On Mon, 31 May 2010 13:41:41 +1000, David Hare-Scott wrote:

terryc wrote:
Okay, finally decided that no-dig aided occasionally by the shovel
isn't going to work for our largest garden bed, so it is time to
consider the purchase of a power tool for the job.

Where do people look for walk behind cultivators?

Looking more towards the smaller self propeller rather than the heavier
one on two wheels(bed is raised and need to be a bit gentle).

I once hired one of the smaller self propelled sort. The brand and
model escapes me. For breaking ground in heavy soil it was useless, it
didn't have the power or weight to do the job. The kind that will do
that are rather large and expensive. For tilling broken ground it was
OK but only went down about 20cm. I suggest trying to hire an example
of the model you want before you buy or getting it on approval so that
you know if it will do the job you need in your soil and that you can
handle it.

Thanks David (and others).
That will probably be the way I go (if it gets financial approval. I used
one of the heavy, powered wheel versions at high school, when you would
do a 1/4 acre at a time. Twenty years ago, I hired same model and gave
the garden plots a thorough going over at the maximum depth of the
machine.

Hiring one occasionally is an option, but given the quality of hire stuff
over the years, it is far easier and safer to just buy my own gear for
regular needs.

Unfortunately the garden plots are a tad small for the larger model and
they are fine when you are young and fit, so I was looking at the smaller
models.

I have seen them dance across the surface of harder ground, so
I knew about that problem. This would be for working well worked/mulched
beds.

Looks like I'll just have to try the various produce places to see what
they offer.