Reverse tilling pros or cons?

[slan]

I am looking at buying a 60" tiller this spring and was wondering how well the reverse tillers work? It looks as if they would make a very nice seed bed with the sifting tines at the back but I am a little worried about either grabing a large piece of clay hardpan or a large rock and throwing it between the tines and the top of the unit jamming it very quickly.
I also have limited pto power about 26hp so I dont know if it has enough to do the job using a reverse rotation unit. They seem like they would take more hp to run.

What do you guys think?
I will be using it in the fields with clay/sand loam and to break up very thick sods from plowed fields.

Thanks guys.....

 

[john_bud]

They (the mfg's) say reverse is better. I can buy an KK 60" for about 1200 bucks this time of year. The reverse rotation ones are 2x that amount or more. Are they THAT much better? Well, I didn't get one, so you know my opinion....

jb

 

[bigtiller]

The harder the ground is the better you will like the reverse tine tillers. That is where they really shine. A 60 inch model will use all of your 26 hp and the ground speed will be VERY slow. If the main use is in a "plowed field to break up thick sods" then I would prefer a forward tine tiller. They are less demanding of the engine and you can travel at a faster speed.

 

[madhatter]

I was wondering the same thing when I purchased my LandPride 50". I went with a forward tine ( although the dealer said reverse was the way to go ). I have some areas that have roots and smaller rocks and figured a reverse tine would be nothing but trouble. I have no regrets with the forward tine, it spits roots and rocks out the back, instead of flipping them forward just to hit them again. I also went with a shear pin clutch, my reason is I KNOW a shearpin will break, a slip clutch takes maintenance and must be setup correctly, and if it does not slip, you have damage. The reverse tine does have its place, and does a nice job. I just go over the ground a second pass if need be. Personal preference..... like everything in life !

 

[mjarrels]

I ran my neighbors 60 + inch tiller using my ford with 32 PTO HP and a grany gear and couldn't run the tiller in reverse... wanted to pull the tractor backwards.

mark

 

[Bird]

I was wondering the same thing when I purchased my LandPride 50". I went with a forward tine ( although the dealer said reverse was the way to go ). I have some areas that have roots and smaller rocks and figured a reverse tine would be nothing but trouble. I have no regrets with the forward tine, it spits roots and rocks out the back, instead of flipping them forward just to hit them again. I also went with a shear pin clutch, my reason is I KNOW a shearpin will break, a slip clutch takes maintenance and must be setup correctly, and if it does not slip, you have damage. The reverse tine does have its place, and does a nice job. I just go over the ground a second pass if need be. Personal preference..... like everything in life !

I agree on all counts. I've never personally owned a slip clutch. I can see a good reason for one in some circumstances and locations, but the only rocks on my place were hauled in and placed there, so I didn't have to worry about hitting rocks. My tractor PTO powered tiller was a forward turning one and the only kind I'd want for my kind of use. While I didn't have any rocks on my place, I did do some work for others where I hit some large tree roots just below the surface. I also did a job for a neighbor and tilled up a brick sidewalk that was about an inch below the surface and he didn't know it existed when he bought the place. The forward turning tiller would just bounce up in the air when you hit something like that. I'd be afraid the reverse turning one might hang under a root and break something.

However, before I bought the tractor powered tiller, I had a 17" Craftsman rear tine "counterrotating" (reverse turning, in other words), self-propelled walk behind tiller that I really liked. But as to whether it would do a better job than a forward turning tiller . . . I didn't see the difference myself.