© 2009 Steam Weeding Ltd.
www.physicalweeding.com
Page 3
2.
Introduction
While the Four Wheel Hoe is straight forward to use, to get the best out of it requires an appreciation of
how knife blade hoes and soil ridging kills weeds, the design concepts behind the hoe and how to set it
up for your farm / holding. Therefore the time spent reading this manual will be well rewarded by
ensuring the Four Wheel Hoe is best set up for you.
Four Wheel hoes are manufactured by different engineers in different countries. Therefore there are
minor differences in the design and materials between countries. This means there will be some
differences between your machine and some of the photos in this manual, however, the fundamental
design remains the same. Steam Weeding Ltd. also reserves the right to make changes and
improvements to the design without prior notice.
3.
Fitting farm and hoe to each other
Any form of mechanisation, even a hand hoe, imposes restrictions on farming systems. If all weeding is
done by hand pulling, crop plants can be placed in any position, as they often are in ornamental gardens,
as people have the flexibility to work around the plants. In comparison, if a hand hoe is used the space
between plants must be larger than the width of the hoe blade, otherwise it will not be possible to hoe
in-between the plants without killing some of them. As the size and complexity of machinery increases,
it imposes ever greater restrictions on the layout of crops plants, otherwise machines cannot function
efficiently. The Four Wheel Hoe is no different. To be the most effective, crop plants must be planted in
straight rows, with each row the same distance apart. If the crop rows are bent and/or not equidistant,
following them is much harder and the crop is more likely to be hoed by accident. As for any blade hoe,
accurate depth placement is essential for maximising weed kill, so if the soil surface is too uneven then
optimum depth control will be impossible. Similarly lots of plant residues, soil clods, large stones and a
rough tilth will hamper effectiveness. For best results a level and fine surface-soil-tilth is required that is
free of plant residues large enough that they may bind and/or block the weeding tools. Stones larger
than 5 cm / 2” may also significantly impede progress and should be removed by raking, or for larger
areas, a reverse action stone burier is recommended.
To ensure that crop rows are straight and evenly spaced, it is recommended to make a row ‘marking out
bar’. This can be as simple as a wooden batten with pegs, big nails or similar, sticking out of it to mark
the rows, and a handle to drag it up the planting bed as straight as possible, or a purpose built
implement e.g., Figure 1. This is preferable to using strings or the bout marking bars found on some
pedestrian seed drills. If a tractor is available, then making a marking out bar that can go on the tractor’s
three point linkage is highly recommended as this will produce the straightest rows more quickly and
accurately than a hand-pulled marker bar.
Figure 1. Adjustable manual marking out bar.
