Qperation
SPECIAL
TROY-BILT
GARDENING
TECHNIQUE-
Till
Under
Standing
Cornstalks
After corn is harvested, the
stalks should be tilled into the soil
while still green.
If
you wait until
they've dried out, they'll be harder
to till under, and the roots will
break loose from the soil which
you
don't
want! (Don't pull the
roots out by hand or cut the stalks
before tilling - it is only when the
stalks are still firmly anchored by
their roots that the chopping and
cutting action
of
the tines gets a
chance to work best.)
Three
Rules
For
Tilling
Under
Cornstalks
Knocking down cornstalks and
tilling them into the soil is not hard
to do if you understand three basic
principles:
First - As you move
forward into a row
of
stalks, aim
the tiller so the stalks go between
the left wheel and the transmission
case (see Photo 4-24).
Don't
use
the right wheel because damage
could occur to the air cleaner, car-
buretor or throttle linkage.
Second-
Each new pass should
overlap the previous pass by one-
half the width
of
the tiller.
Third - Till
as
deeply as possible.
Pull the Depth Regulator all the
way UP and engage the lowest
notch for deep tilling. Use either
LOW or HIGH belt range and
SLOW wheel speed gear position.
Note: Depending upon the size
and height
of
the stalks, you may
be able to use LOW belt range and
FAST wheel speed gear.
Let the tilled in stalks decom-
pose for a week or so. Then till in
the remaining residue as deep as
possible. Again, overlap your till-
ing passes so everything gets thor-
oughly processed. After another
week, sow a cover crop, like an-
nual rye grass.
Photo
4-23:
FIRST
PASS-
Till
along
first
cornstalk
row,
with
right
tiller
wheel
up
against
but
not
touching
cornstalks,
to
loosen
the
soil
next
to the
cornstalks.
Photo
4-25:
THIRD
PASS-
Go
back
over
the
stalks
you
knocked
down
from
the op-
posite
direc-
tion. This
buries
much
of
the residue
3"-to-4"
deep.
Photo
4-24:
SECOND
PASS-
Approach
the
row
of
corn-
stalks
from
the
opposite
direction.
Align
tiller
so
row
of
stalks
is
between
left
wheel
and
transmission
case.
Knock
down
stalks,
partially
bury-
ing
them.
Photo
4-26:
FOURTH
PASS-
Till
between
the
buried
row
and
the
next
standing
row
to
loosen
soil.
Now
re-
peat
instruc-
tions
given
for
the
first
three passes.
36
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