[8nownerinky]

Flusher,

I agree that implements are what make the tractor useful, however, the tiller will get at most two hours a year of work, and if it breaks, I always have my cousin's 5' tiller to fall back on, which I have used for years now. In fact, I have only disconnected the box on the 8n maybe ~2 times in the past 6 months - once to plow my garden and once to hook up the back blade to push some dirt our beloved city left on our sidewalk. I have an ancient plow that my grandfather gave me before he passed away and made me promise to use it, so I converted it to 3pt a few years ago and it's been serving fine ever since.

How well does your gray market tiller hold up? We have hard-pack clay with rocks the size of VW's around here as most land 'round these parts haven't been worked in 40 or so years - since most farmers have either sold out to development or converted to livestock/hay production. And, I was told if I got one of those gray market tillers, I would have to change the tines and such as the Japanese tines break easily, therefore going into more money.

As for the pull behind - that would be difficult for my situation. I do a lot of work around town for people and the travel time isn't worth the cost and hassle of trailering, not to mention that neither of my current tractors or my future tractor will fit on my trailer, so using the riding mower isn't too entirely feasible. Also, I like the depth adjustment ability I get with 3pt without having to leave my seat. I just had another brainstorm - our local dump gets tillers like mine all the time and usually charge about $10 for them, so what if I built a frame and attached both tillers, or even 3 to make a 6 footer, and use them like that? total investment would be about $50 dollars and the setup would be pretty disposable, compared to having to buy a rice paddy tiller, change the tines and hope the clay and rocks don't break the dang thing. Also, that would give me some relief on the 5hp per foot rule as each have their own engine and each tiller is light enough for me to pick up and carry by myself without too much pain, making it easier on my tractors.

Thanks guys,

Dan