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howard 70 rotavator too much for my dexta?
Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 5:13 am
by skipdow
I have a chance at getting a howard slectatilth model E 70 (6' wide)which is in good condition for $400 canadian. I am unsure if my petrol dexta will be able to use it. Does anyone know if this is too much for my old girl?
Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 7:06 am
by The Swanndri Guy
Skipdow, search "rotovating" by "bobfaecullen", this might give you an answer.The advice I was given for rotavators is "10hp per foot" hence I only use a 48 inch Howard rotavator E series II on my Super Dexta or 3000.
Cheers TSG.
Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 9:14 am
by Brian
This tractor is double the HP (approx) of a petrol Dexta and the rotovator is an E60 which is 12" less width than an E70.
I think that you can tell from the smoke that an E70 might be a bit over the top on a petrol Dexta.
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 6:09 pm
by Tmac
I used a 48" borrowed, Italian machine on my Dexta.
At full depth till it was all the Dexta could do to handle it. I dont have a tiller gear and used first. On a warm day the engine would start to overheat after a few rounds.
I have a 6 ft Howard model CAD, a light machine made for only a few years. I used it with the Dexta to weed with, cutting only about 1 inch. This was when the weeds are small and young, less than 10 inch tall or so. The Dexta done just fine with that. But to do a full till I had to remove the tines of of some of the cutting wheels and slide the rest so that only would use 4 ft. The CAD is nice in that it has 11 cutting wheels and 4 tines per wheel in 6 ft so does a beautiful job with a lower power requirement.
Now I also have a 6 ft North West tiller I use with the SMD and it has 6 tines per wheel and 6 wheels. Each tine is near 4 inch wide. It is all my SMD can do to pull it in plowed ground. In unploughed it will not pull it even to 2 inch. To do that I had to remove 1 cutting wheel and still can only pull 2 inch. Full till on this machine at 5 ft cutter width in unploughed is simply not an option for me.
But at $400 that is a good buy. And just by removing enough cutters to get it at 4 ft should work. As long as the machine is just not plain to heavy to lift for the Dexta, or you may be steering with the brakes on the end of the rounds, making your Dexta into a wheelie machine!! 
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