Tiller Narrowed my tiller choices to 3...your thoughts?

[2nstonge]

Ok, time to do what you guys do best - spend someone else's money; mine! I've been reading all the recent tiller posts and talking with the local dealers. It's going on a JD 4110; 20hp, 17hp at the PTO.

I plan on doing some commercial till work; garden plots and homeowner stuff. This will augment my home improvement business. I'm shooting for 10-12 tilling jobs this year. So, it's not heavy-duty commercial but certainly a step up from just my wife's garden.

I prefer to buy local from someone that actually has a focus on tractors, lots of guys can "get stuff" around here but that's of little use if I have questions or problems after the sale. So, here's the 3 local choices that I've actually seen and touched;

Kuhn: a 42" with a 12" side shift - it'll cover my tracks on a JD 4110. Looks to be built like a tank. List price is $1,790, dealer will do $1,650 for the only one he has on the lot. I can step up to the 50" (also with 12" shift) but that comes in at a nice round $2,000 and has to be ordered. It was my first time at this dealer, 25 miles away, but a most impressive shop and service/parts department. And the district rep from Kuhn happened to be there today and answered my questions.

JD 655: 55", no offset but not necessary, the 55 will cover my tracks. Also looks to be well made. List price is $2,120, the dealer doesn't seem interested in moving off the price. This is from my hometown JD guy - 3 miles from home.

And for alot less;

TSC/King Kutter. Yeah, I've read all the good and not so good about them but at $1,000 less it's a consideration. The biggest drawback is the staff at TSC is very helpful but can't answer ANY questions other than a part number and a price. Although they're only 4 miles away, service/repairs from these guys is out of the question. But...$1,000 is a $1,000.

I know there's probably another half dozen models I could go with, but these are my local options. What say you?

Thanks, -Norm

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

I have one of the most expensive "tillers" on the market. (Howard Rotovator) and a 72" King Kutter that sells for less than 1/4th of the price of the Howard unit. My choice if I was buying again today...???? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I'd buy the King Kutter in a New York minute. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Unless you plan on doing hundreds of acres a year for a lifetime, the KK tiller is all you need. If it ever should need parts/service, do it yourself. (These things aren't rocket science /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) Save the bucks..... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I've put hundreds of HARD hours on mine, and it hasn't so much as flinched. I've broke a couple tines by hitting a buried truck frame, but it's stood up against rocks, roots, stumps, junk, and in a few cases, some dirt! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I'm not at all a fan of KK products, but their tiller is as good as anyones as far as I'm concerned. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[mhalla]

<font color="green"> Which KK tiller - the XB?

Mike </font>

 

[ducati996]

Since its going on a JD 4110 I would suggest a max size of 48" to 50" depending on brand. You only have 17 PTO to work with and with a 48" tiller, it already has its handful. It does the job without complaint, and it's one pass. But I think 55" is not needed and a little too big. 48" covers the R/4's perfectly as well. I dont need to offset at all.

I suggest saving some money and consider CCM gear drive units. I bought mine from Corriher (First Choice Mfg) and its everything I will ever need (chain drive). But I suspect gear drive is stronger, and their prices are really good and close enough in prices to consider....hope this helps

Ducati

 

[timb]

Indydirtfarmer - Tiller Q's for you...

1) Of your tractor 'fleet' - what are you running the KK with?

2) How slow is slow enough on ground speed? I've seen folks recommend less than 1 mph here on TBN (which requires either hydro or a true creeper range). However all of the on-line manuals I've been able to find from various brands of tillers seem to indicate as long as you can get to 2 mph or slower at PTO speed you'll be fine. (I've got 3 speeds under 2 mph, as low as 1.0 mph at PTO speed.)

3) Has anyone used one of the multi-speed tiller units? I believe Howard, Befco, Maschio and others offer as much as 4-speed gearboxes either standard or optionally for their tillers. I've never used any tiller like that, not sure how helpful that would be.

4) I've seen 3/4 PTO hp per inch of tiller as a rule of thumb. Sound about right to you guys or overkill?

 

[MarkV]

I use a KK 48” tiller on a tractor of similar size to yours. Besides our garden plot with good soil we have done about 1 ½ acres of virgin clay soil for yard prep without any problem. The tiller does work my tractor harder than anything else I use and requires a slow ground speed to keep it running at PTO speeds in the clay. I would not consider any tiller larger and I would buy a KK again. By the way, the 48" KK tiller is gear drive, has a fixed off set and comes with a slip clutch.

Just my opinion but it sounds like you are only planning to till 10 – 15 established garden plots a year which should have better soil and not so many of the Vermont rocks. Get the KK and you will have money left for another implement.

