Which Tillage Working Width Fits Your Rows and Beds

Start With the Narrowest Gap

Working width is not a capacity figure to be maximised. It is a fit dimension. The narrowest gap the machine has to pass through in a season, whether that is a polytunnel doorway, a bed spacing or a vineyard row, sets the maximum. Anything wider damages crop on every pass or simply does not go in.

Bed and Polytunnel Work

Protected cropping is where oversized machines do the most damage. Beds are laid out to a fixed spacing, paths are narrow, and the turning space at the end of a tunnel is minimal. Narrow single axis cultivators exist for exactly this work, and the working width on the product page should be checked against the bed spacing before anything else is considered.

Open Field and Contract Work

Where there is no width constraint, the calculation reverses and wider is better, because the field is covered in fewer passes for the same fuel and the same operator hour. This is where the heavier gear driven machines and the two wheel tractors earn their price difference.

Working Depth Is the Second Filter

Width decides whether the machine fits. Depth decides whether the pass was worth making. Seedbed preparation, weeding between established rows and breaking compacted ground are three different depth requirements, and a machine set up for one will disappoint at another.

Ground Conditions Change the Answer

In flooded or very soft ground a standard tyre loses grip and sinks, which is what paddy wheels are for. They are available as a spare part, so a machine can be converted rather than replaced when a grower moves into wet ground work.

A Practical Selection Sequence

Measure the narrowest gap. Eliminate every machine wider than it. Of what remains, choose on working depth for the job. Then check drive type against the hours per day the machine will work. Fuel type and engine size are the last decisions, not the first.