[shaun]

its a north/south thing  

[Trillium]

I used to dig with a shovel the first few years here because I couldn't afford a rotovator then. Took ages to prep all the beds, almost midsummer before I was done. Glad when my mum decided her Poulan rotovator was too wild for her and gave it to me. What a godsend!!! I'd buy it its own blanket, I'm so glad to have it.    Definitely makes turning in leaves and manure a lot easier. I don't worry about the worm population because the leaves are a big breeding ground for them and I can yank out handfuls at any time.

[Bigbadfrankie]

So its clear that owning a machine is not a part or being a allotment owner.
How much time do you guy's  spend at the garden :?:

[Bigbadfrankie]

most of us use machines.

[gobs]

So its clear that owning a machine is not a part or being a allotment owner.
How much time do you guy's  spend at the garden :?:

As far as I understand it , digging is not to compare with rotivating, hoing is, which is fast.  In the dry time of year two hours hoing a week does keep it decent.

[compostqueen]

I like hoeing but being short sighted it's risky   I got down on the floor to weed round my onions the other day and even with me specs on I managed to decapitate a few  :oops:

[Bigbadfrankie]

I get bored and then i chop down loads :x

[Trillium]

I rotovate only to prep the beds for the season, I don't weed with mine. The rows are way too narrow for the beast, even with only a single tine on each side. I spend between 3 to 6 hours a day in the gardens, every day, sometimes longer, but rarely less. And I don't hoe - I yank out weeds as everything is too close. One day I might buy a hoe.  

[gobs]

I like hoeing but being short sighted it's risky   I got down on the floor to weed round my onions the other day and even with me specs on I managed to decapitate a few  :oops:

Just imagine what you could 'achieve' with a rotivator!    :shock:

[shaun]

a lot of folks think that rotavating is done at full depth all the time,thats why you can adjust the height to act like an hoe just scratching the surface killing all those little weeds  

[compostqueen]

the mind boggles. Myopic woman stopped by police on the M1  :shock:

[iwantanallotment]

No equipment here - yet - but mindful of last year's blisters & aches when converting established lawn into "veg patch" - and seeing how it needs digging over again for this year's crops - I was tempted by an elderly gentleman's offer this week to buy his petrol rotovator.

It looks like summat from the Ark, is rust on rust...but others who have used it swear it's the bee's knees.

We shall see, be testing it next week. And if no-one will laugh, I'll post a pic of it sometime. Who knows, maybe someone can even identify which machine it actually is/was?
 

[shaun]

No equipment here - yet - but mindful of last year's blisters & aches when converting established lawn into "veg patch" - and seeing how it needs digging over again for this year's crops - I was tempted by an elderly gentleman's offer this week to buy his petrol rotovator.

It looks like summat from the Ark, is rust on rust...but others who have used it swear it's the bee's knees.

We shall see, be testing it next week. And if no-one will laugh, I'll post a pic of it sometime. Who knows, maybe someone can even identify which machine it actually is/was?
 

yes post a pic please we love a challenge and the old ones are the best  
once you have used it your spade will get a tadge rusty  

[Bigbadfrankie]

old ones are the most intriguing machines so as`shaun said post us a pic

[iwantanallotment]

Will post a pic next week when I collect it - the old fella wants to "clean it up a bit first", bless. Don't know what he means, 'cos there's not a speck of paint on it and the rust is probably holding it together  
Saw a pic of one very similar on the web - although that one had paint -  a Merry Miller I think....but will leave it to you experts to identify it