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Robert Grisso
Extension Engineer
University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Ronald T. Schuler
Professor, Extension Agricultural Engineer
University of Wisconsin, Madison

H. Mark Hanna
Extension Agricultural Engineer
Iowa State University, Ames

Julius Williford
Agricultural Engineer
USDA-ARS, Stoneville, Mississippi

William Hart
Associate Professor Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Cultivator Components for Heavy Residue ............. 228

Ridge-till Cultivators .................................................. 229

Ridge Building ............................................................ 231

Guidance Systems ..................................................... 231

Other Uses of Cultivators .......................................... 231

Rotary Hoes ................................................................ 232

Flame Weeding ........................................................... 232

References and Suggested Readings ....................... 233

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1) JD 856 Row Crop Cultivator - 12 seconds
2) JD 856 Row Crop Cultivator - 13 seconds
3) JD 856 Row Crop Cultivator - 9 seconds
4) JD 856 Row Crop Cultivator - 19 seconds
5) JD 856 Row Crop Cultivator - 8 seconds
Chapter 28 Crop cultivation is an excellent method of weed Figure 28-1. Components of a conservation tillage
Crop Cultivators cultivator that are effective in heavy residue
control. Cultivators used in residue-covered fields
conditions.
Cultivator must allow residue to flow through the implement
Components for
without clogging. In addition, extra penetration Down Pressure
Heavy Residue
force may be required to cultivate no-till fields as Springs
compared with tilled fields. (Modified no-till or Parallel Links Tool Bar
minimum till allows for fertilizer injection and
Shank
limited cultivation.) Many high-clearance cultivators
are designed to handle conservation tillage condi- Furrowing
tions; some older cultivators can be modified to Wing
work in residue-covered fields if residue flow and
desired penetration can be maintained.
Combining mechanical and chemical weed
control is economical and effective because the
total weed management system does not rely on
one control method. For example, apply a band of
herbicide, either pre or postemergence, and rely Wide Sweep Residue Disks Depth Wheel
Cutting Coulter
on cultivation to control weeds in row middles.
Another option would be to use a less-expensive, Parallel
lower-performing herbicide or use lower than Linkage
label rates, then supplement weed control with Toolbar
cultivation as needed. When using a herbicide in
the row for weed control, the cultivation may be Curved
delayed until the crop is taller and less susceptible Round Shank
to cultivation damage.
Dual depth
Cultivation dries the soil and may result in One-piece wheels hold
Blade Unit down residue
lower yields in some dryland cropping conditions.
For example, cultivating during warm-windy
conditions causes 0.5 to 0.75 inches of soil
moisture to evaporate. On the other hand,
cultivating wet, poorly drained soil for aeration
may improve yields.
Undercutting Residue-Cutting
Sweep Coulter

Cultivator Components
for Heavy Residue Box-beam Gang Parallel
Conservation tillage cultivators differ greatly Mainbeam Linkage Toolbar
from conventional cultivators. The three to five
shovels per row of a conventional cultivator are
replaced by a single shank having a wide sweep
and/or horizontal disk (Figure 28-1). A coulter,
mounted in front of the shank, cuts residue and Straight Disk
reduces plugging. Shank Hillers
Some cultivators are equipped with disks to
control weeds adjacent to the crop rows. Disks
that cut weeds from a ridge or bed are called
barring-off or weeding disks. When used in
furrow irrigation or to form ridges or beds they
are called disk-hillers. Some manufacturers use Low-crown Residue-cutting Depth
Single-piece Sweep Coulter Wheel
an extra wide sweep to eliminate the need for disks.

