Summer residents, seriously engaged in the garden and garden, can not do without a certain technique, because you can’t work the land with your hands qualitatively, and your health will suffer from this. The first and main assistant can be a walk-behind tractor. This is an expensive technique, but the number of functions that it is able to perform in a year justifies a purchase with interest. It remains to figure out how to choose a walk-behind tractor, and what qualities to pay attention to in the first place.
Looking for the difference between a walk-behind tractor and a cultivator
In some stores, all the equipment for working with the earth is presented as walk-behind tractors of different power and weight. Therefore, often in this category come across cultivators, which are called ultralight walk-behind tractors. In fact, these are two different units, and when choosing equipment for your own garden you should determine what is more profitable for you.
A motor cultivator is a mechanized tool with a milling cutter on its leading axis, capable of processing only the top layer of the earth. We examined this technique in more detail in a separate article, “How to choose a cultivator for a summer residence: what to look for before purchasing?”. The cultivator's function is limited only to the cultivation of the upper layer of the earth, while the walk-behind tractor can replace most of the garden equipment.
Thus, the walk-behind tractor is a type of mini-tractor. Its nozzles work due to wheel traction, and a person only controls the equipment, going after it. Both in terms of power and ability, motoblocks are much stronger than motor cultivators and are equipped with a large number of attachments. It is these units that we will analyze in more detail.
What can a walk-behind tractor: features of a mini-tractor
Dreaming of a motoblock, summer residents mainly expect to cultivate the land with its help. But this technique has a lot more features.
Earthwork
Naturally, the main functions of the walk-behind tractor are earthworks, and more specifically, tilling, harrowing, hilling, cutting rows, etc.:
- Plowing. Plowing the land with a plow, which is hung on the unit, and powerful models are able to raise virgin soil. This function is especially useful for beginner gardeners and gardeners who need to first bring the land to a normal state, then to plant something on it. A walk-behind tractor, unlike a motor-cultivator, raises the deep layers of the soil, shoveling and mixing the soil, and thereby saturates the earth with oxygen, making it more airy. In such soil, both the level of humidity and the air circulation are much better than those dug under a shovel.
- Harrowing. Harrowing is carried out by a separate nozzle with teeth. The purpose of this work is to destroy the crust on the surface of the soil, which is formed as a result of drying of the upper part of the soil under the sun. Due to the crust, oxygen access to the root system of garden crops is disrupted, and moisture is not stored in the soil. In addition, weeds are effectively removed by harrowing.
- Hilling. For owners who plant potatoes in summer cottages (weaving 4-5), the walk-behind tractor will prove to be useful as a hiller. A special nozzle will help raise the furrows to give the tubers the opportunity to better ventilate, and save them from excessive moisture. Hilling is also useful for strawberries, especially if it is grown in a lowland, where increased moisture causes damage to the berries with gray rot.
- Digging and planting garden crops. Using attachments such as a potato planter and a potato digger, the walk-behind tractor will make it easier for you to plant and harvest your “second bread”. The bin contains about three buckets of planting potatoes, which either the plowman himself or his assistant can fill up. A seeder is used to plant seeds, cloves of garlic and onions.
Significantly simplify the use of the walk-behind tractor with an adapter. On how to make it yourself, read the material: //diz-cafe.com/tech/adapter-dlya-motobloka-svoimi-rukami.html
Harrowing is carried out while the potato has barely appeared on the surface of the earth to help it break through the dried topsoil
Potato growers contain a different amount of planting material, but the most common option, in which about 3 buckets are filled
A seeder is convenient to plant crops in the fall, which usually fertilize the soil and rid it of weeds. In spring, green sprouts are smacked
Lawn and flower care
In addition to earthwork, the walk-behind tractor is capable of caring for the lawn. To do this, a rotary mower comes in a complete set, which cuts the grass no worse than a trimmer, grabbing immediately about a meter of the lawn. And if you also buy an aerator nozzle, then your lawn will receive additional oxygen supply and will grow denser.
Using the lawn rake nozzle, you can collect mowed grass and simultaneously move the soil to give more oxygen access to the roots
A useful additive can be called a chopper, which will grind all garden garbage for laying compost.
The chopper can be used to create green compost from plant waste, as well as grind cut branches of trees and shrubs
For watering the garden and flower beds, a motor pump is connected to the walk-behind tractor.
