I & J walking cultivator

[Crabapple Farm]

I am wondering if anyone is using an I&J walking cultivator, and how they like it. I tried one many years ago at a field days, and my memory is that I felt that it didn’t track well, and bounced around a lot more than the antiques I have used, due (I think) to a combination of short length and high center of balance. But that was a pretty brief test, so I’d be interested in other opinions from someone actually using one.
The reason why I am interested is because I am thinking about it as a somewhat versatile one horse toolbar with on-the-fly width adjustment – I have some other tools, such as finger weeders and hilling disks, with clamps to go onto a 2″ square bar, the same as the s-tines I&J is using. I think that those tools could be great for getting the edges of plastic, for example. (I know that they are great for that, but once the tomatoes get tall I can’t straddle them anymore and can’t use those tools for the rest of the season)
Obviously, Anny’s All-in-One or Leroy Keim’s One Horse Machine toolbar would also work, but they are more expensive and require a wrench for width adjustment.
I’ve got a couple old walking cultivators that are great for what they are, but I can’t figure out how to mount different tools on them other than the sweeps they came with.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Tevis

[Jesse Kayan]

We use an I&J walking cultivator to get between tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, and other plastic-planted crops. We have a variety of walk-behind cultivators and you’re right that the I&J steers poorly (especially the wider you set it) and is top-heavy. But I like the versatile setup–we use it with 4″ sweeps but you could easily put on any number of other tools and the fact that it’s made of metal and I don’t have to worry about the wood decaying and snapping in the field. We’re ‘just up the road’ in Brattleboro if you ever want to try one out again.

Jesse
802-579-1261
wildcarrotfarm@gmail.com

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