7' Tiller on a Smaller Tractor

[Bert the Bard]

I've inherited a 7' Tiller, but I have an RK25 tractor.
Would I be able to use this tiller if I removed 2 flanges on each side?

 

[CalG]

I've inherited a 7' Tiller, but I have an RK25 tractor.
Would I be able to use this tiller if I removed 2 flanges on each side?

Sure!

Try just going slowly at full width!

But it's gonna be heavy. Until it's in the ground

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Depends on what tiller, I have a six foot Howard and there's NO WAY your tractor would run it, at least without overheating and it wouldn't take long either!

SR

 

[rScotty]

I've inherited a 7' Tiller, but I have an RK25 tractor.
Would I be able to use this tiller if I removed 2 flanges on each side?

Need a little more info. There are lots of kinds of tillers.
Is this a ground-driven or PTO driven tiller? Or hydraulic driven? All are common.
Is the tiller mounted as a front, mid, or rear type?
By "flanges" do you mean the digging tines??
Are the tines straight or curved?
Do the tines rotate in the same direction as the tractor tires or counter to it?

 

[CH4Ohio]

I've inherited a 7' Tiller, but I have an RK25 tractor.
Would I be able to use this tiller if I removed 2 flanges on each side?

I wouldn't remove anything from it. If it's too big, sell it and buy the right size. You can find them used -- though this is NOT the best time of year to shop for used tillers. (It's a great time of year to sell yours though!)

I would think the perfect tiller for that tractor is 5'. You want the smallest tiller that will cover your rear wheel tracks. 6' would be pushing it, so you're about "2 sizes" too big, in my opinion.

 

[bmaverick]

I wouldn't remove anything from it. If it's too big, sell it and buy the right size. You can find them used -- though this is NOT the best time of year to shop for used tillers. (It's a great time of year to sell yours though!)

I would think the perfect tiller for that tractor is 5'. You want to smallest tiller that will cover your rear wheel tracks. 6' would be pushing it, so you're about "2 sizes" too big, in my opinion.

Ditto. This is great advise.

Sell the tiller and buy one to fit the tractor and application.

I've inherited a 7' Tiller, but I have an RK25 tractor.
Would I be able to use this tiller if I removed 2 flanges on each side?

The RK25 has small rear wheels too. 4FT or 5FT tiller would be ideal for the SCUT.

A 7ft rotary tiller goes for $3,500-ish new. Sell yours for 1/2 that price used. I bet it would go QUICK in a heart beat.

Then take the $1,750 from the sale and BUY a brand new one for $1,699 at Rural King where you bought the RK25.

https://www.ruralking.com/5-foot-rotary-tiller-with-pto-shaft-rt5

 

[CH4Ohio]

The RK25 has small rear wheels too. 4FT or 5FT tiller would be ideal for the SCUT.

Actually, the RK25 is pretty beefy. Much larger than the RK24. It's pretty much the same size as a Kubota B7800. Would handle a 5' tiller well size-wise. HP might be a little light but you have to crawl in low range and it should handle it.

 

[Bert the Bard]

Need a little more info. There are lots of kinds of tillers.
Is this a ground-driven or PTO driven tiller? Or hydraulic driven? All are common.
Is the tiller mounted as a front, mid, or rear type?
By "flanges" do you mean the digging tines??
Are the tines straight or curved?
Do the tines rotate in the same direction as the tractor tires or counter to it?

PTO driven.
Rear mounted.
It has 11 flanges with curved digging tines.
Tines rotate in same direction as the tractor tires.

 

[CalG]

PTO driven.
Rear mounted.
It has 11 flanges with curved digging tines.
Tines rotate in same direction as the tractor tires.

The only reason not to test it is that you might need to change the pto shaft length.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

How many tines per flange?

SR

 

[arrow]

I wouldn't remove anything from it. If it's too big, sell it and buy the right size. You can find them used -- though this is NOT the best time of year to shop for used tillers. (It's a great time of year to sell yours though!)

I would think the perfect tiller for that tractor is 5'. You want the smallest tiller that will cover your rear wheel tracks. 6' would be pushing it, so you're about "2 sizes" too big, in my opinion.

You wouldn’t need the tiller to cover tracks if you space rows.
A 4’ tiller would make one pass between the tires
then space out your next row so the rear tire is just at the previously tilled row’s edge.
This also creates a work path between rows.

