Tiller forward or reverse tine tiller??

[art]

That compacted layer is as far your plants roots can get in one season. You might try a sub-soiler to break it.

 

[mapper]

That compacted layer is as far your plants roots can get in one season. You might try a sub-soiler to break it.

I have a single bottom plow that I can get down 10-12" with, that seems to do the trick. Probably not as. Deep as a subsoiler but you work with what you have

 

[Qapla]

If you are using a "walk behind" tiller, reverse tine is much easier to run - especially when breaking the soil.

However, if you are using a 3-point tiller, the aspect of "holding it down" is usually no longer an issue and the forward tine will do nicely with minimal damage to itself.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I thought that a reverse tiller was the way to go. But I bought a forward tiller and have had excellent results

 

[GardenerJerry]

This site, Tillers Direct, has a very helpful buyer's guide for tillers. They go into detail on differences between front and rear tine. The buyer's guide link is at the bottom of the page.

 

[Bird]

In the "walk behind" tillers, I've owned both forward and reverse tillers. I liked the reverse better for the bigger jobs and the forward one for cultivating plants already up. But my tiller for the tractor was forward turning and with a hydrostatic transmission, I was quite happy with it.

 

[Clay45]

My Tarter tiller from Tractor Supply has the option of being converted to back rotation but comes in forward rotation configuration. After using it I have no need to reverse; forward churns it up just fine and it pulls out some pretty large rocks without damage (so far).

 

[gregp1083]

Forward tine it is. Thank you all very much.

 

[California]

I see voting is closed but I'll add:
In my orchard, the tiller is likely to hit old roots when preparing a site for a replacement tree. Turning forward, the tiller walks right over roots with minimal drama. I hate to think how a reverse tiller would dig in when it snags a root.

I do everything from small gardens with my small tiller, to larger fields with my bigger tiller

To get the RIGHT tilth, it's really about learning HOW to get it! NOT, to just keep going over and over your garden spot...

Most guys waaaaaay "over till" their soil and ruin the soil structure!

Can you elaborate on this?

I have a 54" tiller made in Japan for rice paddies. It is designed to accept the 540/750/1050 rpm output of the tractor it was originally matched for. (and I have 540/1000 available from my tractor). Faster speed seems to turn garden soil into fine flour, which I would think becomes airless clay when moistened. (Photo trying out the two PTO speeds available: 540 then after a few ft, 1000 rpm gear selected).

Seems to me small chunks is all the tilling any plot needs. Comments?

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have a single bottom plow that I can get down 10-12" with, that seems to do the trick. Probably not as. Deep as a subsoiler but you work with what you have

I use this to break up any hardpack and bring up rocks to the surface. It will pull all the way to the frame which is plenty deep enough for any root system other than a tree. If I recall rightly, I think it was around $250.