YM1700 run a 5' tiller briefly?

[Ginormous]

I have a YM1700 (20 HP at engine/17 HP at PTO.) I would like to borrow my neighbor's 5' PTO tiller to till my garden. On a previous thread 284International said, "The rule of thumb I've seen for compact tractors is 4 to 5 PTO horsepower per foot of implement width. I think that's a good recommendation, with ground engaging being at the lower end, and mowing/cutting, and tilling, at the high end."

So... I wasn't clear on that answer. Does that mean tilling requires more power or less HP than a mower? Someone also made the comment to me that 'anything can run a 48" tiller' which implies tillers are easier to run. Anyway, what do you guys think about me being able to use this tiller just long enough to till a 20' x 40' garden? I'd much rather borrow a tiller and give my neighbor a case of beer instead plopping down the big bucks for my own tiller that I use once a year. :drink: Cheers!

 

[winston1]

Although the tiller is probably to large for your tractor I think if you let common sense prevail you can till your 20' x 40' with no problem. Use a slow ground speed, lower the tiller until your tractor is loaded but not overloaded. Make as many passes as necessary to get the depth desired. Run your engine on up there to achieve 540 pto speed. Of course the type ground you are tilling will figure in to the mix also. That is my opinion. :thumbsup:

 

[clemsonfor]

I think you can do it as loong as you go slow. I would use a disk or boxblade rippers first if you have it to make it easier.

You may run in ot a situation like i have. I have borrowed for two years in a row a friends 48" JD tiller. He has a big 1020 JD which is like an early 70's row crop tractor which i think is in the 30 hp class. The tiller is really undersized for his tractor. Its made for the 20hp class JDs with the yanmar engines or the ones actually made by yanmar in the 80's. Anyway the driveshaft (which i think is original) is to long to even hook up on my tractor. It really is even to long to take off his without unhooking the tiller, he just hasent cut it yet. I think i would need to trim like 6"s to work for me. So what i have to do is to borrow my friends JD855 tractor which is like 24hp as well to turn it.

The problem i think is that the arms on our tractors are shorter than the american Jd's from the same era.

 

[California]

Adding a Quick Hitch might space it back far enough if the driveshaft is too long. And check this before lifting it!!!

Ginormous is that a Yanmar tiller or an American brand? I think the US models put a greater load on the tractor.

I have a RS1400 5 ft Yanmar tiller intended for YM2000. My little YM186D (15hp pto) runs it, but it can struggle if I don't keep control over depth of cut. Your 17 pto hp should pull this tiller ok but you might want to keep an eye on the temperature. If that is a US tiller with the broader tines, then I expect a YM1700 will run it but will be working hard.

And as Clemsonfor said start by using a disc or box blade rippers if the ground, or sod, are too tough to get the tiller started in.

I would do it, for occasional use like this.

 

[deepNdirt]

I would use a disk or boxblade rippers first if you have it to make it easier. .

Most folks do plow under or cut under with a harrow before tilling, if this is the case then I see no problem tilling with a 5 ft tiller, as mention go slow & easy, on the other hand if this area has never been plowed before and would of course depend on the type soil you have? dropping a rotor tiller this size into the ground could result in damage to the tiller as well as the tractors PTO if were happen to grab hold of a good size bolder etc,etc,
Not saying it would happen, before I got my tractor I watched my uncle rotor till his garden of Red clay and had it bouncing and bringing up large stones every pass he made, I learned from watching him that it would be much easier to till had it been cut under first,

People ask me all the time if I have a rotor tiller to plow gardens with?, my answer is no... I ask them is this first time breaking soil? most the time yes it is, I then advise them best to cut it under with harrows first, and then come back and till it... I loose more work because not owning a rotor tiller
Yes a rotor tiller is one of the best implements ever made for working the soil under, but to me is the last thing to use when preparations of a garden rather then most folks think to use as the first tool.......:2cents: just my 2 cents

 

[clemsonfor]

Most folks do plow under or cut under with a harrow before tilling, if this is the case then I see no problem tilling with a 5 ft tiller, as mention go slow & easy, on the other hand if this area has never been plowed before and would of course depend on the type soil you have? dropping a rotor tiller this size into the ground could result in damage to the tiller as well as the tractors PTO if were happen to grab hold of a good size bolder etc,etc,
Not saying it would happen, before I got my tractor I watched my uncle rotor till his garden of Red clay and had it bouncing and bringing up large stones every pass he made, I learned from watching him that it would be much easier to till had it been cut under first,

People ask me all the time if I have a rotor tiller to plow gardens with?, my answer is no... I ask them is this first time breaking soil? most the time yes it is, I then advise them best to cut it under with harrows first, and then come back and till it... I loose more work because not owning a rotor tiller
Yes a rotor tiller is one of the best implements ever made for working the soil under, but to me is the last thing to use when preparations of a garden rather then most folks think to use as the first tool.......:2cents: just my 2 cents

