3-pt tiller recommendation

[Ram4x4]

Now that I have my Mahindra 5035 HST, ML-130 loader, 7' HD cutter and 7' HD box blade, I'm now in the market for a tiller.

I've had a look over on Everything Attachments, oooof, a 3-pt tiller is pricey!

Not sure what I need to be looking for.

I don't want to go to a full 84" width tiller (too expensive for my budget and not sure the 41.5 PTO HP will drive it well), but not sure how small I should, or can go. I was looking at the KK 48", but they say only 20-30 HP. I want it offset so it will cover at least one side of the tire tracks.

Since I have the loader and boxblade, I figure I can dig up the ground pretty well before tilling, so maybe a lighter duty tiller would be ok too?

Thoughts?

 

[sweettractors]

Now that I have my Mahindra 5035 HST, ML-130 loader, 7' HD cutter and 7' HD box blade, I'm now in the market for a tiller.

I've had a look over on Everything Attachments, oooof, a 3-pt tiller is pricey!

Not sure what I need to be looking for.

I don't want to go to a full 84" width tiller (too expensive for my budget and not sure the 41.5 PTO HP will drive it well), but not sure how small I should, or can go. I was looking at the KK 48", but they say only 20-30 HP. I want it offset so it will cover at least one side of the tire tracks.

Since I have the loader and boxblade, I figure I can dig up the ground pretty well before tilling, so maybe a lighter duty tiller would be ok too?

Thoughts?

We have the Gear Drive Tarter brand that can be setup to run in forward or reverse rotation. (comes setup on forward rotation) 6 Ft $1984 or a 7 ft for $2570 delivered to a local truck terminal or commercial business address in your community. Ken Sweet

 

[Ram4x4]

Was hoping to find something suitable in the $1,200ish range.

 

[Dingeryote]

Ram,

Take a look at Woods, Kuhn, Land Pride, and the various tractor Manufacturer Branded units....Used.
LS Rotovators are quickly gaining a good Rep with the Vinyard and Orchard guys around here, but they ain't any cheaper than Woods.


$1,200.00 puts you into the cheapie chain driven junk, that likely wont be able to stand up to anything but the lightest of use.
Tines break, and wear out, seals get chewed up from Baling twine that has a way of sneaking into wrong places, and on the chain driven junk...they flat out croak in a dramatic fashion.

Also beware of the Garbage sold at TSC.
They work fine for light use, but show thier price point inspired limitations, if you plan on seriously working the thing.
The company that makes them for the branded company, that supplies TSC, has lousy communications with TSC, and will not support thier products directly.They require the customer to deal with TSC for support.
Several of the smaller Orchard guys around here, have been burned by the lack of support, and TSC passing the buck, as well as getting stuck with next to zero parts support.

It's better to spend more to start with, or go used, with a company that actually supports the customer with parts and info when needed.

Our 1920(30hp) has no issues powering either one of our 72" rotovators in Bottomland black soil.
On the dried Marl around one of our ponds, it does grunt a bit, but not bad. Your 'Bota should have zero issues with a 72" even in heavy ground.

Keep an eyeball open for farm auctions, and stop in/call all the local dealers. The good tillers take a lot of killing before they die, and often can be had for around the price you are looking to spend.

 

[cmhyland]

Was hoping to find something suitable in the $1,200ish range.

Ram,
How much ground are you going to be tilling? What is the soil like, lots of rocks? if you have rocks as I do, lots of stuff from softball to bowling ball size, you'll need a tiller with gear drive and a slip clutch. You'd go brorke replacing shear bolts. The tractor sounds nice, what is the track width your trying to cover?

The boxblade scarifiers will break up the sod but you'd have better luck running a middlebuster, and then your boxblade to get many of the stones out.

I think if you use this SearchTempest Online Classifieds Search - All the Classifieds. One Search. to search the local classifieds you may find a deal...

Best of luck,
Chris

 

[trktrman]

Ram,
Also beware of the Garbage sold at TSC.
They work fine for light use, but show thier price point inspired limitations, if you plan on seriously working the thing.

Isn't Tarter one of the suppliers for TSC?

 

[cmhyland]

Isn't Tarter one of the suppliers for TSC?

Tarter makes the product for the east coast stores and they have another vendor for the west coast.

The tillers made for TSC by King Kutter were built of a design provided by TSC. Tarter and the other vendors use the same plans and specs.

Tarter does no direct customer because that is the way TSC arranged the contract to get the pricepoint they wanted. TSC is supposed to do the customer service, After all County Line is their house brand.

