Tiller suggestions?

[Bing187]

Hello all. I致e recently been made aware by a party in the know that there is no one servicing farmers that need tilling done on 1 to 5 acre gardens in my area. Lot of work available if I want it...I have a B 3300 SU. Looking at Woods tillers, but not married to any one brand, would consider Kabota or? Mostly tilling ground that has been tilled before, but the occasional virgin ground or hayfield also. I welcome any input. Thanks in advance.
Mike

 

[Bing187]

No fair goofing on me 都ervicing farmers either. Lol

 

[captronr]

I had a Bush Hog 54" tiller and pulled it with a BX2200 (22HP). Worked excellent. Hated to part with it, but home move dictated it. One of the neat features was the tiller could be shifted left to cover tire tracks if needed.

I broke out hard clay with mine several times. One thing I learned was the angle of attack the tines hit the dirt made a big difference. Originally, I set it for max depth. The tiller worked, but it hammered and banged as the tines hit the ground. Had to move slower. Then I changed the depth to 2-3". Tines cut the ground easier and could go faster. 2nd or 3rd pass, the skid shoes sunk in several inches, increasing the overall depth. Lots easier on the machinery also.

Ron

 

[Dan33Klein]

I have a landpride RTA1558 on my B2650. Works great.

 

[Bing187]

Thx for your input! Land pride is one I知 considering. Also looking at king kutter, Kubota, etc. Was warned to stay away from tractor supply brands if I知 using it a lot..The more expensive ones look quality, and at 600 + lbs, seem pretty heavy duty.... just trying to see who has highest quality gearbox, etc...

 

[captronr]

I forgot to mention: I paid about $100 more and got mine with a slip clutch ahead of the gearbox instead of shear bolts. Several times, I'd hooked rocks or tree roots and the clutch slipped. If you are going to be tilling unknown ground, you'd spend a lot of time changing shear bolts.

I like the bush hog model as it seemed built very stout.

Ron

 

[oldballs]

It's hard to say which is the "best". IIRC many on TBN say the King Kutter Professional series are good. KUHN makes very good equipment. I pull a LandPride RTA1250 with a Kubota B2620. One TBN sponsor (EA) has some good ones too.

Then there is the shape of the tines debate and the forward or rear rotation debate. And lastly, I doubt that most who respond have tilled long enough to compare the longevity of the various brands. The Slip Clutch seems the way to go however. :2cents:

 

[majorwager]

Tillers are very self-destructive, weight is a very important performance element, mine is a befco, chain driven, works well. Has option of using straight blades, duel purpose, can also aerate, a very marketable service to provide,

Have seen favorable reviews for woodmax tillers, appear heavy duty assembly. Not sure if chain drive or gear drive offers better long term longevity?

EDIT: been using mine for 5 years , believe some TBN folks have many more years of tiller experience. Subsequent posts will reveal the answer. Forward tine rotation = less required hp but brings rocks to surface. Opposite true w/ reverse tine, bury rocks but more hp req. Believe reverse tine leaves a more uniform and level soil consistency.

Five acres of tilling is a major undertaking!!!! Suggest one acre is more than I might find appealing!!!

I aerate about 7 acres 2x per year, but using straight blades, whole different animal, my tine bar is easily removable, change blades, inspect bolt tightness on work bench, not on my back!! 4 inches tine depth typ.

When tilling for client, who is responsible for rock collection/ disposal? Labor intensive, time consuming!!

 

[War Eagle 2]

In 1985 I bought a Kubota Reverse rotation tiller that was chain drive and used it for 33 years. Never had a single problem with it and it did a great job. Wore out two sets of tines over the years.

I used it on my Allis Chalmers 5020 diesel compact tractor. The width of the tiller was 52 inches and the tractor with 22 pto hp handles it just fine. I could make flour consistency out of the dirt with that tiller.

About 2 years ago I bought a Kubota B3000 with cab and put wheel spacers on it for added stability and decided to get a wider tiller so it would cover my tracks. I wanted to get a reverse tine rotation again because they do such a fine job of working the dirt. Kubota doesn't make tillers any more so I looked and Land Pride, King Kutter and Woods. I went with the King Kutter Pro series for a couple of reasons: 6 tines per flange where the others only offered 4 tines per flange, overall weight was the heaviest of the three options and I could buy the King Kutter and get it shipped to my place for less money than I could purchase the Woods or Land Pride for. Warranty coverage was pretty much the same for all three machines.

The King Kutter Pro is a very heavy unit and it does a better job than my Kubota tiller did. I am very happy with it. Turns out it is gear driven and the unit is build like a tank.

 

[corl]

Just to add another brand I have a Sigma tiller from Everything attachments. Its 74 inches and is on my MX5100. Have used it in my produce garden for the last 5 years. It works great. Just ordered another one (48 inches) to pull with my BX2380. Use it for seed bed prep and cultivating weed beds between rows. I would not want a counter rotating tiller after the ground is broken the first time.