Kitchen Garden Forum

Used my Wolf Soil Miller,which was bought for me as a Christmas present,for the first time today and seems to have done a good job on the drying soil,a good tilth for a couple of inches or so and the larger lumps 'milled' down.All in all quite pleased with the results but thought that the wooden handle I have was a bit thin and felt flimsy.

Hi Snooky,

Thanks for posting this.

I will be getting the push pull weeder with the 150cm ash handle soon and was considering adding either the tiller or the combi crumbler to my ‘wanted’ list.

http://www.wolfgarten.org/index.phpid=6 ... uctdb_pi13

When you say the handle felt thin and flimsy what are you comparing it with?

I have raised beds approx 1.5m x 3.6m and clay soil. The soil has been improved over the last 4 years with the addition of all the ‘usual suspects’ but it is still difficult to get a very fine tilth for seed sowing.

Can anyone recommend either the tiller or crumbler in these circumstances.


Thanks, Diane

Evening Diane,
I'm over six feet tall so the handle I have is the 170cm.long and made of ash but at only 25mm.in diameter I feel that for the length it is too thin.Whilst using it it flexed on hitting harder bits of ground and it did occur to me that if circumstances had been right it might have snapped.
The handles of my rakes,hoes,etc are about 32mm.in diameter so this is the comparison,and no flex in the rake,hoe handles when using them.It may be with the shorter handle the flexing will not be there when in use.
The actual miller is an excellent bit of kit.Normally after digging my ground I have to break the lumps down with the back of a fork so that I can rake it to to a tidy tilth.The action of wheels and "hoe"more or less did the job in one,or certainly to a stage that cut the the amount of raking down.
I queried the size of the push/pull weeder favoured by others because where my site on the allotment is situated,centrally and two sides bordered by roads,my site seems to attract every wind blown seed and then some and when they sprout I need something like the 150mm.version to hoe them down on my open ground.So,this is my next request next Christmas or both versions

Thanks for the information, Snooky. It looks like this might be my Birthday present . Too late for a couple of the beds but I still have 5 more to go.

Diane

Snooky - have you tried an Aluminium handle, they are cheaper than the wood ones but are they strong enough? I have never used any of these Wolf tools but this sounds good for breaking down dug areas so I am tempted.

No,Geoff.When asked which handle I wanted I plumped for the wooden handle because,probably like most gardeners,I like the "feel"of a wood handle.

Snooky, now you've had this device for a bit longer are you still happy with it or has it drifted to the back of the shed? I have just about cleared a steep bank about 4 metres by 11 metres that I want to break down, one idea is a huge Heather bed (don't fancy the stocking cost, anybody used Heather plug plants?), and I wondered if this would help.

Digression, I know but: heathers are quite easy to root from cuttings.

I'm interested in the Wolf Soil Miller too; I wonder if it can make any impression on Bedfordshire clay.

I have the soil miller and it works well on my clay soil but I have found that the soil needs to be damp to get good results, otherwise the hard dry clay just rattles around the miller. Also, I had sown two of my beds with green manure and was having real problems digging it in but the miller worked a treat.
On the subject of the handle; I have the wooden one and find it OK, but perhaps I am not strong enough to put sufficient pressure on it to make it flex.

Hope this helps.

Diane

I have rooted Heather cuttings in the past and put the plants out quite small and they took ages to establish which is why I have my doubts about plug plants. I have emailed a nursery that sells 250 plugs for £57 (delivered) for advice.

Afternoon Geoff,
No,the soil miller hasn't drifted to the back of my shed-yet!!I used it this morning on a nasty piece of ground which I dug over yesterday and had to leave lumpy overnight.This piece of ground hadn't been dug in years because I had my manure pile on it and was compacted.The miller coped well with the lumps but needs another going over with the miller at a later date when I plant it up.I agree with Diane that it works better when the ground is damp but has done quite well on my ground when it was dry.
On the damp ground I used it as a hoe in between my rows of onions.My swoe was clogging up and was hard work so I used the miller,it might not have done such a good job but the "hoe"part of the miller got under the weeds and the wheels mashed them.Be interesting to see tomorrow if this afternoon's sun dries them off.

Thanks for that, I'm getting tempted, still to decide on Al or Wood for handle.