I own an 60" gear drive tiller made by Tarter and I have to say it's very well built. It's much heavier duty than most things in the price range. I have no reason to think it's garbage, but then again I tend not to buy garbage.


Regards,
Chris

 

[trktrman]

Tarter makes the product for the east coast stores and they have another vendor for the west coast.

The tillers made for TSC by King Kutter were built of a design provided by TSC. Tarter and the other vendors use the same plans and specs.

Tarter does no direct customer because that is the way TSC arranged the contract to get the pricepoint they wanted. TSC is supposed to do the customer service, After all County Line is their house brand.

I own an 60" gear drive tiller made by Tarter and I have to say it's very well built. It's much heavier duty than most things in the price range. I have no reason to think it's garbage, but then again I tend not to buy garbage.


Regards,
Chris

I thought they only altered the paint color for TSC. I don't think they change the design.

 

[sweettractors]

The box stores do not have the capabilities to service, setup or repair to most implements with "minimum wage" and or "part Time" help. They could sell Landpride or Howard brands and still have the same problems. Ken Sweet

 

[6011Artist]

Not sure how it is working now but I bought a grey market tractor 15 yrs ago and bought the tiller that shipped with the tractor for 250.00. The dealer was selling them straight out to anyone for 375.00. He said it was surprising how many people did not want the tiller to go with their tractor, he had lots of them in the back fence. Not sure if that scenerio is still taking place but if you see someone selling the used foreign tractors they used to all come off the boat with a tiller for each one. Might want to check with them if looking for a used one. I'm sure the price is higher now than the 375.00 back then but a good place to look.

Mine is 5' and had new tines on it when I bought it. I've had nothing but good service and it's still running strong.

From my experience of using mine you want one that is the width of your tractor or a little wider. If it's shorter than the tractor width it will always be a problem leaving tire tracks.

 

[cmhyland]

I thought they only altered the paint color for TSC. I don't think they change the design.

I was told by a TSC manager that TSC had the tiller built to their specs... they provided the build plans... He could have been full of beans...

Regards,
Chris

 

[cmhyland]

I was told by a TSC manager that TSC had the tiller built to their specs... they provided the build plans... He could have been full of beans...

Regards,
Chris

Also,
I have seen the TSC King Kutter tiller next to the TSC Tarter tiller, they look identical....

Regards,
Chris

 

[HayDR]

Now that I have my Mahindra 5035 HST, ML-130 loader, 7' HD cutter and 7' HD box blade, I'm now in the market for a tiller.

I've had a look over on Everything Attachments, oooof, a 3-pt tiller is pricey!

Not sure what I need to be looking for.

I don't want to go to a full 84" width tiller (too expensive for my budget and not sure the 41.5 PTO HP will drive it well), but not sure how small I should, or can go. I was looking at the KK 48", but they say only 20-30 HP. I want it offset so it will cover at least one side of the tire tracks.

Since I have the loader and boxblade, I figure I can dig up the ground pretty well before tilling, so maybe a lighter duty tiller would be ok too?

Thoughts?

A 6' ANS Gear drive tiller is available for $1495 (6 tines per flange) a 5' tiller is $1195

 

[cmhyland]

A 6' ANS Gear drive tiller is available for $1495 (6 tines per flange) a 5' tiller is $1195

That looks like a good price, but adding the shipping will bump it up. Shipping 500lbs isn't cheap...

Regards,
Chris

 

[2458n]

Sweet farms was a pretty good price. You will not be out any money- used ones bring about the same money in the spring time in Ohio. You want to buy one of these when there is snow or leaves on the ground.

 

[Ram4x4]

Use will be minimal, once a year to till up and prep a garden. Size of garden? Unknown at this point. We are planning corn, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, green beans and maybe carrots and watermelon.

I'm no farmer or gardener and have only done a few gardens in the past (but I want to change that!). Did some corn and tomatoes a couple years ago and borrowed my father-in-law's 7HP walk-behind tiller. OMG, what a PIA that thing was to use. I don't want to experience that again.

I'm in western PA and the soil is thick clay, depending on where you dig there will be either small rocks (smaller than a golf ball) or you could hit boulders. On my property, if you get down about 2 feet or so you hit a layer of hard sand stone. Backhoes have a hard time breaking through it. The area I will be using is all very small rocks at best (already dug and tilled it before). I'll definitely need to add to the soil to get something really worth growing in (although the tomatoes and corn we did 2 years ago did quite well with no other prep than tilling it).

