Tiller John Deere 660 Tiller

[sam2145871]

I just bought a 660 tiller, but I was hoping to get some more info on it. Does anyone know what the gear box horse power rating on these is? Thanks!

 

[dirtworksequip]

The Deere 550 tiller is rated for 30 PTO hp. The 660 the manual didn't give a hp rating but it was rated to be used on the JD1070 tractor which is a 38.5 hp tractor with 35 pto hp. I've got a 3520 tractor that I use a 660 tiller on. The 3520 has 30pto hp. Hope that helps. The 660 is a great tiller. I've had mine for 13 years and it's tilled a bunch of ground. 3 or 4 passes and grassed over area will look like potting soil. Just run it as slow as travel speed as you can.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[sam2145871]

That helps a ton, thanks!

 

[pitt_md]

Sorry but I don't know what the hp rating is for your tiller. I was just curious about the hp rating in general. If you have a shear pin or slip clutch what difference does it make? If things are designed correctly I would think the shear pin would break before the gear box self destructed regardless of the hp driving it. What is the reason for the HP ratings?

 

[sam2145871]

Well I'm going to be relying on the slip clutch for this this tiller. My tractor is 62hp at the PTO, so That is going to be darn near double the rating of the gear box.

 

[pitt_md]

I can understand your concern. Don't go by my thinking that it should not matter if your slip clutch is working. I have often been led astray by following my own path.

 

[dirtworksequip]

I think the problem with having hp double the rated hp is that when you get into a situation that would bog down a tractor with the correct hp rating for the implement the implement is going to be the weak point and something is going to give on the tiller. My 660 is equiped with a slip clutch and if your using 2x hp the slip clutch might just slip when you get it in the dirt no matter how tight you adjust it and if your slip clutch isn't working correctly your putting your pto at risk of damage.

I guess you could just go real easy and till at very low ground speed and be okay. Just don't get carried away with going maximum tilling depth and get comfortable and think "wow, this thing really chews up the ground" Go easy and slow.

That implement pto rating is there for a reason.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[sam2145871]

I was figuring that I could do 2" on the first pass and then go down another 2" for the second pass. I won't be going any deeper than 4" so I figured that as long as I go slow I would be ok going only 2" at a time. Do you think this would be ok or am I still pushing it?

 

[dirtworksequip]

You'll just have to experiment and see if it holds up. I think once you see how its tilling you are going to go the full depth of 4 inches at a time, 2 inches is nothing.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[sam2145871]

We'll see this coming spring. I can't wait to put the new food plots in. I've been buying a bunch of new to me equipment and I haven't been able to use any yet. Just 2 weeks ago I picked up a double row cultipacker for $30 and was totally stoked when I found that. Then I found this tiller for $600. Now I'll just till once, then hook up the cultipacker behind the tiller and till the second time and pack at the same time. Hopefully it all works out.