Tiller Newb question: Can I get by with just a rototiller?

[Dan707]

I'm already imagining that the answer is no but figured I'd ask anyway. Tractor I bought came with a 5ft tiller (also a disc but its not in functional condition). Is it at all possible to prepare ground with the tiller alone? I want to make seed beds and loosen soil to make mounds for trees.

I gave it a shot just to try and it worked ok if I just took gentle slow passes. It didn't get the depth I desired though (tiller has wheels on the front though that Im thinking of removing to try to get max depth)

 

[jenkinsph]

I use a tiller all the time to prepare seedbeds. I am currently looking into a larger tiller that tills about 11 to 12 inch depth, not that that depth is always needed.

What model tractor and tiller do you have?

 

[gwdixon]

Sometimes it takes more than one pass to get the desirable depth. Going over it in a checkerboard pattern and then diagonally seems to work well if there is enough room around the edges of the plot to make turns.

There may be skids on each side of the tiller that run in / on the soil. Measure the difference between the bottom of the skid and how far the tines extend below the skids. You can do this by lowering the tiller tines on a 2x6 and see how far the skids are above the board (PTO NOT RUNNING!!!). That will give you an idea of depth that the tiller can dig.

Most skids are adjustable to allow deeper penetration. I would think that wheels would serve the same function as skids.

Tilling is indeed a slow process. So it depends on how much ground needs to be tilled to accomplish your goals. A tiller that size should be maxed out at about 1 acre. More could be done, of course, but the wear and tear would increase proportionally with the amount tilled.

 

[Dan707]

Thanks to you both

I have a Ford 1910 (28 pto hp). Tiller is an older model made by a French company that I forget the name of. 11-12in of depth would be plenty but I was getting only 4in or so

I have a 5ac property but only working on 1ac this year so perhaps not so bad then

 

[jenkinsph]

Thanks to you both

I have a Ford 1910 (28 pto hp). Tiller is an older model made by a French company that I forget the name of. 11-12in of depth would be plenty but I was getting only 4in or so

Most small tillers will handle around 6" depth, larger tillers can go deeper and obviously cover the ground faster. As gwdixon mentions you can go deeper on subsequent passes. You can till the ground, bunch up the dirt as needed and till it again to get the depth or dirt you need for the trees.

Just my thoughts but you can use a small tiller or disk and get the job done. It won't be as efficient as using larger equipment but we all work with what we have. I currently use a 6' tiller and make a first pass at about 1 mph and a second pass at an angle at 1.4 mph. That works out to about 2.38 hours/acre, so I can easily till up 3 to 4 acres in a days time and grade it the next day or two. That is with two passes and the ground is fully pulverized which is necessary for fine laser grading work.

Using a larger tiller the results can be much faster, more like 2.5 acres/hr. The idea that tillers are only good for a small plot isn't the case. Large tillers and large discs are both expensive and require larger tractors to use. It depends a lot on what you need to accomplish and how fast you need it done.

 

[Egon]

The roto tiller will work for preparing ground. It's handy for smaller plots.

 

[Baby Grand]

Several passes to get full depth.
Sloooooow forward speed.

Dig a pit, then hang your tiller over it and see if the 3pt is letting the tiller drop to it's full tilling depth or running out of depth travel before the tiller is done digging down. If the 3pt limits the drop, then adjust your 3pt to allow the tiller to travel to your desired depth. This may involve moving the pivot pins in your drag links & lift links to new hole locations.

Make sure the PTO shaft angle between the tiller and shaft isn't more than 15 degrees - this can be adjusted somewhat with the top link.

Make sure the PTO shaft angle between the tiller and tractor's PTO stub shaft isn't more than 15 degrees - this is going to be harder to adjust, other than limiting how far you drop the tiller, or mounting the tiller further aft - which would require modifications to either the tiller or your draft links - both major mods. If you go this route, you'll almost certainly also need a longer PTO shaft.

The tip diameter of your tiller blade assembly also determines now deep you can till because of the hitch & PTO limitations. If you really want to go deep you'll need a larger diameter tiller tine assembly.

For the acreage you're looking to till, you may want to consider some combination of plow/disc/harrow.

 

[art]

The tiller is a good option!! One of the best for good seed beds in any soil. I'd get a cheap ripper with a shear bolt trip to break it deep before tilling! A moldboard plow will cut one half it's width, 12" cuts 6" so there isn't much to be had there. A farmers disc which does great runs over 400lbs per foot of cut. Depending what soil type you have you might be driving over it many more times then with a tiller.

 

[oosik]

Years ago we had a BIG home garden - 120' x 200' - close to half an acre. I broke ground the first year and re-tilled it each year with an 8hp Troybilt walk behind rototiller. The first year I broke ground was tough - the following years were just loooong. The 'ol Troybilt did an excellent job of preparing the garden site. A rototiller is the first implement I would choose when planning on having a home garden. Unless you are getting into some type of fancy gardening the rototiller is the only implement you should need.

 

[nybirdman]

On new ground;a simple and inexpensive "potato"plow or any single bottom will help break the sod;then till.