Best practices for 3pt tiller

[AllByteNoBark]

I got a used 6 foot 3 pt tiller and it seems to work great. Just wondering if there is anything I should know before learning the hard way.

Tiller is just a County Line and does not appear it has been used much.

Our soil is real fine sand mixed with loamy soil. Think baby powder type of sand. That is about a foot deep then it is clay.

Tiller churns right through it with no problem. Just never used one before and don't know what I don't know.

 

[RjCorazza]

I recall a previous discussion about the PTO shaft. Did you break that slip clutch loose? Catching a rock or whatever could cause serious problems.

As far as operation, it's not complicated. I always engage the PTO at idle, rev to 540 RPM, then lower the tiller into the ground while beginning to move. Enjoy.
I have a similar 5' County Line tiller that has been great turning up gardens.

 

[AllByteNoBark]

Yes, got the PTO taken care of and broke the slip clutch loose. Have just done some test runs so far but it seems to be working quite well. Planning on a food plot and a garden area which is definitely tiller territory. I may use it for helping in smoothing some areas up also. While not fast it loosens the dirt up enough that I think a drag will then be capable of smoothing it out and getting rid of ant and gopher hills. Have not found any rocks here yet but will need to watch for stumps. Smaller roots it seems to not even notice.

Been breaking it up on the first pass and then it will go a little deeper on the second pass. After the second pass any grass or ground cover seems pretty well chopped up and dispersed. Seemed almost to easy to operate so thought I might be missing some details.

 

[oldballs]

You might want to change the gear box oil and the chain sump oil.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[AllByteNoBark]

I agree and plan on doing that. Before running it I checked the levels, the oil looked good and did not seem to have any water in it. Have changing it on my list of to-do's.

 

[bigtiller]

Tillers make low spots real easy. If you travel the same path in the garden year after year, you will have 2 corners that are low and 2 corners that have extra soil. You can make a dip in the middle of the tilled area by simply turning direction a quarter turn with the tiller running.

After you figure it out, just moving the steering wheel, a tiller can move a lot of soil to help in landscaping rather than a rake & shovel.

 

[3Lfarms]

Do not go too slow and over till the soil. You can turn dry soil into silt.
If you have rocks, leave the back door open, and it will tend to kick the rocks out further than the soil which will tend to leave the rocks sitting on top so you can pick them up.
Otherwise, leave the door down.

 

[AllByteNoBark]

Thanks, that sounds like good info. My soil starts out a bit like silt.