Steam Weeding Four Wheel Hoe User manual

Four Wheel Hoe
Four Wheel Hoe Four Wheel Hoe
Four Wheel Hoe
Instruction Manual
Instruction ManualInstruction Manual
Instruction Manual
European Model
www.physicalweeding.com
© 2009 Steam Weeding td.
© 2009 Steam Weeding td.© 2009 Steam Weeding td.
© 2009 Steam Weeding td.

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1. Contents
1. Contents 2
2. Introduction 3
3. Fitting farm and hoe to each other 3
4. Assembling your Four Wheel Hoe 4
4.1. Four Wheel oe components 4
4.1.1. Main frame 4
4.1.2. Wheels 5
4.1.3. Sight guide 6
4.1.4. andles 6
4.2. Adjusting the hoe 7
4.2.1. Wheels: longitudinal positions 7
4.2.2. andles: vertical and longitudinal positions 7
4.2.3. oe width 8
4.2.4. Sight guide 8
5. ool attachment, setup and adjustment 8
5.1. Attaching tools 8
5.1.1. Tool setup: flat floor or a ‘depth setup board’ 9
1.1.1 Longitudinal position: parallel or staggared? 10
1.2 T hoes 10
5.1.2. oe blade lengths 10
5.1.3. Attaching the T hoes 11
1.2.1 Longitudinal position 11
1.2.2 Depth 11
5.1.4. Width / crop gap 12
5.2. Mini-ridgers 12
5.2.1. Attaching the mini-ridgers 12
5.2.2. Changing ridger blades and locking in position 13
5.2.3. Depth and crop gap 13
5.2.4. When not in use 13
6. Using your Four Wheel Hoe 13
7. Maintenance 14

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2. Introduction
While the Four Wheel oe is straight forward to use, to get the best out of it requires an appreciation of
how knife blade hoes and soil ridging kills weeds, the design concepts behind the hoe and how to set it
up for your farm / holding. Therefore the time spent reading this manual will be well rewarded by
ensuring the Four Wheel oe is best set up for you.
Four Wheel hoes are manufactured by different engineers in different countries. Therefore there are
minor differences in the design and materials between countries. This means there will be some
differences between your machine and some of the photos in this manual, however, the fundamental
design remains the same. Steam Weeding Ltd. also reserves the right to make changes and
improvements to the design without prior notice.
3. Fitting farm and hoe to each other
Any form of mechanisation, even a hand hoe, imposes restrictions on farming systems. If all weeding is
done by hand pulling, crop plants can be placed in any position, as they often are in ornamental gardens,
as people have the flexibility to work around the plants. In comparison, if a hand hoe is used the space
between plants must be larger than the width of the hoe blade, otherwise it will not be possible to hoe
in-between the plants without killing some of them. As the size and complexity of machinery increases,
it imposes ever greater restrictions on the layout of crops plants, otherwise machines cannot function
efficiently. The Four Wheel oe is no different. To be the most effective, crop plants must be planted in
straight rows, with each row the same distance apart. If the crop rows are bent and/or not equidistant,
following them is much harder and the crop is more likely to be hoed by accident. As for any blade hoe,
accurate depth placement is essential for maximising weed kill, so if the soil surface is too uneven then
optimum depth control will be impossible. Similarly lots of plant residues, soil clods, large stones and a
rough tilth will hamper effectiveness. For best results a level and fine surface-soil-tilth is required that is
free of plant residues large enough that they may bind and/or block the weeding tools. Stones larger
than 5 cm / 2” may also significantly impede progress and should be removed by raking, or for larger
areas, a reverse action stone burier is recommended.
To ensure that crop rows are straight and evenly spaced, it is recommended to make a row ‘marking out
bar’. This can be as simple as a wooden batten with pegs, big nails or similar, sticking out of it to mark
the rows, and a handle to drag it up the planting bed as straight as possible, or a purpose built
implement e.g., Figure 1. This is preferable to using strings or the bout marking bars found on some
pedestrian seed drills. If a tractor is available, then making a marking out bar that can go on the tractor’s
three point linkage is highly recommended as this will produce the straightest rows more quickly and
accurately than a hand-pulled marker bar.
Figure 1. Adjustable manual marking out bar.

