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Page 10
Where soil conditions are very soft the hoe may sink too deep into the soil for optimal weeding. In that
situation the hoe can be set up by placing the laths or thin flat sheets of suitable material under the
blades (rather than the wheels) so raising the height of the hoes in relation to the wheels / frame.
1.1.1
Longitudinal position: parallel or staggared?
In addition to setting the vertical position of the tools, the longitudinal position (i.e., the position of the
tools along the frame) can have a significant effect on the tools performance. There are two approaches,
opposite or staggered. Fairly self-explanatory, opposite is where a pair of tools are directly opposite
each other on the frame, and staggered is where they are at different longitudinal positions along the
frame (Figure 8). Having tools opposite each other often increases their ‘interaction’ whereby the area
of soil displaced by one tool interacts with the soil area displaced by the second, which normally
intensifies the weeding effect. This is particularly true of the mini-ridgers. The biggest benefit of
staggering the tools is where there is material in the soil, typically stones and plant residues, that could
become stuck between parallel tools, particularly the mini-ridgers, as these will more easily flow
between staggered tools and thereby reduce or eliminate blockages. Staggering tools is also helpful
where the interaction between two parallel tools is also harming the crop, e.g., hoeing young seedlings,
as staggering them can reduce crop damage while still maintaining the same hoed area, i.e., the same
crop gap is maintained.
Figure 9. Staggered tools: Left mini-ridgers, right T hoes.
Also when using the hoe to till a false seedbed the T hoes should be overlapped as shown in Figure 12
which requires the hoes to have different longitudinal positions, otherwise one blade will be sitting on
top of the other resulting in them not being at the correct depth, as well as causing other problems.
1.2
T hoes
The T hoe design, with the leg in the center of the blade, means the leg is well clear of the crop row and
the crop foliage growing there, which means that it needs far less horizontal adjustment than an L hoe.
5.1.2.
Hoe blade lengths
Due to many factors including different row widths, crop gaps, crop types, evenness of row spacing etc. it
is impossible to have a single hoe length that will suit all customers. Therefore hoes are supplied longer
than required so they can be cut down to the optimum length. Please see the separate document “Four
Wheel Hoe, T Hoe, Blade Length, Ready Reckoner” for detailed information on the issues surrounding
