Tiller Help with old Howard Rotavator

[riverhills]

Hi! My husband has an old Howard Rotavator model 500-B. He runs it on an 855 JD. The tiller hops terrible. What does he need to do to stop this?

 

[bigtiller]

With most tillers, they sometimes do a lot of jumping. Usually, a slower forward travel speed and higher rpm's will calm a jumping tiller. Unless it is hitting rocks or roots or other things buried in the ground.

 

[riverhills]

It hopped when he used his 1020 Massey, but it's excessive with the jd. He is going slow and has higher rpms. The tires on the tiller aren't on the ground. We bought this used and there were no books with it. The tires are at the lowest position. He was chopping sod - no rocks/roots. And when he was tilling the garden that has been there for many years, it was excessive.

 

[bigtiller]

It sounds like something could have jammed it's self into the tines and stuck there. Something like a odd shaped rock, or a heavy & long piece of rebar, pipe, root etc.

 

[jenkinsph]

Assuming tines not tires?

Agree with Bigtillers comments so far. A picture or two might help.

 

[Rebeldad1]

check the tines to see if they are installed correctly. cutting direction and spaceing between the tines.
there should be a fair amount of the tiller weight on the ground when tilling, not having the 3point holding it up. the raising and lowering of the tines (depth adjustment) needs to be done with the top link.
virgin soil can be hard. I will usually rototill at idle speed untill the ground lets the tiller do its work. This lets the tiller still turn more revolutions than the speed of the tractor.
Some tractors with gear drive wont travel slow enough in low gear to allow a tiller to do its work. You really need a tractor that will till in hi/low range in low and the transmission in its lowest gear.

 

[Fallon]

check the tines to see if they are installed correctly. cutting direction and spaceing between the tines.
there should be a fair amount of the tiller weight on the ground when tilling, not having the 3point holding it up. the raising and lowering of the tines (depth adjustment) needs to be done with the top link.
virgin soil can be hard. I will usually rototill at idle speed untill the ground lets the tiller do its work. This lets the tiller still turn more revolutions than the speed of the tractor.
Some tractors with gear drive wont travel slow enough in low gear to allow a tiller to do its work. You really need a tractor that will till in hi/low range in low and the transmission in its lowest gear.

The RPM of the PTO is going to be fixed vs the RPM of the tires based on what gear you are in. Even if it's a HST, but even then it will be fixed based on how hard you step on the go pedal. A lower engine RPM may stop the tiller from jumping as high or as hard when it hits something, even if it's just harder ground. But it won't give it more tiller slices per distance traveled.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

+

not having the 3point holding it up. the raising and lowering of the tines (depth adjustment) needs to be done with the top link.

Top link should be used for "leveling" the tiller, NOT setting the depth of tillage/cut.

The tiller has skid shoes to adjust for depth of tillage!

SR

 

[bigtiller]

Top link should be used for "leveling" the tiller, NOT setting the depth of tillage/cut.

The tiller has skid shoes to adjust for depth of tillage!

SR

I changed one word for a little clarity, just encase.....

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Dang, I proofed it and still missed that! lol

SR