Broadfork

[Powertig]

This is an antique farming tool that I decided to recreate from some plans I found in an old gardening book and on the web. Before the days of Petroleum powered farm equipment those without horse power used man power to work as much as two acres with this tool. (I would not want to be that man!) I figure it should make quick work of my 1000 square foot garden. This tool loosens and aerates the soil without destroying soil structure(like a tiller) and inverting the strata (making your top soil bottom soil) like a shovel would. I had some help from the kids.

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/...son/Broadfork/
P.S. I have the Photo Bucket account can anyone tell me how to get the photos to appear in the post.? I keep getting error messages.

[Cippee]

That is a nice tool. You use you weight to till the soil very clever. How long to do the whole 1000 sq ft garden?

[Powertig]

Thanks Cippee, well so far I have only been able to do a test patch, things are still very wet. I have another month before I can start planting Potatoes and Onions so I will let you know. So far it seems to go a-lot faster then a shovel and I love the fact that it is Symmetrical, Meaning that I am not bending to one side or the other to use it.

[jp2code]

http://s1261.photobucket.com/albums/...son/Broadfork/
I have the Photo Bucket account can anyone tell me how to get the photos to appear in the post.? I keep getting error messages.

Test1:


Test2:


Test3:


Test4:

[jp2code]

When you hover over one of your pics in Photobucket, a little menu should show up.

Click the textbox with the words "IMG code" to the left of it, and the [IMG] blah-blah-blah [/IMG] stuff should change to "Copied".

Then, come here and hit CTRL+P (Paste) to get a nice IMG tag with your photo:

[Powertig]

Test so I am pasting the img code right into the text.?

[Powertig]

Whohooo Got it man thanks Joe.
Here are the plans I found on the net. I only went at a 20 Degree angle 30 just seemed to steep and would have you leaning too far forward in order to try and get the tines to go straight down while holding the handles. I am still debating weather or not to put the "elbows" on it. I will know more when I get to really try it out in the the spring. I am up to 26 pounds already and I think I will skip it if the tool works well without them. as for the bracing from the cross pipe to the handles, it seems stout enough without them.


I used some 1/8" x 1/2" 12" inch strap to help keep the 1/2" x 18" cold rolled from bending.

I used some salvaged galvanized water pipe to make the whole thing. I won't do that again. wire wheel and grinder but still got lots of white smoke from the galvy inside the pipe.

Helpers.

[jp2code]

Once you get it figured out, its easy. Right?

Now, put that new broadfork into the hands of those "helpers" and you are a real winner!

[Powertig]

Thanks again Joe, I am a posting fool now, I know I like the pics that people post the most so I figured I would put up as many big ones as I could. I think I will have to make the helpers a smaller version but you bet I will be putting them to work when things thaw out.

[dyethor]

Nice job that thing looks cool. That's a nifty tool if I ever get a house with some property I will use such implements for my vegetable garden.

[jp2code]

Thanks again Joe, I am a posting fool now, I know I like the pics that people post the most so I figured I would put up as many big ones as I could. I think I will have to make the helpers a smaller version but you bet I will be putting them to work when things thaw out.

No problem, Wade.

Just keep in mind that if your camera takes big pictures (1 MB or larger), people on a slow Internet connection are going to get tired of waiting for the images to load. If you keep this in mind, you'd post your better shots, then link back to the rest of the album.

[Powertig]

Nice job that thing looks cool. That's a nifty tool if I ever get a house with some property I will use such implements for my vegetable garden.

Thanks Dyethor It's a-lot of work but I love gardening. I get a kick out of eating squash from the garden, that I stored in the cellar, until February or salsa in December from tomatoes that I picked green right before the first fall frost. I also like telling my wife that is an organic heirloom tomato you are eating, it would have been $4.00 a pound at the store. Now I am sure I will be telling her how I tilled the garden with a tool forged with my own two hands.

[jp2code]

How do you tell when food is starting to go bad? Once it starts smelling, it's too late!

[Powertig]

Well tomatoes for instance ripen and turn red yellow or what ever there end ripe color is as they ripen, even if you picked them 2 months prior totally green as long as it was mature. So you have to catch it before it gets too ripe. As long as the veggie was grown correctly and is sound, (no cuts or bruises) they should dehydrate before they rot. Squash and potatoes start to soften as they dehydrate so if you keep an eye on them you can see it coming.