228
 The coulter, disks, and sweep (Figure 28-1)
are positioned so that residue easily flows through
the cultivator. The sweep point should be operated
below the soil surface at a depth sufficient to keep
soil moving over the sweep and around the shank
to avoid plugging. Excessive depth, however,
causes soil slabbing and poor weed control due to
weeds remaining embedded in soil clods.
Soil penetration is a factor when selecting a
cultivator for no-till and ridge-till systems. The
cultivator must carry enough weight to penetrate
untilled soil and to cut through large quantities of
residue. Weight is provided by heavy shanks, frame
members, and tool bars. Down-pressure springs
are often used to transfer weight from the tool bar
to individual row units (Figure 28-1). In addition,
the angle of the sweep with respect to the soil
surface can be adjusted at the shank or at the three-
point hitch to increase its ability to penetrate. As
sweeps wear, their ability to penetrate will decrease.
Conservation tillage cultivators usually have
flexible row units with independent depth control
(Figure 28-1), for example, a depth gauge wheel
or depth band adjacent to the coulter to control the
operating depth of each row unit. To maintain
proper operating angle of the sweep and to allow
operation through uneven surface conditions,
individual row units (Figures 28-1 and 28-2) are
often attached to the tool bar by a wide, stable
parallel linkage.
Several cultivators are equipped with rolling
spiders or disk gangs and can be successfully used
in residue-covered fields. The rolling spiders are
designed so the gang angle can be changed with
respect to both the vertical and horizontal planes.
Some rolling cultivators may not have enough
strength to carry the extra weight required for
penetrating untilled soil.
Row shields may be needed for early season
cultivation. Two types of shields are available:
sliding and rolling (Figure 28-3). For high surface
residues, the rolling row shield may perform best.
Positioning of sliding shields may be altered to
improve residue flow.
Cultivation may have little influence on the
erosion benefits. Research has shown that a
wide-sweep, high-residue cultivator buries only
about 5 to 15% of the residue cover in a no-till
system. At cultivation, crop canopy is rapidly
expanding partially to compensate for reduced
residue cover and will suppress weeds.
Figure 28-2. Components of conservation tillage Chapter 28
cultivation that are effective in light residue Crop Cultivators
conditions.
Cultivator
Components for
Heavy Residue
Ridge-till Cultivators
Toolbar Parallel
Linkage
Gang Mainbeam
Down
Pressure
Springs
C-shank
Sweep
Ridge-till Cultivators
Ridge-till combines cultivation and reduced
herbicide usage for economical weed control.
During planting, crop residue, weed seed, and
seedlings are deposited between the rows where
weeds can be controlled with cultivation. As much
as 70% of the previous years weed seed is moved
out of the row. A banded herbicide applied at
planting controls weeds in the crop rows.
During cultivation, ridges are rebuilt or reshaped
for the next season. Ridge-till effectively and eco-
nomically manages some difficult-to-control weeds,
including shattercane, water hemp, and volunteer
corn, with less reliance on herbicides.
Cultivation is an integral part of ridge-till sys-
tems. One or two cultivations control weeds and
rebuild ridges. The first cultivation should be early
and relatively deep (4 to 6 inches), to kill weeds
and loosen soil. Deep cultivation at early crop
growth does not prune or damage crop roots and
keeps the cultivator operating below the residue,
but dries soil unnecessarily in a dry spring. The
second cultivation, when the crop is taller, pro-
vides additional weed control and rebuilds the
ridges. One cultivation may suffice if early weeds
are controlled with herbicides.
Ridge shape is critical; rounded or flat-topped
ridges are ideal (Figure 28-4). Peaked ridges are
easy to make, but it is difficult to keep a planter
centered on them. The cultivator should push soil
229
Chapter 28 Figure 28-3. Row shields to protect crop and to the ridge rather than throwing soil to form a
Crop Cultivators shape ridges. rounded or flat-topped ridge.
Ridge-till Cultivators
a. Rolling Cultivator Shields Many ridge-till cultivators are equipped with
disk blades (two per row) mounted adjacent to the
row. During the first cultivation, the disks remove
soil and emerged weeds from each side of the
ridge. During the second cultivation, the disks are
reversed and positioned to move soil toward the
row and to cover small weeds in the row.
Ridging or furrowing wings, attached behind
the center sweep or horizontal disk (Figure 28-5),
build rounded, or flat-topped ridges. Most wings
can be raised when not in use. Wings push the soil
from the sweep or disk to the row area. Ridging
wings are credited with building flatter ridges than
Rolling Shields disk-hillers. For furrow irrigation, use a shovel-
type ditcher, rather than a disk-hiller, to build the
ridge because disk-hillers tend to form peaked-
b. Open Top-sliding Shields shaped ridges. Use crop shields (Figure 28-3) to
protect small plants and allow faster forward
speeds. During the second cultivation, shields also
help control ridge shape. Open-top shields are not
limited by crop height and are fully adjustable both
Panel Shields vertically and horizontally.
Faster cultivation has shown improved weed
control without adversely affecting the crop. Faster
cultivation also allows more area to be covered. The
number of rows on the cultivator (or ditching imple-
ment) and the planter must be the same. Otherwise,
when a planter straddles a guess row from the
previous seasons ridging operation, it is difficult
to keep all planter row units on top of the ridges.