Winter chores
In winter, the walk-behind tractor will also not stand idle. It turns into a snow blower, thanks to special devices:
- brushes that clean the tracks from soft, just fallen snow;
- a snow shovel with knives that cuts and removes packed snow;
- a snow thrower that rakes the blades of snow to a depth of about 20 cm and throws it off the track.
You can learn more about how to upgrade a walk-behind tractor with a snow blower from the material: //diz-cafe.com/tech/kak-peredelat-motoblok-v-snegouborshhik.html
Cargo transportation
For complete happiness, the owner of the walk-behind tractor must also buy a trailer. Then it will be possible to proudly sit on your own equipment and drive around the garden, collecting garbage, cut branches or spreading manure, fertilizers, bags of potatoes, etc. With the help of a trailer, you can even bring bags of cement from the nearest construction store or collect stones on roadside fields for construction of the fence. Thus, you will reduce the load on your own back and arms, entrusting the transportation of goods equipment.
The trailer makes a full-fledged mini-tractor from a walk-behind tractor, on which you can sit and carry various heavy loads around the site
All of the above nozzles, except the cultivator and wheels, do not come with a walk-behind tractor in the kit. They are purchased separately, taking into account the power of technology. And the more "horse power" in the unit, the more functions it can perform.
The trailer for the walk-behind tractor can be made independently, read about it: //diz-cafe.com/tech/pricep-dlya-motobloka-svoimi-rukami.html
What are the criteria for selecting the power of a walk-behind tractor?
Determining which walk-behind tractor to choose, three aspects are taken into account:
- how much land he will have to cultivate;
- type of soil on the site;
- the number of work that the equipment must perform.
Unit performance calculation
The power of motoblocks starts from 3.5 hp, and ends with 10 hp. Stronger aggregates are rare. When selecting power, you should focus on the amount of land that will have to be processed.
- If the plot is up to 15 hundred parts, then 3.5-4 "strength" is enough. In this case, the working width is about 60 cm.
- For processing sections of 20-30 acres, they take equipment with a power of 4.5-5 hp and a working width of 80 cm.
- For a half-hectare land allotment, it is worth buying a model of 6-7 hp. and a working width of 90 cm.
- For a hectare or more - up to 10 hp and capture width - meter.
- From four hectares, it is better to cultivate the land with a tractor, since both the walk-behind tractor and its owner are too heavy.
Keep in mind that fuel consumption will increase in proportion to performance.
The dependence of the mass of the walk-behind tractor on the type of soil
The soil on the site plays a significant role in the selection of equipment. For heavy clay soils and the development of virgin lands, weak aggregates are not suitable. Firstly, their capacity is not enough to shovel such land, and the engine will work with high overloads. Accordingly, it will fly out quickly. Secondly, low-power equipment weighs less, which means that it will not provide deep soil capture and will slip during plowing.
Oriented as follows:
- if the soil is light, developed, then you can buy a model up to 70 kg in weight. Such walk-behind units come with 3, 5 - 6 hp;
- on clay soils, aggregates from 95 kg in weight work effectively;
- to develop virgin land you will need a mini tractor of 120-150 kg. And he should have in the kit metal wheels, which are called lugs.
Diesel motoblocks are famous for their faster rotation speed and thus crush the soil more efficiently, but repairing gasoline engines is easier, and you can’t go to diesel fuel at sub-zero temperatures.
It will also be useful material on how to make a walk-behind tractor using the design example from Valentin Arkhipov: //diz-cafe.com/tech/motoblok-svoimi-rukami.html
Grousers, or metal wheels, at the expense of the blades bite tightly into the soil and do not allow the walk-behind tractor to slip when plowing virgin and heavy lands
What elements determines the functionality of the walk-behind tractor?
Before choosing a walk-behind tractor for a garden, you need to study its design to make sure that you can hang all the desired equipment on this model.
- So, if you use a walk-behind tractor for transporting goods, then the equipment must have large pneumatic wheels (from 450 mm).
- Power nozzles (water pump, snow thrower, mower) require a power take-off shaft. There are models in which such nozzles simply have nowhere to cling to.
- For winter use, there must be a gasoline engine, moreover a well-known company, to start the first time.
- A useful element is the electric starter, thanks to which the walk-behind tractor is easier to start.
Desired items:
- adjustment of handles;
- differential unlock;
- emergency handle for an emergency stop.
If there is a choice between domestic and foreign equipment, then the "native" units will cost less. In addition, they are not so sensitive to fuel quality. But due to poor assembly, they often require repair of components. Foreign manufacturers rarely encounter such problems.