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4. Assembling your Four Wheel Hoe
Your four wheel hoe is part assembled. The only tool required is a 19 mm (½”) spanner to complete
assembly which is included with your hoe.
4.1. Four Wheel Hoe components
There are four main parts of the Four Wheel oe: (1) main frame, (2) wheels, (3) handles and (4) the
sight guide. The tools that attach to the hoe are covered in section 5 on page 8.
The main frame consists of two identical ¾ meter long ‘toolbars’ connected to each other by two bottle
screws (also called turnbuckles) (Figure 3). The wheels bolt directly into the main frame, two at the front
and two at the rear, with a choice of three mounting positions at either end (Figure 6).
The handles attach to the main frame by the ‘handle clamps’ which allow the handles to pivot up and
down, which are in turn attached to the main frame by a ‘frame clamp’ (normally just called a ‘clamp’
except when needing to differentiate between them and the handle clamps) (Figure 7). The sight guide
(Figure 4) bolts into an empty hole in the front of the main frame (Figure 7). Figure 2 shows a fully
assembled Four Wheel oe.
It is recommended to put a drop of oil or grease on all the bolt threads prior to assembly. This is good
engineering practice as it allows them to be more firmly tightened and will reduce the chance of them
coming loose. It also makes doing them up quicker and easier!
Figure 2. Fully assembled Four Wheel oe.
4.1.1. ain frame
The main frame comes pre-assembled. If the main frame is ever dismantled (by completely undoing the
bottlescrews), then the threaded bar will only go into one end of the bottlescrew body as one end has a
left-handed thread while the other has a right handed thread, i.e., the left handed threaded bar has to
be matched to the left hand threaded end of the bottlescrew body.

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Figure 3. Main frame: Two long ‘toolbars’ connected by two
bottle screws
Figure 4. Sight guide.
4.1.2. Wheels
Next bolt the wheels into the threaded holes at either end of the main frame. The bolts should already
be fitted to the wheels, but if not use the 90 mm long fully threaded bolts (technically called a screw),
use flat washers on either side of the wheel axle hole and use two nuts to lock the bolt to the wheel (this
acts as a spacer). Then screw the bolt into the frame, making sure the nuts and attachment to the frame
are not so tight that it stops the wheels freely rotating, but tight enough so the wheels do not wobble or
otherwise feel loose (Figure 3 and Figure 5). To start with it is suggested that the rear pair of wheels are
fitted to the center pair of holes at one end of the main frame and the front wheels are bolted to the
inner most pair of holes (Figure 6). aving the rear wheels further towards the end of the frame helps
when manoeuvring the hoe on its rear wheels as it creates greater clearance between the hoe blades,
mini-ridgers and the ground.
Figure 5. Axle bolts for wheels showing washers on either side of the wheel, with two nuts on the bolt.
Toolbar
Bottlescrew

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Figure 6. Main frame with two wheels attached, the left wheel is bolted into the middle of the three holes, the right is bolted
to the innermost of the three holes making the left end the rear of the hoe.
4.1.3. Sight guide
The sight guide consists of a 150 mm long fully threaded bolt (screw), one standard nut, two Nynex
locknuts and the sight bar (which has four holes at one end) as shown in Figure 4. It screws into one of
the unused wheel bolt holes at the front of the main frame. The bolt can be put in the frame with its
head between the frames as in Figure 4 or with the head outside the frame (next to the wheel). The
former is easier to access for horizontal adjustment, the latter makes vertical adjustment easier.
4.1.4. Handles
1. Place the frame with wheels attached on some flat ground.
2. Assemble the handle clamps as per the photos in Figure 7 but don’t tighten the nuts on the (coach)
bolts.
Figure 7. andle clamps.
3. Take a pair of frame clamps, and place them one on either side of the main frame with the bolts
inwards. As a suggested starting position put the clamps just behind the front wheels as shown in
Figure 2. Then, putting the hand grips of the handles on the ground (so you don't have to lift them
up), slide the legs of the handle clamps into the slots in the frame clamps (if you have bolted the

