[allot2learn]

Back end of March/ beginning of April for me. Whenever I get a dryish week and in time for my spuds going in.

[grendel]

yes I too am waiting for the plot to unfreeze, dry out and generally be rotovatable. I havent been able to get there much over the last month or so. twiddles thumbs.
last year I hired a 5hp one and a days work did the job, it was kna really tiring.
Grendel

[DD.]

Spade is free.

No deadlines to beat to get it back to the shop.

[grendel]

I since then bought a £10 non runner on ebay and stripped it down, cleaned and rebuilt it, so now I have my own 3Hp one. (well actually I got a second identical one later for £5 as well for spares - and got that one running too.
Grendel

[Nicki85]

I'm not sure what patience is... if any one has any going spare can I have it?

Ok, wait till april (or possibly late march (grumble grumble) ) 

I think if I bought a non working rotavator it would remain un working for the forseeable future.  I can just about remember doing something with wires in science lessons but apart from that tis all a magical mystery!! I am in awe of any one with mechanical skills!!!

[Trillium]

I spread masses of fresh chicken poop over my garden every fall, then walk away. Come early spring on a dry day, I dig out my rotovator and get to work. By then it's matured, the worms were busy and the soil needs loosening up for planting anyway so its a 2 in 1 job.

Now I've switched to more of a no dig method, but use a broad fork to simply loosen the soil (still topped in fall with manure).  The idea here is to not disturb the soil layers, merely to aerate.

There are many ways to do this, so pick what best suits you and you feel is right for your soil and time.

[Nikkithefoot]

I cover with manure, leave and go back in the spring when I am ready to plant my spuds. I start by forking in the remains of any poo where the spuds will go, as I plant. Then by the time they are in the rest gets forked in and other crops planted.

I find it works for me, much easier than rotovating as you do need to be quite strong to handle the things. Also you can do it at your pace gradually as the weather permits and not have to try and plan the day / weekend when your plot will be dry enough AND fight with everyone else to hire one.

Your choice though

[Sadgit]

I used to rotovate but come the summer I always wished I hadn't as I had terrible weed problems after rotovating

[leeks r us]

I prefer just to fork manure in Niki it should be no problem anyway if your plot has been double dug!also if your soil is really loose there is a good chance the rotovater will dig itself in.

[m1ckz]

i have a 5hp rotovator and a small tiller,used them the first year,but like others on here far easyer to dig i find so there more or less redundent in the shed

[stompy]

The general idea for rotavating and planting is rotavate no less than 2 weeks before you intend to plant or sow into the prepared soil.

So there is no rush to get it done unless there is something you need to get into the ground, and to be honest at this time of the year there shouldn't be anything really!

Also, i find rotavating quite easy, you just need to relax into it and not rush the job, let the machine do the work and give it a jiggle every now and then to keep it moving forward.
You will not do it in one pass either, for best results each bed will need a minimum of 2 passes and preferably 3 increasing the depth with each pass.

I rotavate every year and on my old plot the soil was a good 18inch's deep and very friable after having 8 years worth of rotted manure added and rotavated in.
I also used to set the drag bar very deep on the last pass to break any pan that could have been made.

The perenial weeds are a problem if you rotavate them but i just glyphosated them all and after 2 years the plot was clear with no need to use there after 

[RobertSongs]

If its been double dug and manure has been added, then why go to the trouble and exspense of rotovating it..? sounds like all it would need would be a quick fork and rake over the top to make a tilth and then your good to go.. :blink: You may be inventing work that is not needed surely you could find another excuse to get to the plot..

[stompy]

If its been double dug and manure has been added, then why go to the trouble and exspense of rotovating it..? sounds like all it would need would be a quick fork and rake over the top to make a tilth and then your good to go.. :blink: You may be inventing work that is not needed surely you could find another excuse to get to the plot..

I personally find that it give the perfect tilth for sowing and planting once it's been rotavated and raked and the rotavating adds plenty of air deep down and breaks all the clods up.

Apart from the initial dig i do on the plot (first year) i never dig again i just rotavate and add plenty of organic matter and my soil was and will be again in very good condition

[allotment south wales]

at the moment it has to be back to the gardening fork..

go back to basic's dig over the allotment plot with a garden fork..

come march /april  if someone on you allotment or if possible hire from your allotment the use of the rotovator... just before planting rotovate the ground to improve the tilf so it good enough to sow or plant...

rotovating before march /april is a waste of time..

i dig the plot in the autumn by hand and in the spring then rotovate just before planting to improve the soils till..

i bought my rotovator  from e - bay second hand there are a few good machines with very little use on there...