BEST 72" TILLER,

muscat · May 4, 2005

BEST 72\" TILLER,

Looking for a tiller 72" to put behind a Kabota L4330 (~35 PTO HP) I need to till over 5 acreas a couple times a year (might increase to 10)

Lots of folks recommend CCM for Top and Tilt, I noticed they have tillers too A MR 190 72" 54 tines #800 for $1550 as well as a heavy duty unit SR 185 72" 42 tines #1042 for $1850.

Any one with CCM or other tiller experiance good or bad want to offer up an opinion?

Thanks

LarryD · May 4, 2005

Re: BEST 72\" TILLER,

I've got the First Choice 60" tiller. I think it's an RT-04 60 and I've tilled up some pretty big rocks with it /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. The only thing it has done is put a few dimples in the tailgate in the rear. After a couple of hits, I really expected to find a tine or two with some marks or damage but nothing. All the tines still have a good "edge" on them and none seem deformed. I've just got to learn to do a better job of ripping the area first with the box blade, that's hard to do when the teeth on the boxblade only scratch the surface and the tiller gets down 5' or 6". It is a pretty sturdy unit IMO.

Dargo · May 4, 2005

Re: BEST 72\" TILLER,

Is your tractor HST or a gear tractor? With my soil, a 4330 wouldn't turn a 72" tiller in low gear. The same tractor in HST had no problem. I have a 72" Maschio that came with a slip clutch so I don't have to worry about shear bolts. I bought the Maschio after the JD guy told me that the particular model I was looking at was made in Italy by Maschio. I've been well pleased with it and it seems to be a beast. If your tractor is HST, you shouldn't have a problem. If it is a gear drive tractor, I'd recommend going to a 60" tiller. Otherwise, you will be making multiple passes to gain depth.

_RaT_ · May 4, 2005

Re: BEST 72\" TILLER,

Interesting comment Brent.

kensfarm · May 4, 2005

Re: BEST 72\" TILLER,

I've got a NH 105A 72" tiller.. this is my 6th planting season using it. I know it's tuff.. wrapped a thumb sized solid steal bar like a pretzel once(I have a collection).. it shut the engine down on the tractor.

The tiller was my only ground implement for the first several years.. since then have gotten a plow & a disk.. def. makes the tilling go faster when prepping for a finished planting bed.

Dargo · May 4, 2005

Re: BEST 72\" TILLER,

What? You think my technique was bad with the gear tractor causing me to make multiple passes to get depth?? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Or, did I spell "Maschio" (or however it is spelled) so bad you don't know what I'm talking about. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Bob_Skurka · May 4, 2005

Re: BEST 72\" TILLER,

If you are tilling that much property I'm guessing that you are doing it for a market garden or some other type of commercial enterprise. If that is the case, you might want to bypass all the consumer grade tillers and go up to the brands that are used by the professionals. I think a starting point would be Howard, but there are other brands out there that when they till they don't leave the same type of level hardpan layer 7" below the surface. They use chisel or shovel tips instead of simple bent tines like the regular tillers use.

The prices, last time I looked (the lovely Mrs_Bob changed careers 3 years ago and we almost purchased a garden center and she was looking to commercially market garden specialty veggies at the time) were about double what the better grade of consumer tillers were running. However, with that price came features unseen on many of the residential grade tillers, and from what I could see a level of durability that justified the price. I'm sorry I don't remember the names of some of the other brands, but they are simply made to a different standard. You might want to do a google search for market garden implements, or maybe truck garden implements.

thcri · May 4, 2005

Re: BEST 72\" TILLER,

I just bought a two year old Buhler still in the crate. In fact it was even painted New Holland Blue to match my tractor. Based on some of the other tillers this unit looks like it is built pretty tough. The tines seem to be larger than most and it just looks heavy. So far I like it a lot.

murph

_RaT_ · May 4, 2005

Re: BEST 72\" TILLER,

Did I sound a little, how do you say, ahh, smarty pants like. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif It was the comment about how you could get away with a 72" tiller on HST but not necessarily a gear tractor which will typically have more PTO HP but less ability to control the speed. As anyone who has tilled knows, the speed is important.

muscat · May 4, 2005

Re: BEST 72\" TILLER,

Thanks for the response so far. I might try and find one of those real heavy duty ones at an auction.

Yes my L4330 is HST

The tilling I will be doing is in between grape vine rows that are ~9 feet on center.

Any comments on what is too heavy?

I know that lots of adds for varoius brands say 20-70 PTO HP (big range!!!), 100HP etc.. I am not convinced that a 35 PTO HP tractor could not get great use out of a "100HP" tiller as long as the tiller was not too long and you did not try and set the depth to deap. In general I would think the HP rating is what the unit can handle vs what it takes to run it.