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front and rear wheels in different positions, make sure you put the handles on so they are at the rear
of the hoe).
4. Once both handle clamp legs are fully in the frame clamps, check the handles are inline with the hoe
frame, i.e., straight, then lift the handle clamp legs to the desired height (about ⅔ of the clamp leg
above the main frame is a good starting position), and then tighten the frame clamps so that the
handle clamps are both the same height above the frame, i.e., the handle clamp bar is horizontal.
5. Next tighten the top bolts that lock the horizontal position of the handles, making sure the handles
are centralised.
6. Lift the handles off the ground to the desired operating height, and then tighten the side bolts very
tight.
7. The Four Wheel oe is now assembled! All that remains is for the desired tools to be bolted on…
4.2. Adjusting the hoe
The wheel hoe has been designed so that it can accommodate a wide range of tools and a wide range of
users. At the same time as providing this high level of flexibility it has been designed so that once set up
it requires the minimum amount of adjustments. This section explains the adjustments that can be
made to the hoe itself, tool adjustments are covered in later sections.
4.2.1. Wheels: longitudinal positions
There are three holes / positions for the wheels at both ends of the Four Wheel oe. It is expected that
most users will find the wheel positions recommended in section 4.1.2 perfectly adequate and will never
need to change them. owever, should the need arise, considerable flexibility has been built in from the
start.
A key point regarding wheel positions is that the closer the front and rear wheels are to each other the
better the depth control, i.e., wheels with a large space between them will not follow uneven ground as
accurately as closely spaced wheels. Therefore for best operation the wheels should be closer rather
than further apart.
4.2.2. Handles: vertical and longitudinal positions
andle height and longitudinal position is a personal choice, i.e., there is no set handle height for people
of a given height, it depends how you like to hold the hoe and what feels the most comfortable. Some
users prefer to have their arms out straight, others close to their chest or stomach. If the handle
position is comfortable for you then its correct. The height of the handles is adjusted by loosening both
the horizontal bolts in the handle clamps just sufficiently that the handles will move up and down, then
pick the desired height and re-tighten the handle clamps. Always be aware that the handles can
suddenly drop as the handle clamps are loosened so never leave them unsupported when making
adjustments, e.g., hold them up with a free hand.
The longitudinal position of the handles along the main frame changes the ‘center of gravity’ of the hoe.
If the handles were attached right at the very back of the hoe, it would tend to rear up at the front when
pushed, and vice versa, if the handles were attached right at the front the rear wheels would tend to lift
off the ground. Therefore, in-between is a ‘sweet spot’ for the handles where the force applied to push
the hoe is equally distributed to all four wheels when the hoe is in use, which will result in the best
performance. The location of the sweet spot is also affected by the height the handles, the type and the
number and depth of tools that are being used, so no detailed guidance can be given due to the many
possible setups of the hoe. owever, having said all of that, the exact position to attach the handles is
not particularly critical, i.e., the sweet spot is reasonably big, and for most situations a good all-round
position is to attach the handles just behind the front wheels as shown in Figure 11 and the photo on the
front of the manual. When adjusting the height and/or longitudinal position of the handles on the frame
it is often easier to loosen the handle clamps and lower the handles to the ground. Always be aware

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that the handles can suddenly drop as the handle clamps are loosened so never leave them unsupported
when making adjustments. Once the handles are on the ground, loosen the frame clamps and slide
them to the desired position. Then re-tighten the frame clamps and then the handle clamps
4.2.3. Hoe width
To adjust the width of the Four Wheel oe, first loosen but don't undo the top bolts on the handle
clamps (the handle clamps must be loosened because they serve two purposes, to lock the handles in
the operating position, and second as an additional cross brace for the hoe’s frame providing rigidity and
strength). Then turn the bottlescrews to increase or decrease the width of the hoe as desired. It is
important to turn the bottlescrews by similar amounts at the same time because otherwise the frame,
and therefore the bottle screw threads, will no longer be aligned and they will jam. If one bottlescrew
starts to become hard to turn, twist it back the other direction a little and then turn the other
bottlescrew. Keeping the threads well oiled or greased also helps! Once the hoe is at the required width
re-tighten the top bolts on the handle clamps.
4.2.4. Sight guide
The term ‘sight guide’ refers to the whole assembly while the ‘sight bar’ is the thin bar with the four
holes in it. When the width of the hoe is changed, the sight guide will also have to be adjusted, as the
sight bar will no longer be down the centreline of the hoe / exactly midway between the T hoe blades.
For small / fine adjustment, the bolt can simply be turned (after loosening the nut tightened against the
frame) moving it into or out of the frame as required. For larger adjustments the two locknuts will have
to be moved. This is most easily done by ensuring that the standard nut that locks the bolt into the
frame is tight, thereby locking the bolt firmly in place. The two locknuts can then be turned and
therefore moved to the required position.
To change the height of the sight bar it has to be removed from the bolt and put back on using a
different hole. If the head of the bolt is between the frame bars as in Figure 4 then the whole bolt has to
be removed from the frame to change the height of the sight bar, while if the bolt head is on the outside
of the frame then only one Nynex locknut needs to be removed. If there is a need to change the height
of the sight bar on more than an occasional basis it will be clearly easier if the bolt head is outside the
frame. If the height of the sight bar is rarely adjusted but the hoe width is more frequently altered it
may be best to have the bolt head between the frames as it will be easier to access compared with it
being between the frame and the wheel.
If the bolt head is outside the frame, ensure the standard nut is tight against the frame to lock the bolt in
place, remove the outside locknut, removed the sight bar from the bolt and put it back on in the desired
hole, and replace the locknut. If the bolt head is inside the frame it is best to un-screw the locknut on
the open end of the bolt as far along the bolt as possible while the bolt is still in the frame. Once the
bolt is off the frame and the end locknut removed slide the sight bar off the bolt and replace in the
desired hole, replace the locknut then the standard nut, screw the sight guide back into the frame and
tighten every thing up.
Different height users may benefit from having the sight guide mounted in different wheel holes so they
can see it more clearly.
5. Tool attachment, setup and adjustment
5.1. Attaching tools
A key aim in the design of the Four Wheel oe was to make it exceptionally flexible so that users can
design and attach their own tools. To this end the main frame bars are equivalent to toolbars on a
tractor mounted hoe, in that they have been designed so that anything that could be practically used on
a pedestrian hoe can be easily attached. The holes that the wheels bolt into also provide an additional

