Inter-row hoe

Materials and equipment - Non-powered soil tool

Field crops Non-powered soil tool Weeding

Inter-row hoes are reserved for passes at the most advanced stages of the crop and weeds.

Hoes allow aeration of the superficial soil layer and uprooting of weed roots without damaging the row. It is called hoeing if the bineuse is used solely for weeding.

Detailed article : Hoeing

Equipment presentation

1 to 5 rigid or flexible tines per element, with 1 hoe element per inter-row
Function : Cutting and uprooting of weeds in the inter-row
Required power : 15-20 horsepower / linear meter
Operating cost (tractor, fuel, tool, excluding labor) : From 15 to 20 € /ha

Well adjusted inter-rows (seeder - hoe), no play in the parallelogram axes.
Individual element retraction for field edges.

Keys to success

Number of rows = that of the seeder
Work in the direction of sowing
Work superficially to limit new emergence
Working speed : 3-15 km/h
Guidance system

Benefits

Wide range of intervention
Effective on developed weeds
Wide choice of equipment
Agronomic gain

Limitations

Constraining work rate
Difficulties on rumex
Difficulties on very young or very developed crops
Requires precise guidance

Guidance

Self-guidance by discs
Visual front hitch guidance
Automatic guidance :
- wheel or skid following a prior track
- interface equipped with photoelectric cells, sensors, camera
- GPS : RTK correction

Miscellaneous

Wide choice of working parts: Flat heart, "Lelièvre" blade, vibro-type share, harrow tine,...

Optional equipment for working on the row: spring tine harrow tines, flexible rotary fingers, ridging devices...

Discs or plant-protection plates for early interventions

Sources and references