Sharpen the tiller tines?

[California]

Does anybody sharpen tiller tines, to cut up waist-high grass as it is tilled under?

 

[moored4]

I would mow the grass first if it is that high and then till!

 

[Baby Grand]

I would mow the grass first if it is that high and then till!

+1
Avoid getting all that long grass wrappered around the axle - mow it first.

 

[sixdogs]

+1
Avoid getting all that long grass wrappered around the axle - mow it first.

Great advice.
Wrapped grass around the twines is a real life changing experience and can take a long time to remove if tight enough. I have a hooked type long handled knife-type thing that I use to reach in and hook the grass and as I pull it back out it cuts the grass for easier removal.

 

[California]

I agree that cutting first is the best general advice. But this is a special application where the mower wouldn't work well. I will use the little tractor and 5' tiller to finish up the tight spots where the 70hp tractor won't fit. I just took this picture.


The big tractor did fine going East/West but the North/South aisles are so narrow that he just made a single pass per aisle. I need to finish it up to look like the last picture below.

Following are photos I posted last year of the same process. The tiller turns weeds under much better than the disc, but as sixdogs noted it loads up. The worst part is tough blackberry vines that need to be knocked down so the harvest crew doesn't find them growing all through the trees.

I have a tiller cleanout tool that works pretty well. I took a hooked linoleum knife and hammered a piece of light conduit onto its handle so I can reach the center of the tiler from either side.

So back to my question, has anyone ever sharpened tines to improve the slicing action? I've heard of farmers sharpening disc pans before discing but I wonder if the tiller would dull so soon that sharpening is pointless.

 

[clemsonfor]

I think your right, it will dull so fast, it would be pointless.

But why not just get you a 15 or 25 gallon spray tank and mix you some Glyphosate (roundup) and spray that grass? It would be faster and way easier to ride to each tree and spray off a 4 wheeler than it would to try and manuver your tractor around and not get decapitated by the branches.

 

[California]

why not just get you a 15 or 25 gallon spray tank and mix you some Glyphosate (roundup)... It would be faster and way easier to ride to each tree and spray off a 4 wheeler than it would to try and manuver your tractor around and not get decapitated

We used to. Here's a photo I posted in 2004.

But the retail market for Gravenstein apples has been declining for years because they aren't as pretty as the flavorless Washington State apples you find at Safeway. A few years ago all of the crop was going to juice and applesauce. So we converted to Organic where demand is increasing. This gets top price for the heirloom varieties that have great flavor.

Tillage is the only practical weed control now. Some day I might try mowing and nothing more, copying one of my neighbors.

 

[bp fick]

Tines wear thinner and shorter with time, fast enough. Makes me pause to consider taking any metal off them intentionally. Agree with the others that the edge would be beat dull very quickly anyhow.

Mowing is probably your solution. Keeping it disked or dragged, in a dirt state, in another option. Do you all get concerned about trips over the ground? Compaction issues, etc?

We went organic three years ago. The transition went smoother than I ever thought possible. The market price support is there. Sure, we had some philosophical disposition but the market drove us organic, plain and simple. We're very pleased. Your place looks beautiful.

 

[clemsonfor]

I am a forester yet dont know the answer to my own tree question. Probably because i know southern commercial species, and not ornamental, or cultivars or fruit trees. This is more of a hortaculturist question i guess.

Anyway, my question is i guess you dont get root damage from constant disking. There obviously not shallow rooted trees, and or the constant disking forces the roots deeper?

 

[rmully]

Cal ...When I first got my 1400 tiller all patched up and working I used a 4" grinder and sharpened the tines ...after about a days use they were back to the way they looked before all that work. I see no difference today with the "dull" tines.