5 best uses for Top and Tilt

[magicheater]

#1 on my list would be using 3PH pallet forks on uneven ground.
#2 rear blade.
#3 landscape rake.
#4 would be interested to try it with the tiller.
#5 would give me a real good excuse to finally get some rear remotes.

I did some extensive terracing with my tiller this year that would have been virtually impossible W/O the Top-N-Tilt. I also experimented with some add on tine pieces to create better drainage. Rototillers tend to polish the soil underneath the tilled soil in certain soil types thus creating a layer that holds water.

 

[Baby Grand]

I did some extensive terracing with my tiller this year that would have been virtually impossible W/O the Top-N-Tilt. I also experimented with some add on tine pieces to create better drainage. Rototillers tend to polish the soil underneath the tilled soil in certain soil types thus creating a layer that holds water.

Not wanting to hijack the thread, but that sounds really interesting. Any chance you could start a thread about that? We have mostly sandy loam with high clay content and I'm always worried about over tilling and creating a pan down there.

The idea of terracing with a tiller is something I never even thought about, but with the tiller set at an angle (low on the upslope side) and traversing the slope, I can see how that would work. I can also see how having TnT would really help if the slope was at all variable in it's pitch.

 

[magicheater]

Not wanting to hijack the thread, but that sounds really interesting. Any chance you could start a thread about that? We have mostly sandy loam with high clay content and I'm always worried about over tilling and creating a pan down there.

The idea of terracing with a tiller is something I never even thought about, but with the tiller set at an angle (low on the upslope side) and traversing the slope, I can see how that would work. I can also see how having TnT would really help if the slope was at all variable in it's pitch.

I'll work into that if there is enough interest, there are other techniques I have experimented with that have a time saving function too. The terracing works on a slight slope, but certainly not for mountainous terrain.

 

[94BULLITT]

in no particular order

1. Hooking up to a implement

2. Grading

3. Pallet forks

4. Raising a implement while going over uneven terrain.

5. Looking cool on the tractor

 

[gwdixon]

in no particular order

1. Hooking up to a implement

2. Grading

3. Pallet forks

4. Raising a implement while going over uneven terrain.

5. Looking cool on the tractor

DARN, I forgot about #5! It definitely should be #1. :thumbsup:

 

[daugen]

I'll work into that if there is enough interest, there are other techniques I have experimented with that have a time saving function too. The terracing works on a slight slope, but certainly not for mountainous terrain.

no hijack, I think most of us are really interested in learning what a top and tilt functionality allows us to do.
I don't have a three point tiller and I don't have a pallet fork; my focus was more on using my box blade to create drainage ditches or swales.
The fields I mow seem to have a kind of terracing built in on the hills. Likely done by some farmer many years ago. And those undulations need to be leveled out
for a new gravel driveway going in, so I have a nice project ahead. Need to think about whether I want to push the higher material into the lower areas or simply scrape it off and leave
the lower. Going lower and building up in layers of two sizes of gravel makes more sense to me. Don't want the driveway to act as a new drainage ditch though, so am assuming some water diversion
method needs to be employed. The driveway currently goes through fairly dense woods between two fields. Long driveway...
So any suggestions on how to move earth in interesting manners are certainly appreciated. I've got a much better picture now, thanks, so let the thread go where it wants, but make sure it always involves
functionality that only a tilting mechanism can provide. Straight blading is a whole nother topic.

I never knew a tiller could pack down the ground under it. Lot to learn here.
But that's why I have a subsoiler that I can't wait to try on my new larger tractor.
Thinking that might help with some underground water drainage down that driveway also.

time to go to youtube and type in "how to build a driveway"... but then hundreds of you have so I'm interested to know how the top and tilt
can improve my driveway and water drainoff work.
I'm about to get a quick hitch, likely pat's, as my back does not enjoy the normal horsing around you do do lining things up, invariably picking up something heavy.
So our number 1 is sure on my list too, actually the primary reason I bought the cylinders.
And as far as number 5, well...., that right cylinder sure did look beefy to me, and all those hoses sure do look impressive. I'll take a picture soon when I get the Kubota back from the dealer
on Wed. And I'll take a pic of the terrain where the driveway is going in.

I grew up with a JD B with only a drawbar. It is enormous fun "going back" after retirement and in some ways "doing this again" but this time with much better tools. And the farm I take care of is only about seven miles from the farm where I grew up. Same soil. Same trees. Same rocks. Except now I'm going to use a hydraulic control instead of a pick axe and crowbar as I did fifty years ago. Major improvement.

 

[jenkinsph]

daugen,
Like alot of the others I have found that topntilt is a very handy addition to the three point hitch, so is IMatch imo.

Curious about your wanting to remove the terrace rows, are these laid out correctly? If so I would think twice about removing them.

 

[daugen]

Curious about your wanting to remove the terrace rows, are these laid out correctly? If so I would think twice about removing them.

good point. I'm thinking more than twice...

my assumption is that the gravel driveway would change the drainage situation all by itself, but I need to post some pics to show this.
Rolling land, some flat, most not to some degree, and I have one area I am not comfortable mowing with the tractor but use my Gravely garden tractor instead, which
has a super low center of gravity and I have aggressive tires on it. But the driveway is nowhere near that.
One part of the new driveway heads slightly upwards off macadam through a field, light incline from right to left, to a path through the woods that is reasonably level, then a drop at the woods end, which I have already fixed,
and then fairly level and slightly downhill from there to the destination. I'm guessing close to a third of a mile, maybe a little more.
There is an ecological tread lightly motivation also at work here, hence the desire for gravel vs. more macadam.

My motivation to level things out is for winter driving in the snow, less "moguls" to slide off. Maybe not a good idea overall, as it could create
water drainage issues at other times, unless I can grade it appropriately. My BIL is an excavator, time to bring him in for a chat. His two teenage boys could
absolutely do a better job with this driveway than I could, they are wizzes on machinery, having grown up playing on a variety of equipment. Actually no play, serious attention
to proper driving.

When I looked at the JD 4720, its Imatch system was super attractive. If I had a local JD dealer, there's a good possibility I might have gone that way. But I felt I could "build my own"
adequately, though JD's engineered solution still impresses me.

 

[94BULLITT]

Another thing a TNT is good for is saving time. I know I have done jobs before and I think I spent more time adjusting the sidelink and toplink than what the actual job took.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Another thing a TNT is good for is saving time. I know I have done jobs before and I think I spent more time adjusting the sidelink and toplink than what the actual job took.

Exactly, and then for most people they get tired of all the adjusting and stop making the adjustments and end up with "that's good enough".