Tiller Looking for a tiller, any help??

bill177 · Feb 19, 2007

Hava a 4' Massey that I bought new with my GC2300. Good combo that makes short work of garden building and flower bed creation. Probably overkill for my application - but my back doesn't ache from being tossed around by the old Troy-Built.

deere755 · Feb 19, 2007

I bought a Caroni 56 inch 2 years ago and I have used it to death. It cost me a little over $900 new and I have no complaints about it. I would check and make sure you have a dealer close by before purchasing one. I was lucky to one close by so parts are not a problem. If i had not got a good deal on this one I was going to buy a First Choice tiller and I believe I would have been just as happy with it as I am my Caroni. The Caroni was just a little cheaper. If you are interested in the First Choice brand you can find them new on e-bay at a fair price. King Kutter is also a good tiller for the money.

McDenny's · Feb 19, 2007

Thanks to all for replying so far, I have looked at several so far. I did check out allot of them at the fairs last year but didn't have the cash to buy one. I will have to buy one this year so I can use my own tiller and not have to worry about breaking someone else's. The soil is pretty rocky, my wife has spent hours rock picking, it looked good after I did it, buy Maine rocks seem to grow,

, When I have my own I can spend more time with it and not have to worry about returning it. I spread a load of manure on it in the fall to let it sit and till it in the spring. My tractor is about 5' wide with my wheels set all the way in. I think I would like a tiller around 72", I will keep looking and reading, thanks for all your input so far.

Dennis

Egon · Feb 20, 2007

wife has spent hours rock picking

Now how in the world did you manage that???

hsvhobbit · Feb 20, 2007

Got a reverse rotation Landpride here. No complaints. I tend to run the tractor in low range and just let it work. It's kicked out head sized rocks with just a 'chunking' sound and no damage to the unit. If anything, it churns the soil almost TOO fine so I may need to speed my tractor ground speed up a little.

NOT cheap but seems durable.

As advertised, it'll take the grass/sod and put it under the ground and churn stuff fine enough that NO second pass is needed, unless you just want to deepen the till. Last year around here we had a dry spell and the clay soil was about like concrete. Generally I'd make one pass set at 3-4 inches deep and then a second pass as deep as it'd go just trying to reduce strain on the whole rig.

Before I got this tiller I'd worked the garden with a walkbehind tiller. MAJOR effort. This year, it's just gonna be a real pleasure to till things up. Should take about 15 min to do what the walkbehind took 2 hours to do.

Raddad · Feb 20, 2007

The size you buy is based on what you're using it for now and in the future.

I have the 42" Howard and use it to go between rows of grapes and other crops. Once the garden is in smaller has been better for my use. I don't want the crop rows to get too far appart, as this will reduce my overall yield. I use it side shifted so it covers one track. I have the tread on my tractor set as narrow as I can get it. I spend some extra time in the spring and the fall when I turn under the entire garden but I more than make up for it durring the summer when I rottotill between the rows every 2 weeks. I don't like hand cultivating or using my small walk behind rototiller. As some of the crops fill in between the rows I start using the small walk behind and later in the summer I'm forced to do some by hand. Besides smaller is cheeper and easier on your tractor. It will also fit trough a 48" gate when we use it for our rototilling service.

Mine is chain driven and has been trouble free for 25 years. It has hundreds of hours on it and I have changed the tines many times. I adjusted the chain about 10 years ago and it had very little slack in it. I think the average non comercial user doesn't need the super heavy duty expensive tillers. The smaller units are easier to attach and remove as it seems in the summer I am constantly chainging impliments. I always ask myself: What will I use this impliment for in 5 years?

Buster57 · Feb 20, 2007

I have purchased two different roto tillers. A First Choice HD1066. It was simply terrific. Sweet can sell you one of those.

I purchased a 54" Agric from Mark at CCM (mentioned in previous post). Mark really knows his stuff and can be a great help to you.

I am not familiar with the tractor that you have or the PTO HP you own, but Sweet or CCM would be two good places to start.

davemhughes · Feb 21, 2007

Just yesterday I uncrated, greased, filled with gear oil, and mounted my KKII 72in tiller and then tried it out a little. Noisy but tilled fine. The mounting to the tractor took me a little while and I think I still need to get it fine tuned as for depth as it tilled about 6in deep and I had the skids all the way up so it would till deeper.

BobinIL · Feb 23, 2007

I had a JD 450 tiller behind a JD 750. It was about max for that 18hp tractor. Now I have a Bush Hog RTS62 behind a JD 790. This is a good match up. I can till in 3rd gear low range if I want to. The Bush hog is a ligher duty tiller than the JD or the KK tillers. If I hadn't come across this Bush hog I would have bought the King Kutter. The KK tillers are about as heavy duty a tiller that you will find anywhere.