Who has a Tiller Atatchment, Opinions?

[AltavistaLawn]

I'm seriously considering buying a tiller (72") for the PT. Who here has one and how do you like it?

Also which direction does it spin?

 

[ernemats]

I have a 48 inch tiller for my 422. It does good if you don't have many rocks. I have a lot of rocks fist sized to plate sized and the stones are constantly getting lodged between the tines and the housing. Itis easy to get them out usually just turn the power takeoff switch off and they fall out if that doesn't work just put down pressure on the tiller with switch off and back up a little, then just wait till you hit another rock and repeat the procedure. The bigger tiller might be different.

 

[AltavistaLawn]

ernemats,

Which direction does it spin? If you pull it backwards is th tiller spinning opposite of the direction you're going (like a reverse direction tiller) or does it spin forward as you till?

If it spins forward as you're backing up, have you ever tried pushing the tiller forward?

-Thanks.

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

I'm seriously considering buying a tiller (72") for the PT. Who here has one and how do you like it?

Also which direction does it spin?

I have the 60" tiller for my 1845. I don't use it a lot, but have had no trouble with it and like the job it does. It is far easier and does a better job that the similar sized one we have for the 2240 John Deere.
The rotation is always forward, running on the PTO. It does occasionally stop with a fist sized rock wedged in, but no damage has resulted, and as noted in another post, just turning off the PTO momentarily and if necessary backing with the tiller down will free it.
I usually do one pass forward, tilt it slightly and then back over the same path. That wipes the wheel marks and gets it deeper and finer. My soil is sandy, with few rocks, so two passes take it to powder. As with other attachments, control is easy, since you can see what you're doing.

 

[kjm3232]

We have the 60" for the 1430. Our land has a lot of rock and ledge thruout it so it will occasionally get a rock stuck in it. I then will have to shut the pto down and hopefully the rock will come out or i will have to pry it out. My wife and i do like it. We used it to break up the ground for her garden. we also used it at her sisters house next door to chew up the weeds and ground so she could start putting down grass seeds. Right now the rotation of the tiller will throw the dirt towards me. This spring, i'm taking 14's suggestion and reversing the hoses so the dirt gets thrown away from you and the tractor.

 

[J_J]

We have the 60" for the 1430. Our land has a lot of rock and ledge thruout it so it will occasionally get a rock stuck in it. I then will have to shut the pto down and hopefully the rock will come out or i will have to pry it out. My wife and i do like it. We used it to break up the ground for her garden. we also used it at her sisters house next door to chew up the weeds and ground so she could start putting down grass seeds. Right now the rotation of the tiller will throw the dirt towards me. This spring, i'm taking 14's suggestion and reversing the hoses so the dirt gets thrown away from you and the tractor.

Check and make sure that you have the hoses connected correctly. Look at the tiller blades, the beveled edge should go in the ground first. If you hook it in reverse, the thick part of the blade will dig in the ground first. It may dig, but with more effort.

 

[farm23]

I have the 60" on my 1430 and love it. I also have a rear tine tiller and have not used the rear tine since I bought the PT. We have lots of rocks and it does get stuck sometimes but it does a good job. I just enlarged my garden by some 12,000 sq ft and did 4 passes in less than 4 hours. The old rear tine would have taken so much time I would not have started the project.

 

[AltavistaLawn]

Thansk everyone.

JJs right the tines have to be reversed too, but the PT can go forward as easy as backwards. At least the rocks just stick or jam..my old PTO has many broken teeth.

 

[kjm3232]

Check and make sure that you have the hoses connected correctly. Look at the tiller blades, the beveled edge should go in the ground first. If you hook it in reverse, the thick part of the blade will dig in the ground first. It may dig, but with more effort.

jj, I assume i do have the hoses connected correctly. I haven't done anything to the tiller since i purchased it last may. I believe the beveled edges do go into the ground 1st but I'll have to hook it up sometime soon and check for sure.

 

[BAGTIC]

I have mentioned before that part of the problem on my 48" tiller is that there is less blade tip clearnce on the outlet side than on the inlet side. It swallows rocks too big to be spit out.

There is one tiller company that makes tillers whose tines rotate backwards. They CLAIM that counter rotation buries the rocks instead of bringing them to the surface. MIGHT be worth trying to reverse your tiller's direction by reversing the hoses.

If your ground is packed and rocky it does wonders to rip it up first with the potato digger. Don't worry about straight rows just run all over the site to break the crust. Saves lots of time and lots of pounding.