Lidl garden cultivator?

ginvzt

I have just seen on Lidl website the garden cultivator. Now, I am trying to work my garden after nothing has been done to it by previous owners for a number of years, and was wondering if it would be worth for me to get one. The ground is very much clay an very compacted, and we are building the raised beds on two sides of the garden, but it still leaves some areas to be worked by hand, and when trying to dig up a bed for the flowers, I have to say it is a very hard job. I wish I could borrow one somewhere to give it a go and see if it is any good for my case, but I have no one to borrow from!

So - has anyone got one? Would you recommend it or buy it again? I don't know if there are any left in my local Lidls, but thought I'll ask your opinion on this.

http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_18998.htm

sirbrainy

Don't know the Lidl one but they have got enormous European buying power so it should be a good one for the money.

I've rotavated on clay soil and there were no issues, probably a bit slower than working on fine tilth ;-) but still easy to rotavate - I wouldn't try it when it starts to get drier, though.

Enterprise_1701C

Haven't got the rotavator but I bought the scarifier for £5 in one of their carpark sales and it it does a fantastic job, so if the rotavator is the same quality it should be good. If I needed one I would buy it on the back of the quality of the scarifier.

ginvzt

Well, we will need to sort out the lawn some time soon, after we did the beds, etc, and I guess this would be the best thing to use, as hiring something similar would not be much cheaper.

I could always water the soil a bit before getting this one out to do its work if it is dry. The only issue are the stones hidden in our soil!!!

sirbrainy

You can't go wrong for £50. It'll laugh at stones!

ginvzt

Right, I looked up a couple of closest Lidls, and I will go there after my acupuncture session. Maybe at least something can go right this week????

officeguru

I've got an old rotivator in the shed... It's got a brigs and stratton motor ... not as big as the ones that are liable to pull you through the greenhouse ... but it's fine and I am quite happy to give it away to some other keen gardener.... It has to be spoken to nicely to and it gets a bit temperamental... I tended to break the soil up with the fork before the winter and then use the rotivator to turn the soil into a fine tilth in the spring... so I don't know if it would break up hard clay without a bit of a help.... It's been lying in the shed for a few years now.... so if anyone lives in Fife and wants it... just pm me and I'll give you my address..

Cheers

ginvzt

Well, I bought it. I had acupuncture appointment, stopped at Lidl on the way and bought one.

Yes, I may need to break up the soil into clumps with the fork first, but even if it breaks up those clumps, it will be a huge help for me. I know, it is £50 spent... But my back costs more!!!!

stumpycat

Thanks for the heads up, we're going to try & get one tomorrow - were going to hire one, but it'll be so much easier to do our garden in bits, rather than fit it all into a weekend. We inherited a garden covered by pebbles (at least 6 inches deep!) and I've cleared it and want to plant grass.
ginvzt - I hope your acupuncture helped. I have it regularly and it really is wonderful!

ScratchandSniff-->[X]

sirbrainy wrote: »

I've rotavated on clay soil and there were no issues, probably a bit slower than working on fine tilth ;-) but still easy to rotavate - I wouldn't try it when it starts to get drier, though.

"Rotavator" can be quite a wide ranging term. Personally I'd say the picture is more of a tiller than a cultivator. A cultivator has large tines and about 4.5HP to dig and lift compacted unbroken ground which sound like what the OP wants it for. A tiller will break down already dug ground into a finer tilth, but skip or scratch unbroken and damp clay soil. The tines on cultivators are longer, straighter rather than star shaped and stronger.

Not sure about the "drier" comment - if clay soil is wet, it will stick to the tines and ball up, preventing them from digging into the soil. You need dry ground to rotavate, so it can be lifted by the tines and pulverised.

The handles look very short too, although that might just be the angle it is taken from. Argos so a similar one for about £70 so it seems a good price. I think I've seen them in Lidl or Netto on offer from time to time too.

If you need a "cultivator" rather than a "tiller" you can hire them in for a weekend. For proper cultivators you need to find somewhere to securely store a large piece of machinery when not in use as well as have a means of transporting them. Even the smaller ones are best lifted by two people into a large estate car or trailer. They're normally a lot more expensive to buy too (£400 - £600)

ginvzt

stumpycat wrote: »

Thanks for the heads up, we're going to try & get one tomorrow - were going to hire one, but it'll be so much easier to do our garden in bits, rather than fit it all into a weekend. We inherited a garden covered by pebbles (at least 6 inches deep!) and I've cleared it and want to plant grass.
ginvzt - I hope your acupuncture helped. I have it regularly and it really is wonderful!

Thanks. I am rather down this week,and acupuncture was great - it really lifted me up. I also have a bit of a shoulder massage, and i had an extra long one this week - she probably saw that I am not well in myself.

And i had my second horseriding lesson - all went well until I was getting off the horse and fell down! So, now I am not sure if I am sore because of the riding or because of the fall!