MarkV

 

[2nstonge]

Ok, guys, you have me thinking again - and that's a good thing. I'm glad I resisted the impulse to buy the Kuhn yesterday. The Kuhn and a 5ft Woods landscape rake was going to run about $2,400. By getting a KK (or the CCM for the same money) I can get the tiller, the rake, AND, a JD box blade and iMatch which are already on order from my dealer for the same $2,400 total. The CCM looks real nice but there's no local dealer; shipping charges and lift gate service to my house add another $2-300 to the price. I'm checking with the business I bought my dump trailer from to see if they'll accept delivery of a tiller...it'll give me another option besides TSC. I've nothing against KK, it sounds like you guys that have them really like them, my issue is really with TSC and the level of pre/post sale knowledge & support (or lack thereof) they provide.

Thanks much, I'll let you know what I do.

-Norm

 

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="red"> I'm shooting for 10-12 tilling jobs this year. So, it's not heavy-duty commercial but certainly a step up from just my wife's garden. </font>


Just my $0.02 on this, but a typical tilling job is going to take maybe 30 minutes to 1 hours of actual tilling? I'm not factoring in drive time, etc. I'm talking actual tilling time. With a roughly 50" wide tiller, you can churn the soil in a LARGE suburban garden several times in 30 minutes. To to the country where gardens are 50' by 150' and you are talking about making 13 passes, each pass at 150' long, even traveling slow you will cover that 150' long garden in 3 minutes so that 50' x 150' garden is going to take about 45 minutes.

Now I will make the logical assumption that some tilling jobs will be larger and some will be smaller.

So you want to line up 10 to 12 jobs a year. That means you will actually be running that tiller mabye 15 hours a year (depending on job sizes). For an implement that will be run so little, I would not hesitate to go to the lower priced brands. Even if you double the number of hours to 30 hours a year, consider that a mowing deck can run that many hours each week. My general belief is to spend money on the things I use the most. I love BEFCO mower decks, I think they are among the best quality in the industry and certainly are priced high, but for a tiller that will likely be used less each year than a mower deck can be used in a week, I'll suggest you save some money on the tiller.

By the way, Mark at CCM is a great guy to work with. Instead of buying a tiller from him, why not buy the tiller, the box blade and the rake? You'd probably get the shipper to give a better rate on the lot and overall the price might be lower than what you can get locally? At least it is worth a try.

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

The smallest tractor I have is 60 HP. The tillers usually get used on that one. (KK is 72", Howard is 80") on occasion, the Howard Rotovator gets used on a 130 HP 4440 Deere, but not very often. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

60 HP is WAY more than enough for either one. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I have found that ground speed is a "variable", as soil moisture, type, and condition you want AFTER tilling are taken into consideration. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Too dry, and the tiller just wants to bounce around, and stir up dust. You get "talcum powder" when you're done. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Too wet, and you get mud balls. :crazy

One condition requiring slow ground speed is when you're operating close to the limits of power for the tractor. Too fast will bog it down. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif If you have sufficient power, you can adjust the speed up a bit to prevent "over-working" the soil. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

That's a MAJOR plus with the Howard Rotovator, or any others with variable gearing. You can talor ground speed to tine speed, resulting in the desired soil condition. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

As a 6th generation farmer, I can tell you that one thing I see all the time that HURTS plant growth in gardens and when building lawns, is the over-working of soil. When it's worked into powder, it tends to erode easily, as well as compacts much faster/easier. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

I would suggest a tractor for tiller use that is capable of speeds below 1 MPH, and with enough juice to turn the tiller when moving at maybe 2 MPH (in SOME conditions) /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

If money is no object, (send some to me... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) the Howard Rotovator is hands down, the finest tiller on the market. It's only flaw is it's price. I bought mine more than 10 years ago. What I paid then, would buy 4 King Kutter tillers now. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Like I've said, I'm NOT an advocate of most of the King Kutter product line. I am however, VERY impressed with their tiller line. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I use it when doing new lawn installs. New home construction sites are notorious for buried junk. Rocks, bricks, stumps, lumber, you name it, my KK tiller has hit it. I've broken 2 tines over the years...THAT'S IT! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif (That was when I wrapped up 20' of 1/2 re-bar around the tiller before I could get it shut down. WHAT A MESS! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I buy stuff for the long haul. Most everything I buy gets used HARD. You won't often hear me touting the virtues of something at the low end of the price range. This is one time where you will. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[sweettractors]

We can ship you a New 48 inch First Choice Roto Tiller and a 5 ft Harp Landscape Rake and a 5 ft Harp Box Blade with shipping included to 05257 business or commercial address for $2098-- Email sweet@scrtc.com or Call 270-528-3323-mon-fri-8-5-cst--Ken Sweet

Sweet Farm Equipment LLC *30 years of customer satisfaction with 2 locations in Ky*