Tiller kkII tiller depth

[steely]

Hey everyone,
I am a tractor newbie and a proud owner of a King Kutter II 6' tiller,
Yesterday, I hooked it up to my Grey market 50hp tractor and gave it a try.
The skids are set for maximum depth (nearly touching the side gearbox)
after three passes in an old field the skids were still just sitting on top of the ground and only tilling about 4 inches deep.
I need to get to the full 8 inches deep, and I am considering removing the skids
altogether, but that would leave the side gearbox sitting right on the ground.
Can anyone tell me what I am missing?
how am I supposed to get 8 Inches deep if the skids just ride on top of the ground at 4 inches?
should I remove the skids?
thanks

 

[MarkV]

Steely, try shortening yours top link so the skids are lower in the front than the back. Not sure that will get you 8” deep but on a second pass the skids will bury themselves in the loose soil and till deeper this way.

MarkV

PS. Welcome to the forum.

 

[jbrumberg]

steely:

Welcome to TBN ! I would follow MarkV's suggestion as well as try to till at a slower ground speed. Jay

 

[dixie306]

Steely, try shortening yours top link so the skids are lower in the front than the back. Not sure that will get you 8 deep but on a second pass the skids will bury themselves in the loose soil and tiller deeper this way.

MarkV

PS. Welcome to the forum.

What Mark said, also, try adjusting the tiller slightly forward not too much tilt forward, just slightly, that should help also, and welcome to the site.

 

[newt92]

Steely, Welcome to TBN!!

I only run the skid shoes for tilling really hard packed dirt or for tilling up sod. For gardens I take them off. As far as the gear box, run the gear box in the tilled soil and it will till to the center of the earth!!! BTW, I now use pins in place of the bolts for the skid shoes.

 

[allen in texas]

How dry is the soil?
moisture helps.

 

[steely]

Hey Guys,
Thanks for all of the posts.
The ground I am working is never before tilled sod with a good amount of moisture.
I am thinking my main problem is the ground speed of my tractor.
I am running a 50hp grey market tractor, that has been wonderful,
but I have noticed that it doesnt go slow enough, first gear Low, and
it just scoots along. There is no creeper gear.
how could they build a 4x4 tactor with no creeper gear?
At it's slowest speed, the tiller just doesn't have a chance to dig in.
I don't know how to combat the speed without riding the clutch and brake.
thanks
steely

 

[bigtiller]

It sounds like you have plenty of horse power so try lowering the RPM's to slow the tractor's speed. Just don't let it labor too much.

 

[Highbeam]

Tilling is a slow speed job. I have HST and use low range and super slow speed with the tiller. It makes a fantastic finished product and is pretty much a boring job. Of all tractor jobs this one is the most qualified to complete with a beverage in your hand.

Many folks with large and fast gear tractors are not able to use a tiller. Must use a disc instead.

 

[mrutkaus]

Just used my KKII tiller 5' first time (kioti ck30hst) last week didn't even look at or change the depth settings. Did my garden and two neighbors. Just stuck my hand in the soil, it seemed plenty deep, in any case better than anything I'd used before.

Mike

 

[shvl73]

Some greys have a multi-speed pto. If your's does, you could try a faster pto speed and a slower rpm and still get around 540rpm at the pto. I think you have enough hp to try it if possible, especially on second pass.

 

[xlr82v2]

With my KK 6 footer, I was getting down to 8" on the second pass... measured from the "dirt line" on the side gearbox down to the tines at the 6 o'clock position. I've still got the skid shoes on. I was considering taking them off, but I don't really think there's a need to. Actually, you might be better off leaving them on, since the side gearbox will act somewhat as a "skid" itself, and with none on the other side, your tiller may run a little right-side-low. I haven't tried it, but it may be possible... Others who have removed their skids can comment on that.

I agree with jbrumberg and think travel speed is your problem... that, or else your sod is just really, really hard. You need your slowest speed to be 1.5mph or less for best results... slower is better, you can always shift up to a higher gear... This is one of the few times the hydro guys have an advantage over us gearheads If only they didn't whine so much!!

 

[steely]

Hey Everyone,
Thanks to all of you for your comments!
I ran two passes today with the skids on,
the slowest speed my tractor goes is about 3 mph,
and I was getting about 4.5 inches depth.
Then I removed the skids!
She dug right in like a champ and I was getting the full 8 inches immediately!
It was Beautiful!
I spread a thick layer of compost over an acre plot and tilled it all in and Presto!
I have a garden ready to plant!
Thanks again to all!
I'm sure I'll be back to tap some more of your knowledge before long!
Steely

 

[xlr82v2]

That's good to know... I wouldn't have thought that the skids would make that much difference on 2nd pass. Good info to know!!

 

[seapea]

I noticed that my skid shoes for my 4' KKII have 4 settings, and were factory set on the 3rd deepest. I went to change them to the 4 deepest when I discovered this is not possible. The gear box prevents the skid shoes from being adjusted any higher.

 

[ScottOkla]

I noticed that my skid shoes for my 4' KKII have 4 settings, and were factory set on the 3rd deepest. I went to change them to the 4 deepest when I discovered this is not possible. The gear box prevents the skid shoes from being adjusted any higher.

The skid shoes on my 6' also cannot be adjusted to the lowest couple of settings because of the gearbox. I have always left them on at the lowest setting I could get, and have gotten down about 6 inches. After reading this thread, I will have to try removing them. I didn't think removing them would have helped much before.