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He Builds Raised Beds With His Rototiller
“I converted my 3-pt. mounted, 5-ft. wide, pto-driven rotary tiller into an all-in-one tiller, raised bed row builder, and seed furrow opener. I plan to add a fertilizer applicator, planter and seed furrow closer to it. There’s nothing like it on the market,” says Andy Rushing, Hemphill, Texas.
    He recently sent FARM SHOW photos of a working model he made by using side panels off an old washing machine, 2 by 4’s, and 1-in. angle iron, mounting the parts on back of the tiller.
    “I have about a 1/4 acre garden where I grow tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini squash, purple hull beans, snap beans, red beans, and corn. I wanted a machine that would let me build raised rows that remain year around, similar to raised bed gardens,” says Rushing. “Raised beds warm quicker and control erosion on my hillside garden. Excess rain is held in the row middles instead of running off.”
    The tiller came with a rear metal guard door, which Rushing raises to the fully open horizontal position and locks into place with an adjustable chain. Metal wings on back of the tiller have 2 by 4’s attached to the top and bottom for strength. The wings extend out from both sides of the tiller housing and beneath the raised door. Each wing is held in place by 2 bolts that go through the top of the door down into the 2 by 4’s.
    “The opening between the wings is used to form the raised bed, which can be adjusted to the desired width,” says Rushing. “I screw an L-shaped metal panel onto the wings to level the raised bed to the desired height. A single V-shaped treated plywood board is used to open the seed furrow, or if I want I can attach 2 V-shaped boards to make double seed furrows.
    “I generally use the double furrows to plant peas and snap beans in rows 6 in. apart. I use a landscape rake to cover the seed, leaving a shallow trough over the seed to water seeds in,” says Rushing.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Andy Rushing, 1494 Busby Point, Hemphill, Texas 75948 (ph 409 489-2164; candyrushing@msn.com).


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2018 - Volume #42, Issue #4