BCS Plastic Mulch Layer on a Small Tractor: Plasticulture

Here we lay plastic mulch using a BCS plastic multilayer behind a small tractor
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[@rocketrob3324]

Great informative video! Thank you!

[@frenchfryfarmer436]

I have a similar one ...was gonna use it until my friend brought over his Rainflo 2550. Good to see yours working.

[@raymondlungu421]

i love what you doing am inspired.

[@Rubberduckywon]

Thanks for the video! It was great!

[@nadinesarrouh923]

Thank you for sharing this video.
Please, I have one question regarding the tractor on which you operated the mulch layer. How many hp is it?
Thank you.

[@farmerkeith]

16 hp

[@blainecelestaine4543]

Liked subd watched the commercials

[@farmerkeith]

Thank You

[@zakparsons-c9t]

I need one of these

[@farmerkeith]

I'm still trying to tune it in.

[@amadeoortiz]

thank you for share it!

[@fitzpreacherfarm6826]

Appreciate the info and the video. I’m going to check into this bcs muncher, much cheaper. I enjoy your channel

[@tomashbaugh8891]

Sweet Kubota

[@ricoreich9462]

Hey, what is your experience with mulchplastig so far? We will start soon and in terms of row distance we find the 30" beds having soem downside because for big lettuce heads as we need them here we need a rowdistance of 30 cm (3 rows) which is not working in unmulched beds? Would it work in these beds?

[@farmerkeith]

When the plastic settles the bed is about 24" wide. You have to lay down something in the pathways or they fill with weeds

[@ricoreich9462]

@@farmerkeith with row distance i mean the distance between the rows of plants, not the beds. So usually here most people pland lettuce heads 30x30 cm wide

[@farmerkeith]

Leaf lettuce 8" between rows and 6" in row. Head lettuce 8" between rows and 10" in row

[@ricoreich9462]

@@farmerkeithwell im more wondering if planting so close to the edge of the bed, as i describe it, would work?

[@JeffVarcoe]

Are you able to keep the 18" walkways and still use plastic mulch layer? Or, do you need to increase the size of your walkways (assuming you're not just mulching every second bed)??

[@farmerkeith]

Yes and Yes

[@JeffVarcoe]

@@farmerkeith thanks for your response but that didn't clarify anything. If you are laying plastic mulch on every 30" bed what size walkways are you using?

[@hermetix7231]

Yes

[@EarlybirdFarmSC]

How firm is the soil under the plastic once you make a pass?

[@farmerkeith]

No at all. If you do not raise the beds the roller does not make contact

[@EarlybirdFarmSC]

@@farmerkeith Thanks

[@neejneej9308]

Thanks for the video. What model did you buy? Can I pull it using my John Deere 750 20 horse power?

[@farmerkeith]

Not sure the model I got it used. It is the one Google finds. I pull mine with a 16 hp Kabota with no problem

[@whome9936]

Just some unsolicited advice from my own experience. Hopefully it will save someone from my expensive mistake.
This method seems to work really well for this channel's farm. The results look great. But in my case it was a miserable failure. I think it may come down to soil types, and we farm on heavy clay.
I tried for many seasons with a 24hp New Holland Boomer SCUT, pulling a Buckeye bedder/mulcher built for low-hp machines. We had all kinds of traction issues and difficulties with the implement fishtailing and steering the tractor, instead of the other way around. In our case we were also building 4-inch raised beds, which may have complicated our process and introduced problems.
We have since upgraded to a New Holland Powerstar 75 utility tractor and a Rain-Flo 2670 bedder/mulcher with hydraulic steering. The implement also buries two lines of drip tape and spreads fertilizer via a ground-driven onboard hopper. Using an 8,000 pound tractor, the whole process should be much easier. We will know better later in the summer when we make beds for fall garlic and bulb flowers.
Just my two cents. I realize upgrading is expensive and may not fit into every business model, but I wish had skipped the smaller machine. It would have saved me about $20K.

[@Grasscentral4705]

​@@whome9936hey man so how did it go with the larger tractor? I live in fairfax va and the soil here is very clay dense.

[@sandypowell311]

⁠@@whome9936we are also just experiencing this. Regretting not getting the bigger tractor. Going to try putting water in the wheels to see if that helps

[@vagabond4621]

can the plastic be reused the following growing season?

[@farmerkeith]

Unfortunately no.

[@kong4679]

What is it that you are planting

[@farmerkeith]

Strawberries, but we plant many things into the mulch

[@davecarroll1768]

What do you use to control grass between rows?

[@farmerkeith]

I am still trying to figure that out

[@dennisryan7500]

How wide are your walkways?

[@farmerkeith]

We typically run 30" beds with 18" walk paths. This is in the U-pock area so we skip a bed. This leave 2-18" walkways and a 30" bed between each bed, so 66". That way people have plenty of room to walk and if we need more beds in the future we have them

[@3FAZNI]

Can you put this on a raised beds?

[@farmerkeith]

I believe the max is a 6" raised bed