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means of attaching further tools or other components to the hoe, as is done with the sight guide. You
are only limited by your imagination!
If you would like to purchase additional clamps legs or other parts of the Four Wheel oe or discuss
custom applications please visit our website www.physicalweeding.com for current prices and contact
information.
Tools are attached to the main frame using the ‘leg and clamp’ system which is commonly used on
tractor mounted hoes. The leg and clamp system is based on a leg of a standardised size (a standard
leg), to which the required tool, e.g., hoe blade, is attached (permanently e.g., by welding or by bolting it
on). The leg is then attached to the main frame by a ‘standard clamp’ (Figure 8) (normally just referred
to as a ‘clamp’) which allows both its longitudinal and vertical position to be easily altered.
Clamps are normally placed on the frame with the bolt to the inside (Figure 7), as it is easier to access
the bolt head in this position, thought they can also be mounted with the bolt to the outside if required.
The leg of the required tool is then slid into the slots in the clamp from the underneath. This normally
requires the hoe to be lifted up, e.g., onto its back wheels, lain on its side or turned upside down onto
the front wheel and handles. It is recommended that when inserting tools into clamps that all the tools
be placed in their approximate position, the clamps tightened just sufficiently to keep the tools in place,
and then final adjustments be made when the hoe is in the working position, ideally on a flat surface as
described below (section 5.1.1).
Figure 8. The ‘standard’ clamp, used to attach the handles and all tools to the main frame / toolbars.
5.1.1. Tool setup: flat floor or a ‘depth setup board’
To facilitate setting the tool depths quickly and accurately, it is strongly recommended to use a dead-flat
and smooth area of floor or make up a dedicated flat ‘stand’ e.g., a piece of thick plywood sheet,
screwed to some battens too keep it flat. Attempting to set the Four Wheel oe (or any hoe) up in the
field, can be an exercise in frustration, as soil is uneven, meaning that what's right for the place the hoe
was set up is wrong for other parts of the field.
If a solid flat board is used for setting up the hoe it is further recommended to permanently attach some
thin wood laths or similar thin flat strips (e.g., flat steel bar) to the board of about 5 mm and 10 mm / ¼”
and ½” thickness in such a position that the wheels can be placed on them but where they will not be in
the way of the tools. Putting the hoe on the laths then raises the hoe body up from the board by the
height of the lath (while keeping it parallel to the board) so when the T hoes or other tools are placed
flat on the board they will be ‘deeper’ the same as the lath is high. This will allow the T hoes to be set up
on the board at three depths (level with the wheels, 5 mm and 10 mm / ¼” and ½” deeper) which should
cover practically all soil conditions, and minimise the need to make depth adjustments in the field.
It is also possible to achieve the same effect on a floor by slipping laths or other suitably even-height
spacers under the wheels. owever, a depth setup board has the advantage of being able to be taken to
the field and used in-situ between different jobs that require different hoe depths. Also if the laths are
fixed to the board they cannot be lost!

