Rotavator vs. Fork?

[DWSmith]

I use what I call a rototiller which I think is the same as a rotavator. I've heard about them causing hard pan at the bottom of the tines' path. I think I need to turn over the soil by hand to a depth deeper than the rototiller digs.

I'll be 63 years old when the time comes to dig up my plot.

Will I survive digging over about 1600 square feet with a garden fork? (Some of this will be new ground with sod to contend with.)

If I will survive will I get it completed before the end of the growing season?

Seriously I think this is completely doable for me. I can put in an hour or more a day at it for several weeks before planting begins. I'd begin digging now if I could but the ground is frozen solid with the last frost typically around May 10.

Give me an educated guess as to how many hours it should take please. (Then I'll double that estimate to guess how long it will take me. )

Also, give me your opinion as to whether or not I should dig up the plot with a fork or stick with the rototiller.

[MarkPelican]

There are too many variables to give an accurate estimate. But, if it helps, it takes me about two hours to dig each of my beds which are 2m x 7m (i.e. about 140 sq ft) with a fork or spade depending on what I feel like.

When I started (about 10 years ago) it took twice as long because the ground had been "rotavated to death" by the previous plot holder and it was almost solid clay. Over the years I have included a lot of compost and avoided walking on the beds as much as possible and the ground is much improved.

I have a Mantis Tiller (look them up there's a difference between a rotavator and a tiller) which can't work the ground unless its been dug by hand before and only works for a couple of weeks between when the ground is too heavy and when it dries out. So I use it to break up the surface to make it suitable for planting/sowing.

So how long it will take (IMO) depends an awful lot on what type of soil you've got.

Also, do you need to dig it all? I've divided my plot into beds and put weed suppressant fabric paths between them. That way I only have to dig the bits that I'm going to grow something in and can leave the rest alone.

[Cadalot]

I've never double dug, 1.5 maybe the very first time I extracted all the weeds.

I put in an infrastructure of paths and beds, I mulch and feed the beds and cover with weed membrane after they have had a couple of weeks exposed in the winter to assist in killing off any nasty's and it lets my robin eat any slug eggs etc.

Rotavators / tillers cut up any couch grass that has managed to find it's way up into 2" bits that grow like mad.

When I first dug the allotment I dug the whole thing so paths and all, they got covered in cardboard, then weed membrane and woodchips or paving slabs.

I hate weeds and want to make life on the plots as easy as possible so I grow through membrane where I can, and weed hard where I can't.

Took me 3 years to sort out my first plot and get it all dig and the infrastructure in, I can be doing that clear all the weeds every year approach. Photos are of my second plot., that I got last year and so far only have 4 beds done and the composting area and comfrey beds at the back.

Just plod and enjoy it, it takes as long as it takes which will be twice to three times longer than you think as we are all 23 in our heads.

[Greenleaves]

I am definitely a digger, I really enjoy it even though my back might disagree

As Cads says it is not a race, it's about enjoyment

[veggiechicken]

I wouldn't rotavate or dig it over.
I'd strip off the turf/sod and stack it upside down to rot down.
Dig out any perennial weeds, rake it level and sow/plant it.

[DWSmith]

I am definitely a digger, I really enjoy it even though my back might disagree

As Cads says it is not a race, it's about enjoyment

Commuting and working full time meant I never had enough time to do this type of stuff. Now that I'm working at home (still full time) I have my lunch breaks and more time in the mornings and evenings.

Before it always seemed like a race but when I began working at home it became more enjoyable. I really want to try to do everything by hand. I actually dislike the noise, the gas fumes, and vibration from some of the machinery.

I may be wrong but I think most of it will go rather quickly since the top layer of soil has been tilled and stays fairly loose from season to season. The new part will go slowly I'm sure.

The difference in terms is rather humorous to me. I just need to get used to it. My Mantis is a cultivator in my terminology. My Troy-Bilt is a rototiller. To prepare the soil I use the Troy-Bilt. To assist in weeding I can use the Mantis. The Mantis is also a mini-tiller when the tines are turned around but I don't use it that way.

