Tiller- JD 550 5ft tiller

   / Tiller- JD 550 5ft tiller #1  

Bamaram

Bronze Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Messages
56
Location
North Alabama
Tractor
Ford 4000
I've got a chance to pick this tiller up. I'm mostly going to be plowing up my garden and maybe a few others garden. How good of a tiller is it? I would think with it being green it is probably worth a few hundred. I believe it is chain driven. What are the benefits of chain driven versus gear driven? I would assume gear driven would be more durable. Also is this an offset tiller? Any info? Thanks fellas!
 
   / Tiller- JD 550 5ft tiller #2  
I used a JD 660 for 13 years here for commerical flower beds, food plots and our garden. Never had a lick of trouble out of it. Held it's value very good. Bought it 13 years ago for 2350 and the dealer gave me 1900 trade in value on a Kuhn El 62-210. <~~~~~a true beast.

My JD 660 was a commerical grade tiller and the 550 is more or less a smaller lighter version. Only issue that I might see for you is that they were made in Germany and discontinued about the time I bought mine. Not sure if there are any parts still around for them. As in sprockets,bearings, gearboxes. For tilling a few gardens a year I think it would be just the ticket for you.
 
   / Tiller- JD 550 5ft tiller
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Thanks! That was just the info I needed. Do you recall if they are chain or gear driven?
 
   / Tiller- JD 550 5ft tiller #4  
Both the 660 and 550 are chain driven. My newer Kuhn is gear. I really am not sure that one is a advantage over the other. I guess if a person thinks so it is, but gears can fail just like chains. My 660 had some offset enough to take out one of the tires on my Kubota 5040. Sorry but I'm not sure if the 550 has offset like the 660. You can offset it some I would imagine, just not sure how much. While my Kuhn tills a whopping 83 inches wide and its nice to take out both tires at once in real life taking out ONE tire is enough to do a nice job. Just have to lap it and till it right and it will leave a smooth nice seed bed without tire tracks and just takes a tiny tad more trouble.
 
 
 
Top