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Where soil conditions are very soft the hoe may sink too deep into the soil for optimal weeding. In that
situation the hoe can be set up by placing the laths or thin flat sheets of suitable material under the
blades (rather than the wheels) so raising the height of the hoes in relation to the wheels / frame.
1.1.1 Longitudinal position: parallel or staggared?
In addition to setting the vertical position of the tools, the longitudinal position (i.e., the position of the
tools along the frame) can have a significant effect on the tools performance. There are two approaches,
opposite or staggered. Fairly self-explanatory, opposite is where a pair of tools are directly opposite
each other on the frame, and staggered is where they are at different longitudinal positions along the
frame (Figure 8). aving tools opposite each other often increases their ‘interaction’ whereby the area
of soil displaced by one tool interacts with the soil area displaced by the second, which normally
intensifies the weeding effect. This is particularly true of the mini-ridgers. The biggest benefit of
staggering the tools is where there is material in the soil, typically stones and plant residues, that could
become stuck between parallel tools, particularly the mini-ridgers, as these will more easily flow
between staggered tools and thereby reduce or eliminate blockages. Staggering tools is also helpful
where the interaction between two parallel tools is also harming the crop, e.g., hoeing young seedlings,
as staggering them can reduce crop damage while still maintaining the same hoed area, i.e., the same
crop gap is maintained.
Figure 9. Staggered tools: Left mini-ridgers, right T hoes.
Also when using the hoe to till a false seedbed the T hoes should be overlapped as shown in Figure 12
which requires the hoes to have different longitudinal positions, otherwise one blade will be sitting on
top of the other resulting in them not being at the correct depth, as well as causing other problems.
1.2 T hoes
The T hoe design, with the leg in the center of the blade, means the leg is well clear of the crop row and
the crop foliage growing there, which means that it needs far less horizontal adjustment than an L hoe.
5.1.2. Hoe blade lengths
Due to many factors including different row widths, crop gaps, crop types, evenness of row spacing etc. it
is impossible to have a single hoe length that will suit all customers. Therefore hoes are supplied longer
than required so they can be cut down to the optimum length. Please see the separate document “Four
Wheel oe, T oe, Blade Length, Ready Reckoner” for detailed information on the issues surrounding

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interrow hoe blade widths and determining the optimum length of your T hoes . The document is
available from our website in the Four Wheel oe section www.physicalweeding.com/fourwheelhoe.
5.1.3. Attaching the T hoes
The T hoes are in ‘mirror pairs’ i.e., one is for the left side of the hoe and the other for the right see
Figure 2 Figure 7 and Figure 10. It is essential to put the T hoes on the correct side of the machine
otherwise they will not work.
Figure 10. Right and left hand T hoe blades and clamps (left). Mini ridger and clamp (right).
1.2.1 Longitudinal position
As the T hoe blades extend both inside and outside of the frame they can only be positioned between
the wheels. It is essential to leave sufficient space between the front wheel and the hoe blade so that
the wheel does not block the soil travelling over and along the hoe (Figure 11).
1.2.2 Depth
The optimal depth of the T hoe (and any blade hoe) is just below the soil surface, literally a few
millimetres / ¼”. This is because if a weed seedling is cut through the hypocotyl stem (which is the
section between the roots and the cotyledons) it cannot survive. oeing deeper results in the weeds’
roots being undercut, rather than the hypocotyl severed, which results in lower weed mortality.
owever, clearly the blades will not work when they are out of the soil! So the final depth setting is a
compromise between being shallow as possible, to maximise effectiveness, while as deep as needed to
ensure that the blade always remains in the soil. This can only be determined by using the hoe in the
field and fine tuning the depth. Also the position of the hoes is likely to have to change with changing
soil conditions.
Setting the depth of the T hoes is best done on a smooth flat floor or a ‘set up board’ as described in
section 5.1.1. With the hoe on the flat area loosen the T hoe clamps so that the blades sit flat on the
surface, and then firmly tighten the clamps. This will set the hoes close to or at the optimum depth, as
the hoe will sink slightly when placed on soil compared with a solid floor, which means the hoes will then
be below soil level by the same amount the wheels have sunk. If the hoes need to be deeper than use
laths or thin bars as described in section 5.1.1 to slightly raise the wheels off the surface and then set the
blades while they are flat on the surface. If the blades are too deep then place a thin (e.g., 5 mm / ¼”)

