Tiller Appropriate size of a tiller

[farmer_d]

Hello,

I have purchased a Kubota L4630 which has a LA853 loader on it. At the same time I purchased this I also bought some implements - one of which is a New Holland 105A HD 72" tiller.

A couple of weeks after making the purchase I reviewed the owner's manual for the tractor. In doing so I learned that Kubota instructs on using 60" or smaller tillers with this model of tractor. This concerned me because I thought this might put my warranty coverage at risk. Needless to say, the next day I brought this to my dealer's attention. They indicated that this requirement made no sense to them.

I then began researching the recommendations of other tractor manufacturers. Here I learned that John Deere recommends even larger tillers for comparable tractor models in their lineup. Similarly, when reviewing the New Holland tiller documentation, it recommends putting larger tillers, again with NH tractors which have considerably less HP than the tractor I purchased.

This doesn't make sense to me. Is Kubota right or overly conservative for some reason?

The L4630 which I have has a Category 1 three point and 39.5 HP at the PTO. The comparable tractors mentioned above have comparable (or significantly lower) HP, also have Category 1 three point hitches which, in many cases, are not rated to lift as much as the Kubota.

Any light shed on the situation would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Is Kubota right or overly conservative for some reason? )</font>

Overly conservative, in my opinion, on nearly all models. Understandable perhaps, since they don't know what kind of terrain, what kind of soil, etc. you'll be working on. Uphill, in heavy, wet clay, your tiller might be too big, but otherwise I wouldn't worry about it. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[DUMBDOG]

They also recommend a 2-14 moldboard plow, I plan on running a 3-16. Also have a 60 inch tiller for my old tractor, plan on getting a bigger one next year if its in the finances.

 

[MarkV]

My experience has been like Bird’s. Kubota seems to be VERY conservative with its recommendations. With as much tractor as the L4630 is you will be fine with the 72” tiller.

Does the tiller manufacturer recommend a minimum PTO horsepower?

MarkV

 

[DDT]

I have a LP 70" tiller, I put my new L5030 on it, WOW The tractor does not know its back there. I have 42 PTO HP. I do wish mine was wider.

 

[JJT]

I run a 72" behind an L3710. I'm glad I have hydro, because breaking new ground you need to crawl. I'm happy with this width and would do the same again. I've easily tilled over 50 acres with this setup in the past 5-6 yrs.

 

[Dargo]

The L4310HSTC Kubota I had would turn my 72" tiller just fine. However, the 4600 JD I had would not. They have about the same PTO HP, the difference is that the Kubota was a hydro, and the 4600 JD a gear drive. I now have a L5030HSTC and it does just fine with my 72" tiller.

With heavy clay soil that I have, I'd venture to say that if you have a hydro; no problem at all. If you have a gear drive; it will work, but you may have to make two passes to get the depth you want. Hopefully that helps. These comments are made from the experience I've had with 3 different tractors turning the same tiller in the same area. Having the hydro made a huge difference in what size tiller can be used on my ground.

 

[RonR]

I have a 22HP HST and a 52" tiller in clay. The HST makes it NICE. I also found that if I set the depth skid shoes at 2" and make multiple passes, the tiller doesn't hop and bounce. It just fluffs the top 2" on pass one.

Pass 2 takes it another 2" deep as the skid shoes rest on the bottoom of the first pass.

Pass 3 takes it deeper.

When I first got it, I set the shoes for max depth. It worked ok, but was harder on everything. Having to drive slower at the deeper depth, I think time wise it was about the same going shallow with several passes. I know it was easier on the hardware.

Quick, quiet, easy on the tiller and the tractor. I do think HST is what makes it work so well.

ron

 

[PBinWA]

Maybe a stupid question but why does HST make it easier for tilling? Is it just the speed changing ability? I would think that a Live PTO would make this all a moot point.

Educate me please! I'm shopping for a tiller too.

 

[RonR]

My experience is that with a gear tractor, if you are in 1st gear at WOT, you have X MPH ground speed. With HST and WOT, you can go about one-tenth of that gear ground speed--you can barely CREEP along. This gives your tiller time to work the ground.

With gear drive (my opinion) is that you will have higher ground speed and MIGHT be more difficult for the tiller to keep up.

Just my two cents.
ron