Florabest rotavator from Lidl

[dc_ni]

Recently I have been trying to dig the back garden with the intention of reseeding the lawn. The main problem, besides the lack of time and terrible weather here in Fermanagh, has been the heavy clay soil. I've managed to break the handles on two shovels whilst digging it.

The other week Lidl were selling the Florabest cultivator

I decided against my better judgement to by one, much to my surprise it has proven me wrong.

Never having used one before I did some checking on YouTube to see what advice I could find in regards to it, I came across a video where a Qualcast version was being used and the advice given was to make sure to periodically cut away any roots/debris that became wrapped around the shaft.

I also found because of the clay soil that the area where the shaft came from the motor would become clogged, so I also made sure to dig out the crud at the same time as cutting the roots free.

I decided to give the rotavator a quick try, not expecting much from it. After five minutes had turned into a couple of hours of use I was at this stage:

As I hadn't planned on it being any good I hadn't allowed the time to do the job properly I had to leave it at this for a couple of weeks until the weather permitted me to resume. A friend came round to help, truth be told, he only came round for a chat and ended up helping, taking a leaf out of Steve Maskery's book I used the promise of baked goods to keep him happy.

After probably about six hours work in total the end result was this:

So in conclusion, bribery with baked goods is really useful, also the cultivator was a surprise, I had bought it on a whim expecting it to be a waste of money but was proven wrong. As long as you make sure to keep the cutters free of debris I think it will be useful for some time as I plan on doing the front garden next followed by the rest of the back garden.

 

[lurker]

Is your mate called Ray?

 

[graduate_owner]

Just a word of warning - I rotavated an area using a tractor mounted rotavator and it looked great, having previously been infested with dock, nettles etc. I had intended to let the sun dry out and kill any exposed roots and then repeat the rotavating after a few days, dry out, rotavate again etc. Being tractor mounted it didn't take long and was easy to do, so I didn't mind doing it 6 or 7 times as necessary. Unfortunately it rained after the first rotavating and that was it for the winter. Again, being tractor mounted meant I couldn't risk getting stuck in boggy ground.

When next spring came I saw the result of cutting up the roots. The dock etc ( but especially the dock) had taken full advantage of my assistance in propagating and the area was absolutely covered in weeds, much worse than before.

SO ..... pull out any roots after rotavating, using a rake or whatever, OR, do what I had intended and let the sun( sun?) Dry out the exposed roots, then rotavate again to expose more roots. Subsequent rotavating should be easier and quicker.

Overall I think the best way is to smother the weeds with tarpaulin or similar light proof material ( old carpet?), then the grass etc will die ( might take months, perhaps leave if over winter) and you will be able to see the problem weeds such a dock, dandelion etc and dig the blighters out. Then you rotavate. Don't forget rotavating will probably reduce your worm population by chopping them up.

K

 

[lurker]

Dave's mate looks a bit scrawny so I doubt he will need to worry about getting getting stuck