Tiller 5' King Kutter Tiller

[Farmwithjunk]

The lower the flap the more time has the tiller to whip soil up between the tines and the back flap ... hence more of the powder like tilling. If you have the flap all the way up bunch of clumps ends up being slung out from the action of the tines hence not as good of tilling. I see no reason to have to lift the flap up all the way from the back unless you are cleaning the mud off of the tines with a stick or something.

JC

You bring up a good point. Soil can EASILY be overworked. Tillers have a tendency to turn certain types of soil (under certain conditions) into talcum powder. And that ain't good. Clay based soil is the worst offender. Especially when it's very dry, a tiller grinds it into dust. Then it tends to blow away in the wind, wash away in the rain, then compact into concrete when it dries out. Clay tills much better with a fair amount of moisture.

All around where I live, it's mostly red clay. But my propert is some of the highest for miles in any direction. Apparently the hilltop ended up with all the good stuff. We have top soil that's several feet deep. You can literally dig with your bare hands in wet or dry conditions. In my garden, you can dig with your hands to 16" or 18" deep. My sweet corn patch was tilled in early April. Even in dry conditions, I sink a couple inches when i walk on that ground still to this day. The soil is like a mixture of potting soil and peat moss. A tiller works to near perfection. One pass, even in sod, and it's ready to plant. I can till it wet OR dry. A mile away and conditions aren't quite as good.

 

[dooleysm]

I was wondering about that when I saw how powdery the soil was. I am planning on bringing in several tons of well aged manure and probably some sand to work in to the soil. I've got a bunch of topsoil left over from digging out a playground area for my son this past spring that I will probably add to the area too.

 

[john_bud]

The lower the flap the more time has the tiller to whip soil up between the tines and the back flap ... hence more of the powder like tilling. If you have the flap all the way up bunch of clumps ends up being slung out from the action of the tines hence not as good of tilling. I see no reason to have to lift the flap up all the way from the back unless you are cleaning the mud off of the tines with a stick or something.

JC

I raise the flap up in rocky soils, so the rocks get flung out the back.

Largest one that was physically flung (rolled over 2-3 times) was about 18 inches thick, 18 inches wide and 36 inches long and was far too heavy to pick up. There was that certain smell in the air, the smell of burning clutch. Which is a good thing.

jb

 

[JC-jetro]

I raise the flap up in rocky soils, so the rocks get flung out the back.

Largest one that was physically flung (rolled over 2-3 times) was about 18 inches thick, 18 inches wide and 36 inches long and was far too heavy to pick up. There was that certain smell in the air, the smell of burning clutch. Which is a good thing.

jb

Agreed. I'm a bit lucky with my garden site, with all the t-post I buried to fence my garden and all the tilling never once I hit a rock. Now I got rocky areas close to the creek but not at the garden site. I keep the flap half way raised and just went over the area twice, once couple of inches and then 6". I potato plowed ( middle busted)the area first but learned later that my soil is good and no rock. I directly tilled 3 more areas around 1/3 to 1/4 acre for deer food plot and pretty much got the same result without potato plowing the area first.