I would prefer to stay with a smaller width with an offset primarily due to cost. I just don't want to pay the price of a 7' tiller, can't justify it really. Time I have, I can do multiple passes, not worried about that and with an offset I can do it without leaving tire tracks.

The Mahindra 5035 tracks at 75"

I guess my question at this point is, if I go with a 48" with offset, but it's rated 20-35HP, will 41 HP at the PTO be too much? Even with a slip clutch?

 

[pacerron]

Use will be minimal, once a year to till up and prep a garden. Size of garden? Unknown at this point. We are planning corn, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, green beans and maybe carrots and watermelon.

I'm no farmer or gardener and have only done a few gardens in the past (but I want to change that!). Did some corn and tomatoes a couple years ago and borrowed my father-in-law's 7HP walk-behind tiller. OMG, what a PIA that thing was to use. I don't want to experience that again.

I'm in western PA and the soil is thick clay, depending on where you dig there will be either small rocks (smaller than a golf ball) or you could hit boulders. On my property, if you get down about 2 feet or so you hit a layer of hard sand stone. Backhoes have a hard time breaking through it. The area I will be using is all very small rocks at best (already dug and tilled it before). I'll definitely need to add to the soil to get something really worth growing in (although the tomatoes and corn we did 2 years ago did quite well with no other prep than tilling it).

I would prefer to stay with a smaller width with an offset primarily due to cost. I just don't want to pay the price of a 7' tiller, can't justify it really. Time I have, I can do multiple passes, not worried about that and with an offset I can do it without leaving tire tracks.

The Mahindra 5035 tracks at 75"

I guess my question at this point is, if I go with a 48" with offset, but it's rated 20-35HP, will 41 HP at the PTO be too much? Even with a slip clutch?

A couple points to consider.
1. The tilling of the garden space will be much easier with a tiller behind a tractor, but you don't need to, or want to go too deep.
If you go the same depth, every year you will build a pan with your type of soil that may hold water and cause the plants to die.
You should keep adding sand, leaves, manure, whatever you can get to keep improving the soil. This will take years.
Tilling too much to get that TV show garden look will cause compacting as will running your tractor over it more than required.
2. That takes us to #2. You will still need to weed your garden as the summer progresses, so a small walk behind tiller with rows planted far apart enough to use it is still the easiest way to control the weeds in addition to hoeing close to the plants. Weeds will rob the nutrients from the garden plants if you don't keep them under control, and are a good place for snakes to hide until you tramp on them.

 

[cmhyland]

A couple points to consider.
1. The tilling of the garden space will be much easier with a tiller behind a tractor, but you don't need to, or want to go too deep.
If you go the same depth, every year you will build a pan with your type of soil that may hold water and cause the plants to die.
You should keep adding sand, leaves, manure, whatever you can get to keep improving the soil. This will take years.
Tilling too much to get that TV show garden look will cause compacting as will running your tractor over it more than required.
2. That takes us to #2. You will still need to weed your garden as the summer progresses, so a small walk behind tiller with rows planted far apart enough to use it is still the easiest way to control the weeds in addition to hoeing close to the plants. Weeds will rob the nutrients from the garden plants if you don't keep them under control, and are a good place for snakes to hide until you tramp on them.

Save your money on the small tiller for weeding.... This tool will be faster and cheaper in the end...

Hooke 'n Crooke Garden Tool

http://youtu.be/aFbof3Ha9ns


Regards,
Chris

 

[wcampbell47]

I purchased my tiller from TSC at least 5 years ago. It has been very serviceable. This one came with a slip clutch. Neighbor has one with a shear pin which he has had to replace several times. I tend to plow the ground first if it has never been a garden. I also have added some weight to the tiller to keep it from bouncing so much. A 4 foot tiller would be too small, a 5 foot would still leave tire tracks, a 6 foot would cover most of your tracks but seems like a large unit if you are only going to be making a garden once or twice a year. Hmmm

 

[newbury]

<snip> A 4 foot tiller would be too small, a 5 foot would still leave tire tracks, a 6 foot would cover most of your tracks but seems like a large unit if you are only going to be making a garden once or twice a year. Hmmm

My semi-retired cousin-in-law has about a 6' tiller. He has a watermelon patch that covers about 2 acres. It's about the only thing he uses his tiller for. He gives away a ton or two of watermelons and he and his wife eat a bunch.

I think that with some of us if we have a good tool we find that we use it a lot more often than we predicted. The OP might find himself smugly offering to till his neighbors gardens.