[Penellype]

I'm with VC all the way. Minimum work for maximum benefit. If you have perennial weeds under the turf, cover it with plastic sheet (old compost bags will do) for a while. The perennial roots will tend to come to the surface and are easier to get out. Then turn it into no dig beds and enjoy

[Snadger]

I don't mind digging but can't see the point?

Leave the digging to the specialists, the worms!

[burnie]

Make raised beds and don't stand on the soil, you will never have to dig again.

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

I am going to "Agree to disagree" to some point ...........

When I took on my plot, it was waist high, and in some spots shoulder high in weeds!

I strimmed it all to ground level, then concentrated on double digging a certain section, 2m x 4m just to install a few temporary raised beds in way of return to plant or sow a few stuff knowing the hard slog was on it's way and so as no to get disheartened.

Then year 2 having one section clear and manageable rotovated the rest with the "Earthquake" which is a big machine, regardless to any perennials!

The ground now at least clear and soil like, then sectioned it off, and cleared it bit by bit.

I now have hardly any perennial weed to deal with, wip over my beds with the "Mantis" the soil well nourished come Autumn time with either home made compost or well rotted manure, tiller it again early spring!

Works for me!

[oakridge]

In the olden days when I had 5 allotments I had a 250cc Honda rotovator which was worth its weight in gold at the time. Eventually I swapped it for 12 weaner piglets from our local FE College. Now I make compost on a large scale and spread a thick layer on each row every year. The most aggressive tool I use is a canterbury hoe. Many years ago someone said that double digging was invented by head gardeners to keep journeymen busy.

[rary]

If you like digging section of part of your plot where you can dig away to your hearts content, as for the rest break it down to the size of beds you want and cut down any tall weeds remove any clumps to level off the ground, and cover some with cardboard then cover that with compost or well rotted manure, the rest cover with weed suppressant fabric, as you say you have several weeks before planting get it covered as soon as possible, with both systems you just cut a hole and plant through, when planting potatoes for example I simply hammer a plastic pipe into the soil then pull it out it will have a plug of soil in it, I can drop some feeding into the hole then some soil fallowed by the potato then the plug pushed out the pipe to fill the hole. But basically just do what you want to do, and what would make you happy some folks like digging some like trying other methods, and remember age is just a frame of mind, the years are just a number. Enjoy your garden

[Chestnut]

To help with your estimates of how long it'll take on the new bit, I'm in the process of digging over a plot which is clay soil, with proper clay subsoil about 1.5 spades down, covered with couch grass 'turf' and other assorted perennials which I strimmed down in the autumn.

When I have the bit between my teeth, I can dig over a 6' by 5' patch in an hour and a half, to 1.5 spade depths. I will be achy next day if I do 6' by 10', and haven't dared try more than that !

[jonny the plant pot]

Im a double digger .must admit its a bit hard sometimes but if you look around our site mine is one of a few that seems weed free.

[ESBkevin]

There is something very satisfying about digging and double digging, you can see the results and in 'looks' fantastic afterwards, the smell of the fresh turned earth and the accompanying robin makes it a pleasure. But the disturbunce of the natural soil food web is now known to be detrimental to healthy plant growth. Commercial growers will still cultivate and chemical to get consistent produce on a large scale. Thier soil usually looks clean and once cultivated is friable. But there is a cost and it can be done with mulch and 'no dig' methods.
I'm in my third year on the plot and double dug half of it the first year and removed lots of bindweed whilst digging in plenty of organic matter. The soil there is now clean friable and very managable. the other half was rotavated apart from a strip (dug in two strips each about 8 ft wide) where again I double dug and added deep organic material.
This year I have double dug a patch/strip that was still suffering from a hard 'plough pan' but the rest of the second half of the plot has gone 'no dig' and is coverred in cardboard, straw, compost, pig muck and woodchip in various combinations. I've hardly had to do anything to the first half of the plot except cover it in some well composted horse muck with woodchip.

I will probably dig patches now and again but mainly I'm on the no dig idea now and recommend it.