[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]

DeWit 5-Tine Hand Cultivator with Short Handle

If you’re confused about tillers and cultivators, how they’re different, and which one you would need the most, you’re not alone. I once was confused, but I began to appreciate the difference once I started using the best tillers and cultivators in my garden. At the end of the day, you’ll most likely want to possess both tools.

Now, if your garden is already up, and you only need to remove weeds and do maintenance tasks, you may consider the DeWit 5-Tine, Short-Handled Cultivator (Model 31-0903) as the best cultivator to get. But, wait till you get deep into our hand cultivator review.

1. Things to Consider Before Buying Hand Cultivators

Hand cultivators are useful for small gardens. Unlike electric and gas-powered cultivators, their only power relies on how they’ve been designed, and the force your hand applies. The design includes the number of tines, how these tines are positioned, the materials used, and the handle attached.

If you have a wide farm to handle, you may rather opt for gas-powered or electric cultivators. Also, if you’re still preparing the garden bed for the first time, you may need to look for a tiller instead. That gives you the basic difference between tillers and cultivators.

Number of Tines

Typically, manual (hand) cultivators have three prongs. Some, like the DeWit 31-0903 5-Tine Cultivator, have five. These numbers won’t mean a lot unless you begin to relate them to how they are positioned.

Prong Design

Some small garden cultivators have curved tines, so they come together, and the whole thing still fits small spaces. Some three-tined cultivators, on the other hand, are widely spread apart.

Now you may find it easier to gather weeds using cultivators with closely spaced tines.

In general, finding the best cultivator for small garden projects is quite subjective. Which could be the best hand cultivator? The answer often just depends on the user’s perspective. Prong design usually has a lot to do with it.

Prong Material

The material used for the prong determines the rust resistance of the hand cultivator. Although you may prevent rusting by doing typical garden tool maintenance tasks, rust-resistant materials save your tools from most problems related to corrosion.

Handle Design

You will usually have two options for handles when it comes to manual garden cultivators. Short and long handles each have great uses. If you got a raised garden bed with a height as close to your waist, you would probably feel the greatest comfort with the use of short-handled cultivators. Longer handles, on the other hand, offer you more leverage.

2. The DeWit 5-Tine Cultivator with Short Handle (31-0903)

The DeWit 5-Tine Cultivator with Short Handle is a product by Tierra Garden. It sets itself apart from its 3-tine short-handled brother, as well as its 5-tine P-Grip (long-handled) cousin.

This short-handled manual cultivator is designed to get you up close with your plants and the soil they’re planted in.

3. Features & Benefits of the DeWit 5-Tine Cultivator with Short Handle

Cultivation benefits your plants by aerating the soil and allowing more water and nutrients to enter deep down, reaching the roots. With the best hand cultivator, you can break up crusty soil, pull weeds more easily, and improve moisture penetration without disturbing the soil too deeply into the roots.

5-Tined

Five tines instead of three gives you wide variance when working on the soil. The three-tined variant is narrower and can help you reach tight spaces in between plants. But, if you have calculated the spacing well before planting, you may find the 5-tined cultivator better in terms of getting the work done more efficiently.

A single strike using the 5-tined variant already aerates almost double the space you could work on the 3-tine cultivator.

Short-Handled

Designed for one-hand use, this short-handled cultivator can easily reach confined spaces in your garden. I find this helpful especially when I try to clear up the spaces between rows of veggies.

Unlike long-handled cultivators that allow me to toss soil from a certain distance, this tool brings me to my plants up close. It could mean literally getting on the dirt, but it’s beneficial if you would like to see what’s going on with your plants beneath the apparently healthy leaves you see.

Lightweight

Only weighing 0.5 lbs or 8 ounces, this DeWit short-handled, 5-tine cultivator feels comfortable on the hand.

This means I could go on for hours and hours, working in the garden, without overworking my arms. Well, practically speaking, it still pays to take a few breaks every once in a while. You can even have some occasional strains, but it’s probably not because of the weight of this cultivator.

Lifetime Guarantee

Just having an assurance that your investment on tools just doesn’t go to waste, Tierra Garden is generous enough to grant a lifetime warranty for the DeWit 5-Tine Short-Handled Cultivator.

It means that while you may find this hand cultivator durable enough to last a lifetime, the company assures customer support in any case you find your product defective.