Shhhhhh: You will need to put your asbestos suit on if you post this in the Attachments forum. I agree with you. That 4 footer will bounce bang and clang in virgin dirt till you think something will break. i know i have done it. Allthough every few months someone will ask, I have this 3 acre or 5 acre field i want to prep the soil for.... There is several folks that think its the perfect implement to even do fields up to 20 acres They say yea you have to go slower but its still faster than 2 or 3 passes with the disk! Im not sure what planet there on cause many of these folks will say its benn 5 yrs or 20 yrs since it was last cut! I mean i can turn 5 or 10 yr untilled dirt into a perfect seed bed with my disk in 2 passes, it will be up to the axles so i really have to ofset the second pass a little to keep part in uncut dirt. This is not straight red clay but more a clay loam more on the clay side. I could not imagine doing one of my even 1 acre fields with a tiller!

Im with you Deep.

 

[California]

I mean i can turn 5 or 10 yr untilled dirt into a perfect seed bed with my disk in 2 passes

What model disc and how wide? I can't seem to sink my disc (disc-harrow, really) even with cross discing. The first couple of passes are more like scuffing the sod, not plowing.

Can a 17-20 hp Yanmar pull a real disc plow that turns the grass under?

 

[clemsonfor]

What model disc and how wide? I can't seem to sink my disc (disc-harrow, really) even with cross discing. The first couple of passes are more like scuffing the sod, not plowing.

Can a 17-20 hp Yanmar pull a real disc plow that turns the grass under?

I have an LMC 12-16. Meaning it has 12, 16" disks. It is a realitively light one but not as light as a lienback cheapo. I have some pics of it some where. Im gonna try and see if i can find the pics of the field i did this last year. I think it is technically a 4.5 ft model. I have heard that you need to measure front and back and the avg to get what it really is. The front is like 4 ft and the back is closer to 5ft wide.

I have used a 5ft lienback and i could not pile enough weight on it and still pull it to make it cut deep. I pile about 200-300lb on top of mine to get it to cut well. I have modified my front bar bumper so that it now weighs about 150-170lbs to help hold the front down. The stuff i pile on it is some random 3/4" thick 4" wide random flat stock found on the family farm, a small gauge rail that is about 3 ft that is prolly from a local quarry that may be 50-100 yrs old, and a huge round cast iron thing that must be pushing 120lbs adn looks like a huge frypan? Oh and a square hunk of concrete that weights 70ish lbs.

I have added some pics. The ones with the tractor obviously show my YM2000 and the disk harrow. NOthing is on it (weights)as i was cutting in the seed here, thats what the random plastic tub was it had turnip seeds in it which nothing came up? There is still wads of grass in the areas with the tractor cause there was like 4"s of sodd and grasss to chew up. But it looks better than in the pic. The stuff in the foreground was only cut once or after the disk was lifted a bit as it was goin up hill and i really was not trying to do that spot. The pic with the deer is a spot thats been cut yearly missing only a few years for the past 8-10 yrs. It has to be offset about half a pass on the second one as it will be to the axles and stop the tractor, this spot is sandier/fine gravelier than the rest though. The last pic is the pic of the wheat and an oat that i planted, this pic was taken in april like the second week i think. I am waiting for it to drop seed before i cut and disk it. It was not fertilized or limed so its not that tall, pluss the deer grazed an eay 6-10 inches off of it.

After though: The deer pi and the grass pic are of the same spot just a different angle. The grass shot is taken to the left of the deer pic looking toward where the deer was kind of and to the top of the hill that you see in the back left of the tractor pic.

 

[clemsonfor]

I pulled the pic out of my photo album here on TBN and saved it to repost here instead of posting the link and imbedding a pic, i hate to say as im not that savy (pretty embaressing considering im only 29).

You can see how the rear axles are wider than the fronts.

 

[deepNdirt]

What model disk and how wide? I can't seem to sink my disk (disc-harrow, really) even with cross discing. The first couple of passes are more like scuffing the sod, not plowing.

Can a 17-20 hp Yanmar pull a real disc plow that turns the grass under?

It really all depends on what type of soil, I've dropped my 5' 10 disc harrow into some sod with good top soil and tear it to pc's,in just one pass and then I've got into red clay and have to make several passes just to break the surface crust, here is a photo of where I made one pass, backed up moved over a little and started over lapping on the second pass, this is good-ol-Ga red clay, it took about 3 passes one way and then I go back diagonally with the same technique, until I couldn't get any deeper, my disc are 18" I also use my suitcase weights on them when need extra down pressure,
the weight you see on it is estimated 400+lbs add the harrows weight is close total 800lb, was too much weight and would blow the O-ring in the spool, so I had to stop using it, the lighter suitcase weights work rather well enough,