Rototillers for beginners

[nikerret]

I use a Land Pride RTR0550 behind my BX25D. It’s a reverse spin and I have had excellent luck with it. I bought it used and it’s never missed a beat. The “05” is their lightest model and it’s built very well. I initially went to buy a 1550, which is a heavier duty unit, but that unit had sold and the 0550 was the right price. Any reservations I did have are gone.

I prefer the reverse spin. It digs in and I can control how finely it grinds by adjusting my speed and the tailgate. It only goes a few inches, but if I go slowly and over it a few times (I try to go different directions over the same spot), I can get it around 8” deep. That’s been plenty, for every job I have taken it on.

Here is a garden I started, for a customer. From grass yard to tilled in around an hour.

And another picture. This was just doing some weedy uneven areas.

 

[Williy]

You want the forward rotation as the reverse
rotation you can get rocks stuck in the tines
and play hell getting them out. Keep your
tiller centered and wider than the back tires.

willy

 

[coobie]

Kuhn and Maschio make darn nice tillers.

 

[Ken Kegris]

Be sure and get a slip clutch, It will save on parts in the long run, mainly if you hit some unknown rocks.

 

[Beeenvenue]

Getting one to cover your tires may be tough. Most 25-40hp are now 60-63” with r1 or r14s so that means 6’

In some soils that may be fine. I struggle to pull a 5’ forward rotation with my 35hp machine, even in low I have to slow down to a crawl to keep it from bogging my engine. I have heavy heavy clay soils.

You may be fine with wider but unless someone tells you what kind of soil they have you cannot extrapolate to your situation.

 

[ruffdog]

I have a 5' KK that covered the tracks of the TC33D tractor but I now have the Toolcat which is 5'6" wide. I do pull the tiller to one side so as I move over, the tracks are covered. I can till ~14" deep with it and turn it to powder but, some say over-tilling ruins the microbes etc in the soil.

 

[Bearsixty7]

I have a TerraForce 62" gear drive I purchased from a local dealer (EA sells them as well) I have only used it for a few hours but it works great! It is just a little wider than my tractor with R1's so it covers the tire tracks.

 

[ning]

I got the tiller I talked about in this thread at auction (unused, not particularly new, works perfectly, just under 7' wide) for $800 + auction fee + taxes = just under $1k. It's an absolute monster and chews up the ground like crazy with nearly zero effort from me.

Last summer I tilled a 20x30 plot in land I've never touched before with it in minutes; it would've taken me at least a couple solid days with my 18" rear-tine tiller and beat my body to heck working it. Though I rarely use the tiller, once a year is enough to make it a worthwhile purchase.

 

[Golden Rocket]

There are also some Italian companies in the tiller business making pretty nice products. Had one of those for years that was trouble free.

Coming from the walk-behind type tillers, you'll be shocked at how much area you can work in so lttle time. Brace yourself for one huge garden if that's your thing! I had a 72" tiller and thought it was total overkill for our modest needs.

It was chain drive, standard rotation, my 46 hp tractor never really knew it was there.

You probably already know fence wire, roots and rocks are the curses of any tiller

I understand that if your area of work has lots of rock and/or root, it might be best to use a forward rotation tiller as it will throw the debris out the back making for less entanglement issues - what is your experience with that respect?

 

[bigtiller]

I understand that if your area of work has lots of rock and/or root, it might be best to use a forward rotation tiller as it will throw the debris out the back making for less entanglement issues - what is your experience with that respect?

I agree, forward is best for rocks. A reverse rotation tiller sometimes will push a rock in front of it for several feet until it roles off to the side. Or it might suck it up and try to ear it. Sometimes with mine, I need to be watching the entire width of the tiller watching for rolling rocks. That position gets uncomfortable pretty fast.