Figure 28-5. Ridging wings used to develop

rounded or flat-topped ridges.

Stored
Position

Figure 28-4. Ridge shapes.

Peaked is Rounded or Flat-Topped Working

Undesirable is Desirable Position

230
Ridge Building Figure 28-6. Guidance mirrors. Chapter 28
The first step of ridge-tilling is to plant conven- Crop Cultivators

tionally or no-till in the spring. Plant exactly where Ridge Building

the rows need to be for the future. Cultivate this
Guidance Systems
crop early to control weeds and to loosen the soil.
During the last cultivation, form the finished ridge. Other Uses of
Cultivators
The ridge should be 6 to 8 inches high after culti-
vation. With weathering and settling, ridges will be
4 to 6 inches high the following spring. During the
first year, the ridge needs to be 4 to 6 inches high
in corn and 3 to 4 inches high in soybeans.
When forming new ridges in soybeans in a
corn-soybean rotation, build only half the normal
ridge the first year. Then build a full ridge in the
first corn crop. The ridges formed around soy-
beans may be lower than corn to prevent coverage
of lower pods and for more efficient harvesting.
Ridge building is a process; do not expect to
build a 6- or 8-inch ridge the first year. Start with Housing Mirrors
a 4- to 6-inch ridge. Building a 6- to 8-inch high
ridge may be a 2- to 3- year process. Higher, more
Figure 28-7. Automatic guidance to keep cultivator
stable ridges are easier to build with 36- to 40-inch aligned on the row.
row spacing than with 30-inch rows. Building
stable ridges on a narrow row spacing (15 inches Guidance Controls,
monitors in cab Rigid
and 20 to 22 inches) is very difficult and is not Guidance
recommended due to inadequate space for tractor Frame Front
tire travel. Sliding
Guidance
Frame Rear

Guidance Systems Cultivator

Guidance mirrors (Figure 28-6) can be an effective
and inexpensive aid for keeping a cultivator aligned on
the row. Mirrors are mounted on the tractor frame
below and in front of the driver so that the mirror
provides a view of the crop row behind the tractor and
shows the cultivator location and movement within the
crop rows. These mirrors allow for close cultivator
monitoring while facing forward. Mirrors can be used
at a stage when crop plants are too small to activate
sensing wands of an automatic guidance system. They
work best before corn is 12 inches tall and leaves
begin to obscure the view of the row.
Automatic guidance systems (Figure 28-7) keep
field equipment (cultivators, sprayers, planters)
centered over the row and allow the cultivator to
be adjusted closer to the crop without crop dam-
age or root pruning. When the cultivator works
closer to the crop, a narrower herbicide band is
needed. By following the old row or crop, ridges
can be maintained longer without ridge movement
Toolbar
Crop
while working on the contour. With automated
equipment adjustments, operator fatigue is re-
duced; operator skill is less of an issue, and
operational speeds may be increased.
Other Uses of Cultivators
Because most cultivators built for conservation
tillage are heavier and more rugged than standard
cultivators, they can be used to apply anhydrous
ammonia or liquid nitrogen. This not only improves
cost effectiveness but increases N efficiency
because N can be applied as a sidedress at lay-by.
Applying part of the crops total N at this stage
reduces N losses that occur from fall or early

