Any PT Tiller Users here?

   / Any PT Tiller Users here? #1  

BigDaddyEureka

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Feb 21, 2021
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Tractor
Deere, Power-Trac
If you have the tiller - especially for a PT-425 - how do you like it? How does it compare to the results from a walk-behind tiller? I'm sure it's easier, but how well does it produce a nice well tilled surface?

I found a video of one in action here:

Do you always have to drive backwards to use it, or was that just a "for the video" thing? On the other hand you'd hate to track up your nice tillage work by driving over it too.
 
   / Any PT Tiller Users here? #2  
I had one for my 422 but I sold it. It did a good job but my ground is stony and it kept getting stones jammed between the tines and the housing. It was not that hard to get them out usually, just shut off pto put down pressure on tiller and back up. We just have so many stone the right size that you were constantly getting stone jammed.
 
   / Any PT Tiller Users here? #3  
I have one on a 1445. I grew up with an old Sears front (yuck!) tiller. It was always flinging itself up out of the ground. We upgraded to a Troy built rear tiller. The Troy built was amazing. You could literally point it down the row, and run ahead to remove a rock. It produced a fine airy seed bed.

Two passes through my clay soil with the PT has the soil in a light airy seed bed ready state. I do one run forward and the final run in reverse. Typically, I can bury the tiller to the driveshaft in reverse.

I also turn my manure/compost piles with it. It does a great job of breaking things up, redistributing things and aerating the pile. Every once in awhile a hunk of concrete or large rock finds its way into the pile. I keep a package of new bolts to replace the once that shear when a tine meets an immovable object. Quick fix. I have never, knock on wood, lost a tine.

Two thumbs way up in my book.

All the best,

Peter
 
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   / Any PT Tiller Users here? #4  
I use mine quite often and have been happy with the results. I use a similar forward/reverse method as Peter mentioned. Or occasionally use the wheel tracks to create a hill and furrow pattern.

It will break very hard ground. It's easy enough to get a rock out of it gets stuck. The drag/reverse trick works or a heavy hammer.

Keep a decent edge on the tines for rooted ground.
 
   / Any PT Tiller Users here?
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Thanks for the replies everyone! It's a pricey piece of hardware, but there's some work I need to do that doesn't make sense for ur Husqvarna walk behind. It's a great unit with a Honda engine, but it's a bit much to ask of it! 🙃 I figure with the PT that job becomes doable for a larger tiller. I could pull a small cultivator, but the tiller would do a much better job.
 
 
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