What type of sweeps

[Clemsonfor]

I am planning on putting in a larger garden next year, mainly to play with my new to me cub. I'm going to cultivate with it.

I am looking at Agrisupply at sweeps. There are so many different kinds. What am I looking for. There peanut sweeps, Danish sweep, row crop sweeps, feild cultivator sweeps, beet sweeps And cultivator sweeps . Those are all different names that they use. I know the larger ones cover more area etc, but as for digging/cutting grass out what is better?

What one would I want right next to the plants vs the one that will run next to it, vs what I want behind the tire ? I plan to probably run a wider one behind the tire, smaller next to the plant and the one to its side an in-between size maybe?

One of you more serious garden cultivators help me out here.

[Glen]

Hi,
Below is the Cub 144 Cultivator owner's manual. It has lots of info. I don't know if that is the model you have, you can look at the pics and see if it is.
It tells the original size of the standard sweeps that it came with, about half way down page 3.
There were others available too.

http://farmallcub.com/rudi_cub/www.clea ... index.html

The 2 inner sweeps in the front are half sweeps, so they don't hit the plants.
The sides of the sweeps are cut off at the innermost positions.

I would think the standard sizes it says work ok, but you might want something else.

[Eugene]

My guess is that what you currently have for a cultivator set up will work fine. If you don't have them you will probably need/use the shields to protect small plants.

Growing up in Iowa corn and soybean country, we cultivated hundreds of acres for farm crops. Once the cultivator was set up, the row spacing was never changed.

We never used cultivators in gardens. I think one reason was that was the row spacing was different for each vegetable. Second reason was the garden areas/spaces were utilized fence to fence, no room to turn a tractor around. Used rear tined tillers.

[Clemsonfor]

I have the small plant shields. I haven't picked them or the feet up yet but what's on there w
Is really worn. I guess I will go with what's on there profile wise but new.

This tractor was pretty much only used to set up and cultivate my grandparents gardens. I going to put in a larger garden this year because I have their tractor now and will give me time to play with it as well.

[Jim Becker]

There are, as you have found, many choices in ground working tools. The big choices are sweeps, vs. shovels, vs. knives, etc. The reason there are so many is that everyone has different soil, different weeds, and different crops. I assume your conditions and those in your grandparents garden are similar. So using sweeps similar to what they used is probably a pretty good choice. Different styles of sweeps usually have varying amount of crown in the middle, which changes how much the dirt is moved. Different amounts of crown work better at different operating speeds. The swept angle varies from one style to another, again chosen for weed and soil conditions.

When new, a Cub cultivator with sweeps was often set up with four friction break (or spring trip) standards on the front and two on the back. The front had a pair of 10" half sweeps next to the row along with 8" full sweeps. The back had two 10" full sweeps. Note that a 10" half sweep does not work a path 10 inches wide. A 10" full sweep does work 10 inches. A half sweep is like a full sweep with one wing cut off, loosing about 3 or 4 inches of width. I don't know if half sweeps are still available. You can make them by cutting a full sweep. Look in the back of the Cub-144 Owner's Manual for illustrations of some of the differences.

[tldec50]

I use half sweeps on the front extension bars.On the left extension bar I use a short shank as to not damage the oil pan when raised.

[Clemsonfor]

I use half sweeps on the front extension bars.On the left extension bar I use a short shank as to not damage the oil pan when raised.

Good call on watching out for oil pan!!

[Jim Becker]

I use half sweeps on the front extension bars.On the left extension bar I use a short shank as to not damage the oil pan when raised.

Good call on watching out for oil pan!!

The tool bar extensions are below the main tool bars. So the shorter shanks have about the same range of adjustment as the ones on the main tool bar. Note that you need to also be careful of the shank(s) on the left main tool bar. Depending on where it is positioned, it could hit the oil pan as well. If nothing else, set a stop on the Touch-Control cotrol lever to keep from raising it too far and into the oil pan. You also have control over maximum height by adjusting the pressure springs for the universal mounting frames.

[tldec50]

Thanks Jim, more good info when setting up your cultivators.Once set up,you will need to get another cub for other chores and keep the cultivators installed.

[Clemsonfor]

I use half sweeps on the front extension bars.On the left extension bar I use a short shank as to not damage the oil pan when raised.

Good call on watching out for oil pan!!

The tool bar extensions are below the main tool bars. So the shorter shanks have about the same range of adjustment as the ones on the main tool bar. Note that you need to also be careful of the shank(s) on the left main tool bar. Depending on where it is positioned, it could hit the oil pan as well. If nothing else, set a stop on the Touch-Control cotrol lever to keep from raising it too far and into the oil pan. You also have control over maximum height by adjusting the pressure springs for the universal mounting frames.

I had thought of setting the stop on the touch control to limit the max upward travel so I don't forget and have piercing results!