Help me justify a TILLER.

[tony123]

Thanks for all the input guys. It seems unanymous (almost).

It sounds like the tiller is an implement to be measured not by how little time you spend using it, but by how much time you save from not using it.

I posted this yesterday specifically because my local Yanmar dealer (where I got my tractor from) has about 8 Yanmar tillers in the yard. He hasn't had any in the past 6 months.

I'm going to swing by there today and see what exactly he has and what he's asking. It seems like a no brainer if he's on the lower end of the price range.

Last time he had them, they moved fast.

Again, thanks so much for the personal experiences. I was really hoping to see some specific tasks that I hadn't thought of, but to repeat myself, the tiller is an implement to be measured not by how little time you spend using it, but by how much time you save from not using it.

I'll let you all know what pans out.

tony

 

[flusher]

Flusher, those are nice pics. Looks like you got a GREAT buy on your tiller

Got it from the grey market tractor guy in Los Molinos in July05. Don't know what they sell for now. They'll get the job done, but they are fairly lightweight rice paddy tillers that need some TLC in use so you don't break a tine. You can get replacement parts, which is a plus.

 

[LBrown59]

justify a TILLER.
1*tillers are a little expensive to be a one dimensional implement.
Can you guys help me with a list of tasks that a tiller works well for?
tony123

1*I was using a little 22'' tiller on and old 1967 Bolens 850 tractor for the following list.
A/backing up into a dirt pile to till up fine soil for landscaping projects. You can't do that with a disk.
B/loosining up soil before scooping it out with my FEL on the BX23 when doing grading projects.
C/I have about six-tenths of and an acre that I grubbed a couple of winters ago that needs the soil tilled up then drug with a spike harrow or some other sort of a drag to smooth and level it all out so that I can plant the area in grass.
D/I've found a tiller so useful that back in November I bought a used Kubota BX1500 with a new 48" KK tiller on it.
The old Bolens with the 22"" tiller done a fine job but it was just way to slow to keep up with the BX23 FEL.
The BX1500 is a Rolls Royce to operate compared to the ole Bolens.
== L B ==.
PS
Now that I have the BX1500 tiller rig MY WIFE has almost talked me into tilling up a small garden for a few tomato plants and a little corn.

 

[tony123]

Thanks Lbrown.

I just got back from the tractor store. I caught them in on New Years Day.

I think I found some good news.

He's got two Yanmar tillers I'm considering. One is a smaller 1300 something. The other is a larger 1600 something.

1300: chain driven, more beat up, tines at what he says 60% left.
1600: gear driven, nicer shape, tines at 80% left.

He's asking $250 for the smaller and $300 for the larger.

For my use, the smaller is a better fit, but it seems many prefer gear driven?

Either way, both are priced such that it would be silly to go any other route.

Any comments?

 

[teg]

What works for me, buy it used and show her the price difference!! Tell her how much you saved... $1000 dollars off a new one. Don't forget to always tell her that you can sell it for more than you bought it for... think of it as an investment.

Did this with a Bale Spear that's for the fel or 3ph... I may use it some day but I got it for only $125!!! Guess I could sell it for $400. I did have to reply to "but you don't need one"

 

[scgargoyle]

Sounds like the 1600 would be a no-brainer. Gear drive should hold up better, and it has more tine life left. I can see that having a farm is a lot like having a machine shop- an awful lot of equipment sits for an awful lot of time, but when ya gotta have it, ya gotta have it. Besides, Tony, you can always come up and till my place when I'm ready for it. How can you beat a deal like that? I'll even feed ya LOL! By the time I get up there, and I'm ready to go halfsies on attachments, you'll already have 'em all!

 

[LBrown59]

I was going to say if you shopped around you might get lucky and get a good used tiller & disk for about the same or less money as one or the other would cost new.

The $300 tiller sounds like a better deal.
Because I'd think gear driven, nicer shape, tines at 80% left would be well worth the 50 bucks more.

I can't comment on which size to go with as you did not give the width of either one.

Thanks Lbrown.

I just got back from the tractor store. I caught them in on New Years Day.

I think I found some good news.

He's got two Yanmar tillers I'm considering. One is a smaller 1300 something. The other is a larger 1600 something.

1300: chain driven, more beat up, tines at what he says 60% left.
1600: gear driven, nicer shape, tines at 80% left.

He's asking $250 for the smaller and $300 for the larger.

For my use, the smaller is a better fit, but it seems many prefer gear driven?

Either way, both are priced such that it would be silly to go any other route.

Any comments?

 

[tony123]

SC, well....now that I get to till your place too....how can I beat this deal? I'll leave a few implements for you to buy.

LBrown, I'm not sure on the size. The smaller one is about 4', and the larger one is about 5'.

The only reasons to go with the smaller one is that my garden will never grow to more than about 3 rows at 75', so narrower rows might suit my space better. And saving $50.

