Hand cultivators

Manual cultivators

— a manual analogue of mechanical cultivators, designed for small volumes of work and hard-to-reach places — that is, situations where it is impossible or impractical to use a mechanical unit. The main function of such tools is to loosen the soil and destroy the dense top layer; this improves the access of air, water and nutrients to the roots and at the same time slows down the evaporation of moisture already present in the soil. But the design of hand cultivators may be different. The most common option is a kind of "fork" with three pointed teeth, bent at an angle to the handle; on the opposite side of the teeth, a blade can be provided that plays the role of a chopper. Another popular design option is a set of several metal "stars" on a common axis; during operation, such stars roll along the surface of the earth, punching through the upper layer with their pointed teeth.