Considering new BCS

[ElSueno Farms]

Have a nice 3/4 acre garden spot on new property and want to make as much of it as possible into a garden. Nice pipe and field fence surrounds plot, water available, was used as horse pasture prior to us getting the property.
considering a BCS 739 with power harrow, roller blade flail mower, and chipper shredder as attachments. Plan to compost and use green manure as much as I can. Soil is good sandy loam.
i have a 6 ft disc harrow and planned to disc the entire plot several times and plant fall cover crop.

it has been years since I operated a tiller of any type, your suggestions on equipment choices, closest dealers is almost 3 hours away. Plan to dedicate the equipment to garden use, but over time May find additional uses for other attachments on the 30 additional acres.

 

[HEC]

I had one a few years ago and they are a very good machine . I only had the tiller for mine and it did a fine job , other than that I can't add to much . I don't remember the model number but it was one size smaller than the biggest . The one I had a differential lock and that was a very nice feature to have .

 

[WesKootenay]

The 739 appears to be similar to our 732 with the addition of an extra gear and 'power safe' clutch. Ours came with a rototiller and plow about 7 years ago, we have added a Berta flail mower and a trailer hitch. We were going to buy a rotary plow but our local farm co-op has a rental unit. Considered a snow blower and a chipper but went with individual machines. Our BCS has been almost bullet-proof, have had to replace cables + free up the clutch (my fault ) don't know how we could garden without it.

 

[joecoin]

I've had a Grillo 107D for 7 years.

Used for mowing only until this year, I have put in a 200 sq ft garden.

Tiller and cultivator are the only attachments I have so far.
Next year will be buying the Aldo Biagioli Mini Bedshaper.

If your soil is already loose (which it may be since it was a horse pasture) I don't know if you'll need a plow, I tilled my plot that was farm land that had lain fallow for 30 years. Did not need a plow.

 

[cmyoung2]

Spend the extra and get the 749. Steering brakes are worth it. Or spend some time and find a used 850, 85852, or 853. All have the larger motor and brakes. Since you have larger tractors, use them for the heavy plowing like you plan, altho discing may not be enough for a old horse area, it will be hard. I have a 850 with rotary plow, tiller, culitivators, ridgers for the garden, plus a chipper/shredder which I don't use much, flail mower(love it) finish mower(Zannon),Snowblower, plus I built a blade, wheel barrow(heavily used) logging arch, and a couple of other pieces. I started with a BCS that did not have the steering brakes, traded and would not go back.

 

[Ford850]

I have a 853 that I use with a tiller, snow blower, large converted Gravely blade, sulky, and ride on trailer. I wanted the 853 so I could use the transport gear for the trailer and sulky use. I also pull my log splitter and fertilizer spreader occasionally. The flail and power harrow seem to work for others, but I think my soil has too much clay so I rely on the deeper till. In sandy loam it would be better, but does it provide enough churning to handle the green manure?

 

[Freep]

I also have an 853 with sulky, flail, power harrow, and rotary plow. That rotary plow will loosen up soil significantly and makes a good first run prior to the harrow if you are interested in any deeper tillage, though possibly not as necessary for your soil. It's a relatively (to flail and harrow) inexpensive attachment, so just pointing it out. I bought the 853 thinking that I'd rather have more power than needed than not enough: Now, given my use of flail and harrow, it seems to me to be ~just~ enough.

 

[5030]

I guess of you are upwardly mobile and money is no object, they are a nice machine but, there are a number of rear tine tillers on the market for a lot less

 

[ElSueno Farms]

I rented a Honda rear tine years ago, nice machine, but no attachments available. Other than Grillo, what are some other machines that have a full line of attachments?

 

[5030]

Troy Bilt (Horse) used to. Not sure now. My Cub Cadet has the hiller-furrower attachment available and I have one but all I need. I would be concerned about available output power on the BCS for running auxiliary implements as there isn't very much (power) available