

You may need to fix it to a piece of wood, or slightly bent copper tube (i" works), as the angle of 'hoe' may not be right. So, fix the short piece of tube to the cultivator handle slot, drill the copper tube two or three times, and scroew it up to the wood.

I left the hoe blade in place,and it did work pretty well, but is harder to push, and not that easy to pull back either. However, I think if your soil is in good heart, it will do a better job than on what we've got at the moment, which needs some manure and compost!

[Growster...]

Anthonypaul, that's easily understood - many thanks for the pics and the modus operandi!

I like the idea of a wider wheel, as this also does quite a lot of work before the soil hits the plough presumably, and will spread the load as well!

You seem to have a marvellous bit of kit there, and I'm beginning to wonder whether a few pram wheels strapped together might be another option...!

[anthonypaul]

Try several of  these side by side?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/8-SACK-TRUCK-TRAILER-GOKART-TROLLEY-WHEELIE-BIN-WHEELS-/180642632598?pt=UK_Lifting_Moving_Equipment&hash=item2a0f23d396#ht_500wt_922

The main thing will be to make the frame stiff enough to be able
 to work without twisting

[Growster...]

Hey, Anthonypaul!

That's a great idea! I reckon those wheels fixed together could make a better fist of the job than a drum!

How about making a frame where the wheels don't actually fix in line, but meet at an angle, so clods become' minced up' where the wheels meet, but then scatter after the machine has passed over?

This is getting interesting!

[anthonypaul]

On the other hand, consider one of these, though Heaven knows what the import cost is

http://planetwhizbang.blogspot.com/:

or

http://www.planetjr.net/the_new_planet_jr_cultivator

[Growster...]

AP! I just admire this site! I was soaking up their info when putting the 'Growster' together.

What I liked was their commercial attitude, but at the end of the day, when this sort of Growster bloke sees all that detail, and all that cost, well, it needs to be sorted doesn't it!

Any chance of you getting into the shed and making the bits you might need?