 

[GWagon]

I've inherited a 7' Tiller, but I have an RK25 tractor.
Would I be able to use this tiller if I removed 2 flanges on each side?

I think the RK25 PTO horsepower is 18? Should specify how much in your manual or on RK or TYM websites.

 

[CH4Ohio]

You wouldn’t need the tiller to cover tracks if you space rows.
A 4’ tiller would make one pass between the tires
then space out your next row so the rear tire is just at the previously tilled row’s edge.
This also creates a work path between rows.

This is the same old debate, but would you ever actually go buy a tiller that was not as wide as your rear wheels???

When the average person tills their garden, they expect to see a seedbed of tilled ground from edge-to-edge. The entire area. Tilled up. Not with untilled paths in the middle. Anyone paying to have their garden tilled expects it to all be tilled and smooth with NO tire tracks or paths left.

If you want to leave untilled areas, you can certainly do that with a properly sized tiller. Just move over.

On the other hand, with a narrow tiller on a wider tractor, there is NO WAY to leave an entire area tilled with no tire tracks.

So how does it make sense NOT to have the tiller a little wider than your tires? Seems silly to suggest that it's handy to have a too-small tiller. Worse than too big.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

This is the same old debate, but would you ever actually go buy a tiller that was not as wide as your rear wheels???

When the average person tills their garden, they expect to see a seedbed of tilled ground from edge-to-edge. The entire area. Tilled up. Not with untilled paths in the middle. Anyone paying to have their garden tilled expects it to all be tilled and smooth with NO tire tracks or paths left.

If you want to leave untilled areas, you can certainly do that with a properly sized tiller. Just move over.

On the other hand, with a narrow tiller on a wider tractor, there is NO WAY to leave an entire area tilled with no tire tracks.

So how does it make sense NOT to have the tiller a little wider than your tires? Seems silly to suggest that it's handy to have a too-small tiller. Worse than too big.

NOT true, offset the tiller to cover one tire and go the same direction for each pass with the tiller covering the tire track on that side.

SR

 

[big bubba]

believe the tail would wag the dog on this application. but never hurts to try.
attempting challenging tasks with under powered sub compacts is a common theme on this forum, good luck

 

[arrow]

This is the same old debate, but would you ever actually go buy a tiller that was not as wide as your rear wheels???

When the average person tills their garden, they expect to see a seedbed of tilled ground from edge-to-edge. The entire area. Tilled up. Not with untilled paths in the middle. Anyone paying to have their garden tilled expects it to all be tilled and smooth with NO tire tracks or paths left.

If you want to leave untilled areas, you can certainly do that with a properly sized tiller. Just move over.

On the other hand, with a narrow tiller on a wider tractor, there is NO WAY to leave an entire area tilled with no tire tracks.

So how does it make sense NOT to have the tiller a little wider than your tires? Seems silly to suggest that it's handy to have a too-small tiller. Worse than too big.

Made sense for us where we planted bushes in rows and our harvest plantings were also in rows.
With pathways between beds, it made it much easier to access either side of the beds. All
we did was mow the grass paths between the planted rows and used these clippings that were blown onto the rows, as mulch. It also cut down on weeding. Worked out very nicely grasshopper.
Not everything planted necessitates a vast ,open expanse of tillage.
So that is one example where the tiller doesn’t have to be as wide as the tire track.

 

[arrow]

believe the tail would wag the dog on this application. but never hurts to try.
attempting challenging tasks with under powered sub compacts is a common theme on this forum, good luck

I have seen where even 3’ wide tillers have compromised some scuts depending on the soil type and texture.
It still is amazing to me what can be done with a scut. Many punch above their weight class.

 

[Bert the Bard]

How many tines per flange?

SR

11 flanges.
6 tines per flange.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

It's going to take a bigger tractor to run that one.

SE

 

[jenkinsph]

It's going to take a bigger tractor to run that one.

SE

11 flanges.
6 tines per flange.

I agree with Rob and 84 " tiller with large 6 tine flanges will require more tractor, probably 40 pto hp as a minimum. Turning a tiller can load an engine down. If watch your temperature gauge over an hour you may overheat. That's with a 35 hp tractor and tiller.

I know nothing about your tractor but I recommend you get a tiller sized for your tractor. A 7' tiller is too big a scut.