And so, with my final bean crop of year 0.5 harvested, the canes came down, and with black sheeting starting to cover the ground on such a scale that I'm sure they were watching me from the ISS, I turned my thoughts to rotovators.
I have two previous experiences with rotovators, or should I say one with a rotovator and the other with a tiller, there is, as many of you will know a very serious difference. I did own a tiller once, a horrid thing without wheels of any kind, with it's engine mounted above the tines. A horrid thing that would bounce and spit and fly out of your grip if it were to hit stones, or uncultivated ground. I gave up with it and in the same way that it was passed on to me, because the previous owner couldn't cope with it, I too passed it on in similar circumstances.
The rotovator I had used on the other had was a fine piece of kit. Hired, many years ago, at not inconsiderable expense this thing was a beastie. I'm not quite sure what it was, but I'm guessing a howard, or something in that style. Big, very heavy and very stable. It pulled itself along and required just a little effort to keep it straight. It dug down into the soil under it's own power, even the tough compacted stuff, and pulled itself along at a steady pace. Given the time i could dig a whole field with such a machine.
We are lucky to have a very large grouncare machinery shop in a nearby village. Everything from tiny petrol strimmers and mowers to near agricultural machines, the ideal place to take advice. And so I did. Thankfully I took the afformentioned good lady with me and she was able to gather me up from the floor when it was explained that the type of machine I longed for carried the price tag of a decent used Mercedes Benz.
I should explain at this point, that I had a cunning plan. So cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel. This was cunning of the Baldric standard.
You recall the "hatefull, spitting tiller" which I had passed on. Well the recipients were my sister and brother in law, who became the latest in a long line of unfortunates responsible for the care of this machine when they took an allotment a few years ago. After a little fettling and 4 hours a day eight days a week at the gym they had to some degree tamed the beast, though I still heard mumblings of dissatisfaction from time to time. So a rotovator share was on the cards, and, after skilfull introduction the idea grew, until an "in principle" agreement was reached.
The trouble was what to buy. The object of my affections had been ruled out on price. Even a 50% share of a decent second hand Mercedes Benz was out of the question for my allotment. And so, inevitably, my attentions turned to ........... ebay.
Initially my thought was to get something second hand and have it serviced, as i know somebody in that line of work. An ex hire machine would be OK, as long as it was serviceable. I have had good experiences with ex hire equipment at our local cricket club. And being shared between a couple of allotments would be virtual retirement for such a machine.
And so my watch list began to grow. Howards mainly, but a few other behemoth type machines in varying state of cosmetic repair, but all listed as working well. None were nearby, but that didn't matter too much, we have the trailer .....
To say I was surprised at how much these old things were making is something of an understatement. The first one I watched passed £1200 before the final day of the auction. We are heading out of price range again, plus I was well short of convinced about spending that kind of money on a second hand machine I knew nothing about, and had no comeback on, on ebay, despite the long list of "AAA+ great Ebayer", "pleasure to deal with" intonements.
But, while I had been looking, I had wandered across the Chinese Rotovator, or as we now call it the "Wotowator". £360 delivered for the type of machine we were looking for, albeit with certain limitations and of course, a questionable heritage. We did look at other options, but as the next best, a Husqvana of similar design demanded a price tag of close on £1000, the decision had, in truth already been made. Even if this machine only lasts a handful of years it will have done it's job, and the availability of direct replacement engines on ebay for £89 was reassuring. If anything went wrong in that department at least, a recovery option was available. So, with the final terms of our Wotowator share now finalised the buy it now button was pressed, and £364.99 was sent on it's way to darkest Essex.
And so, with somewhat limited expectations we looked forward to the arrival of our new machine. All we could do now was wait ....
and wait ....
and wait ....
and wait ....