231
Chapter 28 spring applications and can significantly reduce
Crop Cultivators nitrates in groundwater and surface water.
Other Uses of
Cultivators
Rotary Hoes Rotary Hoes
Rotary hoes provide shallow, thorough stirring
Flame Weeding
of the soil and thereby early weed control in some
conservation tillage situations. Rotary hoe perfor-
mance depends on the quantity of residue, firmness
of the soil surface, and design of the machine. A
rotary hoe (Figure 28-8) must be heavy and aggres-
sive to penetrate untilled soil and be self-cleaning
to resist plugging when operated in corn residue.
Rotary hoes work well in ridge-till to control weeds
in the row. Control is best when field conditions
are hot, dry, and sunny. One or two passes supple-
ment, or may eliminate, the need for banded
herbicides. Avoid breaking the crook of soybean
plants if hoeing soon after emergence.
The rotary hoe is an effective and efficient tool
within a sharply limited window of weed size.
Many weeds will survive rotary hoeing once they
form true leaves or can be seen from the tractor
seat while driving.
Flame Weeding
Flame weeding just prior to and just after crop
emergence (for corn and cotton) is effective in
establishing early weed control for some crops.
Flames kill the plant by rupturing cell walls, not
burning the plant tissue. Therefore, some crops
Figure 28-8. Rotary hoe.
Toolbar
Spring-Mounted Arms
Ground-Driven Wheels
232
such as soybeans can be severely damaged. Focus
on flaming weeds early. Flaming can set back
larger weeds, but controlling weeds as tiny seed-
lings or before they reach three- or four-leaf stage
is best. Flaming is most effective on grasses, but
broadleaf weeds up to 6 inches can be controlled
effectively.
When using flaming tools (Figure 28-9) remem-
ber the following tips: Do not burn the weeds. If
weeds are toasted, fuel is being wasted. Energy-
efficient flaming will have little immediate visible
effect but will cause weeds to droop and wilt within
a couple of hours. Timing is critical for the flaming
to be effective. Conduct the application when
conditions are hot and dry. Focus the flame on the
emerging weeds. Keep the nozzles clean. The
flame should be blue in the center. Yellow flecks or
bands within the flame could indicate foreign mate-
rial within the combustion zone or blockage at the
burner. From a safety standpoint, check the condi-
tion of the hoses, pressure regulator, tank, and
burner for leaks and proper operation. Ignite and
burn quickly after gas flow has been started so
there is no opportunity for build up of unburned
propane. If the residue has the potential to be
ignited, use alternative weed control methods.
Figure 28-9. Flaming tools.
Pressure LP Supply Liquid Supply
Regulator "Motor Fuel" Tank Manifold
Self-Vaporizing
Burner
Pipe
Frame
Two-Joint Mounting
(fully adjustable)
Frame
Runners
 Chapter 28
References and Suggested Readings Crop Cultivators
Bowman, G. 1997. Steel in the Field: a Farmers Guide to Weed Management Tools. Sustainable
References and
Agriculture Network Handbook Series, Beltsville MD, p. 128. Suggested Readings
Cramer, C. 1990. Turbocharge your cultivator: flame weeding is cheap, effective - and safe.
The New Farm 12(3): 27-30, 35.
Grisso, R. D. and P. J. Jasa. 1992. Cultivators for conservation tillage. G92-1098, University of
Nebraska Cooperative Extension, Lincoln, NE. <http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/farmpower/g1098.htm>
Hanna, H. M., R. Hartzler, D. Erbach, K. Paarberg, L. Miller and J. Olson. 1996. Cultivation: an
effective weed management tool. PM-1623, Iowa State University, University Extension, Ames, IA.
<http://www.ae.iastate.edu/pm1623.htm>
Hartzler, R. G., B. D. Van Kooten, D. E. Stoltenberg, E. M. Hall, and R.S. Fawcett. 1993. On-farm evalua-
tion of mechanical and chemical weed management practices in corn. Weed Technology 7:1001-1004.
Paarlberg, K. R., H. M. Hanna, D. C. Erbach, and R. G. Hartzler. 1998. Cultivator design for interrow
weed control in no-till corn. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 14(4): 353-361.

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Chapter 28
Crop Cultivators

234