When backfilling around a foundation, do it very carefully. Don't try to dump too much dirt in at once. A bucketful of dirt is pretty heavy. And if it hits the foundation walls to hard, you can break something. Also, try to make sure there are no huge rocks that you're dropping in there. I actually did a little damage to my basement wall by trying to "gently" slide a big rock over the edge. Once that thing fell, it flipped over a couple of times, hit some of the dirt below, and smacked into the basement wall HARD.
Using your tiller as ballast is a great idea. A bucket of dirt can really make you light in the rear end! I carry around a 6' box blade that works really well.
Getting the hang of getting a "full" bucket can be hard to do. What I do is hit the pile in 1st gear (slow) with bucket level. As I go into the pile, I rev the motor up to about 2500 rpm as a slowly curl the bucket up...all the while still pushing forward. A toothbar makes this much easier, especially if the piles have hardened a little over time.