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flat board underneath the blades when setting them up again as described in section 5.1.1. Fine tuning
may well need to be undertaken in the field.
Figure 11. Suggested location of handles, T hoes and mini-ridgers (NB this machine has different handle clamps and sight
guide to the standard EU design).
5.1.4. Width / crop gap
The distance between the ends of the T hoes is called the ‘crop gap’ and it is varied by changing the
width of the main frame as explained in section 4.2.3 and shown in Figure 12. In addition the crop gap
can be altered by clamping the T hoe legs to the other side of the frame bars. This moves each hoe
blade by the thickness of the frame + the hoe leg, i.e., 18 mm / ~¾” so moving both blades changes the
crop gap by 36 mm / ~1½”. This feature can be particularly useful when the hoe is being used for false
seedbeds as moving the hoe legs from the outside of the frame (normal position) to the inside will, for
crop gaps of less than 36 mm / 1½” (i.e., the amount the hoe blades position changes) result in the
blades overlapping without having to change the width of the hoe .
Figure 12. T hoes at different crop gap spacings: typical width (left) very narrow (center) crossed / over lapping (right) for
false seedbed tilling.
5.2. ini-ridgers
5.2.1. Attaching the mini-ridgers
It is recommended that the mini-ridgers are mounted in front of the rear bottlescrew, so that when the
hoe is tilted up on its rear wheels for manoeuvring and transport they are well clear of the ground
(Figure 11). Normally the legs are clamped to the outside of the frame, however, when using the frame
at the widest setting then it may be beneficial to move the leg to the inside of the frame so the blades

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are at a better angle. When using the hoe with the frame at narrow settings, it may be beneficial to turn
the legs round, providing they are in a longitudinal position where they will not interfere with the
wheels.
5.2.2. Changing ridger blades and locking in position
To change between different sized ridgers, only the ridger blades need to be removed, not the legs.
Simply undo and fully remove the locknut, transfer the two shake proof washers to the next blade,
replace the locknut and tighten up.
5.2.3. Depth and crop gap
The depth and angle setting for the mini-ridgers are not as critical as for the T hoes because their design
means if they go too deep soil simply flows over them rather than creating too big a ridge. Also as the
effects of the blades extends beyond their ends, i.e., soil flows off them into the intrarow, they don't
need to be as close to the crop as the T hoes. Therefore, there are no hard and fast rules for the angle
and depth. Clearly there has to be sufficient crop gap between the ends of the blades for the crop to
comfortably pass through, and its better to start with a larger gap and make it smaller than the other
way round. A space of around 8 cm / 3” between the ends of the blades is suggested as a starting
position.
5.2.4. When not in use
If the mini-ridgers are not required when weeding, they can be simply lifted up out of the way by
loosening the frame clamp, sliding the leg upwards and then tightening the clamp. It is recommended to
mark the working position of the leg in the clamp as discussed in section 6 below. Likewise, if the T hoes
are not required but the ridgers are, then the hoes can be raised and the ridgers left in the working
position.
6. Using your Four Wheel Hoe
While the Four Wheel oe is more complex and requires more setting up than other wheel hoes, the
reward comes when the hoe is used because the only task for the user is to steer the hoe accurately
along the crop row, using the sight guide. There is no need to push and pull the hoe, unlike other push
hoes, as the Four Wheel oe controls the blade depths, via the four wheel design, so relieving the user
of this task.
It is suggested that new users start with a larger crop gap, e.g., 5 cm / 2” or greater, while they gain
experience before moving down to the minimum practical crop gap which is around 3 cm / 1”.
As soil conditions vary, e.g., dry to wet, soft to hard, and crops differ in size some fine tuning of tool
position may well be required in the field. It is suggested that a line is drawn on the tool legs (e.g., with a
permanent felt-tip, or paint) where they pass through their clamps when they are setup, to act as a point
of reference when making vertical adjustments. The final optimum tool position can only be determined
by using the hoe in the crop and checking to see that the tools are doing the job required of them, and
making fine adjusting as necessary.
To facilitate moving the hoe between crop rows and around a holding, it can be lifted onto its rear
wheels by pushing down on the handles, i.e., ‘doing a wheelie’. An alternative approach, when moving
the hoe longer distances over flattish ground is to flip it over and balance it on the front wheels, with the
frame approximately vertical.

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7. aintenance
The Four Wheel oe requires very little maintenance. Any bolts that are adjusted on a regular basis
should be kept oiled and/or greased. The wheels have sealed bearings so they do not require
lubrication. While the blades are made of stainless steel they will still benefit from having the soil
washed off after use, and if the hoe is being stored for longer periods, e.g., overwinter, then applying a
coat of oil to the blades will ensure they are in perfect condition for the next use.
Happy weeding!
Happy weeding!Happy weeding!
Happy weeding!