4. Social Proof of DeWit 5-Tine Short-Handled Cultivator’s Quality

Checking on other users’ experiences just adds some certainty about the authenticity of a product’s claims. So, I searched for some social proof to help you find answers to your questions about this manual garden cultivator.

Tough Tines and Comfortable Handle

 This user is quite satisfied with the DeWit 31-0903 Cultivator. Considering how she finds it robust and easy to use at the same time, this product might be worth a try.

Built to Last and Worth the Price

Yet another testimony on the product’s solid build, this user also talked about value for money. While you may find tools that are rather cheaper, the DeWit 31-0903 Short-Handled Cultivator is one that hasn’t gone mad in terms of an appraisal. Let’s say, you’re more likely to justify the price yourself in the long run.

Digs, Turns, Mixes and Spreads

Talk about versatility, and you’ll probably end up agreeing with this user. According to user CGTX, the DeWit 5-Tine Short-Handled Cultivator has a lot more practical uses in your garden. That probably adds to the value it gives for your money.

Beats Hard Clay Soil

What’s the use of all the fancy extras if the tool can’t do the basic job of breaking up a hard soil? Good thing this DeWit 31-0903 does the job almost effortlessly.

Excellent for Weeding and Fertilizing

User Dina is pretty much saying that the DeWit 31-0903 Cultivator is durable enough to weed, spread fertilizer and mulch and still last a lifetime or two.

5. Alternatives to the DeWit 5-Tine Cultivator (Short Handle)

The DeWit 5-Tine Short-Handled Cultivator may be the best hand cultivator for its design language and use. But, some users just demand a little more, or simply look for a cheaper alternative despite some compromise. Still, gardeners have various needs, and one tool may not be everything to a user.

With that in mind, it pays to list three product alternatives to the Dewit 5-Tine Cultivator with Short Handle. Of course, I only mean to include hand cultivators, since power tillers belong to a whole other category in terms of operation and utility.

• DeWit 5-Tine Cultivator with P-Grip Handle
• Asano Japanese Ninja Claw Garden Cultivator
• WOLF-Garten 1315004 Classic Soil Cultivator

DeWit 5-Tine Cultivator with P-Grip Handle (31-8506)

With a longer handle that can accommodate two hands instead of just one, the DeWit 31-8506 offers benefits that may not be found in the DeWit 31-0903 (Short-Handled).

Aside from providing advantages in terms of reach, the P-grip-handled model also allows you to hold firmly on the wooden handle as you would a staff.

Interested? Check out the P-grip DeWit 31-8506 Cultivator here.

Asano Japanese Ninja Claw Rake and Cultivator

With a price at the lower end of the budget, this Japanese Ninja Claw Rake seems to be a well-made tool, nonetheless. Meanwhile, although terms such as “military grade steel” may sound quite good, some descriptions just don’t indicate the specifics enough to initiate a fair comparison. This claw rake claims to have rust-resistant and super strong steel, though.

Setting those commercial terms aside, you may try this Japanese Ninja Claw Garden Cultivator for the price it offers. This and DeWit’s both have 5 tines, but they do differ in terms of curvature.

Interested? Check out the Asano Japanese Ninja Claw Garden Cultivator here.

WOLF-Garten 1315004 Classic Soil Cultivator + 14-Inch 3944844 Short Handle

If you’re looking for another level of versatility, you may like to try the flexible WOLF-Garten Classic Soil Cultivator. Its handle type would depend on what handle you would choose to pair with and attach to it—thanks to its multi-star snap connection feature.

Typically, people buy the 1315004 Cultivator with the WOLF-Garten 3944844 14-Inch, Multi-Star, Heavy-Duty Short Handle.

The snap-lock connection feature allows this hand cultivator to transform into a standard-size hoe or some D-grip clawed rake. You only need to pair it up with whatever WOLF-Garten interlocking handle you wish to use.

Interested? Check out the WOLF-Garten 1315004 Classic Soil Cultivator here.

Conclusion: The DeWit 5-Tine Cultivator Is A Tough Tool

Literal hands-on soil cultivation is quite essential for small gardens and sensitive plants. If you’re quite concerned about watching how your garden blossoms and how every plant grows without defect, having the best hand cultivator is just right for you.

In that case, the DeWit 5-Tine Short-Handled Cultivator may be the choice to take. It’s a tough tool, priced just right for the value it offers, and a handy one to use.

Check out the DeWit 31-0903 Cultivator today and see if it suits your gardening needs best.

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]