I know this thread started as a "justify" thread, but that was when I thought I'd be spending bigger bucks.

 

[LBrown59]

Tillers are heavy and work well with front loader work.
I use it to break up dirt for digging or grading.
They also make excellent ballast for a front blade and weight for traction when pushing snow with the blade.

 

[LBrown59]

LBrown, I'm not sure on the size. The smaller one is about 4', and the larger one is about 5'.

One question is your tractor big enought to handle a 5' tiller?
Another is the smaller 4' tiller wide enough to cover both rear tire tracks.
If not can it be off set to cover at least one rear wheel?

 

[LBrown59]

I dug out my brother's driveway wider with the tiller, dug out for my above ground pool and dug out for the kids basket ball court.
All of these tasks required part of the digging to be at least a foot down.
Step 1::
So I made a couple of passes with the tiller.
Step 2::
The dirt that I tilled up could easily be moved and spread somewhere else as it was smooth and fine.

I've moved a lot of dirt with my old Bolens with a 42'' front blade and a 22'' tiller on the back using the step one and step 2 process above.
Now with my BX 1500 with a 60'' front blade and the 48'' tiller on the back I can move a whole lot more of it a lot faster and easier.

 

[elalexander]

Hi Tony. A tiller is a real time saver. I spent around 600.00 for a new rear tine walk behind a few years ago. I had been looking for a "good" used one and had no luck...until I spent money for a new one. I just got a KK 4 footer for my tractor and can't wait to get to play with it. I looked at the cheaper, lighter duty ones etc and figured you get what you pay for so I went with the KK 4 footer. It may be at the upper end of power for my machine but the former owner of my tractor said he used a 4 foot tiller and with my tractors gearing it worked fine. As some one mentioned I'll use my middle buster or box blades rippers to loosen the ground before I start to till. Good luck, EL.

 

[tony123]

LBrown, I've got 20hp at the PTO. Rear wheels are 50" wide tip to tip.

elalexander, I'll be curious to hear your comments on your new tiller after having used the walkbehind.

 

[TimC]

Where's the Yanmar place up in TR? Those prices sound pretty good for tillers. There's another Gray Market guy out in Easley that I've driven past a few times, Affordable Equipment, Inc that you might call also. I haven't dealt with them before, but it might not hurt to see what else is around.

 

[tony123]

Hey Tim, sorry it took me a day or two to check back here.

The business is "Southland Equipment" and they are on hwy290 near the hwy25 end. Well respected on this forum. Ben is great to work with. They travel to Japan and handpick their tractors.

And thanks, I'll look into Affordable Equipment, Inc.

Where abouts are you? near TR?

 

[john_bud]

. As some one mentioned I'll use my middle buster or box blades rippers to loosen the ground before I start to till. Good luck, EL.

I've tilled a fair bit and you probably don't need to do the pre-busting unless the soil is very hard, dry and compacted. If the tiller is jumping around, go slower. If still jumping around, check for rocks. If no rocks, then take you probably have to pre-bust. Just sort of a thought process.

The other thing is after tilling, the soil will be fluffed up. You will need to compact it back down some. There are low priced water filled cultipackers around made for the task. If you don't pack it down, the water loss rate is pretty high and seeds may germinate, but many will dry out and die.

You may be able to make some extra money or new friends tilling up gardens.

jb

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Tony, hard to go wrong with one of the used Yanmar tillers, there tough as nails. The prices seem right depending upon condition. For size the first 2 digits in the model number are width in mm X 100. A 1600 model will be 64" wide.

I paid a little more for mine but it ws in perfect mech condition. I also have mine set up so it works in conjunction with the tractor for auto depth and tilt.

They do a great job on a garden plot, at least on the soild type I have to work with.

 

[tony123]

Just got home with the tiller and spent about a half hour getting it on.

Got the model number and all....it is an RS1400.

I heard others comment on how close they are to the rear tires. Mine actually rubs at one point in the lift, and when on the ground is only a half inch off the tires. Is that about right?

Will post a photo or two this weekend.

 

[tony123]

Just went out and made my first run. Seems like my garden will be tilled in about 3 minutes....hahaha

Rear tires are hitting the tiller though. I can't figure an adjustment that will help? I am using the yanmar tiller toplink. Any ideas? I'll do some searching.

Ran out of daylight for today, so I'll give her a full workout tomorrow.

 

[TimC]

Hey Tim, sorry it took me a day or two to check back here.

.....

Where abouts are you? near TR?

Tony-
I currently live on 5 acres in Simpsonville, and the Wife and I just bought 6.5 Acres Right next to Jones Gap State Park where we intend to build a house in the next 2 years.
Thanks for the info on Southland Equipment, I'll check them out.
Enjoy that Tiller!
Tim