Harlow Case Stahl is credited with conceiving the idea for a riding, double-gang cultivator that straddled a planted row. He created his first prototype in a small blacksmith shop. The cultivator was commercially available in 1878 through Ohio Cultivator Co., Columbus, Ohio.

“(Stahl’s cultivator) is the first of the riding cultivators to be placed on the market and has been the standard for 30 years,” reports an article in the August 1911 issue of Implement Age. “On level ground, it is said that no other cultivator can be handled so easily and do such complete work.”

The removal of weeds between the plants was necessary for many reasons. The weeds took water and nutrients from the crop. The weeds also might contaminate the crop at harvest. A cultivator removes the weeds between the rows of crops. Prior to 1800's this was usually with done by hand with a hoe.