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Vallonia Rotary Tooth Cultivator

Cultivation of conifer seedbeds from the standpoint of weed control after seedlings emerge can be and is now largely eliminated by weed spray-- chiefly mineral spirits or solvent spray. Post-emergence cultivation of hardwood seedbeds, however, is still necessary for weed control. This problem is solvable in part by mechanical, rotary-type cultivation. Our Vallonia Rotary Tooth Cultivator is used for this purpose. In theory, the cultivator could be made with a line-shaft to cultivate a seedbed with any number of tree rows. Here at Vallonia we have a 4spool "battery" line-shaft for our 5-row beds and a 7-spool line-shaft for our 8-row beds. Our machine has a tractor drawbar for use behind a light tractor as well as handles for the 2-man pulling method. If it were not for chemical weed control we would have developed a self-propelled machine long ago. Since its use is now restricted to hardwoods (5 to 10% of our total production), our present machine has been adequate.


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Author(s): Charles C. Mony

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Issue 16 (1954)