rototiller or rotary plow

NibbanaFarm · Jan 9, 2017

The tiller is excellent for preparing a fine seed bed for carrots, parsnips and other root crops. It is also good for cultivating. It's not going to incorporate high weeds because the tiller just becomes a big spool of weeds which are difficult to remove. For heavy weeds you need the rotary plow. And it's not really going to cut heavy sod easily. Also, if you have compressed, rocky soil like here in New England, the only way to turn it is with a spade or plow. The tiller won't do it. I have plowed out a number of basketball size rocks with my rotary plow. It is scary and rough but not really dangerous at all. The machine just jumps around a bit. Pretty awesome though.

tcreeley · Jan 9, 2017

Never heard of a rotary plow until just now. We used to use a Troybilt and later a Cub Cadet and a Mantis for tight places.

Since arthritis kicked in, I use my TC30 and the rototiller. I have plenty of room so I plan on wide borders.

I am impressed with that rotary plow. Looks a lot better than a walk behind tiller! Sure handled the weeds well!

freedomlives · Mar 1, 2017

I got a rotary plow in 2015-- took a trip to Italy, got lucky with someone selling the reversible type for a really good price, as well as a 12HP diesel Goldoni walk-behind. The Goldoni came with a rototiller, but I still haven't used it. The rotary plow makes the beds, and then so far I've used a pretty weak old rotary tiller I have to loosen up the soil. If I could get a power harrow used, I'd snap one up, but they aren't as frequently on the classified sites in Italy-- I guess people get them and don't ever let them go.

The rotary plow also works great for terracing (need the reversible kind), making ditches-- it is possible with multiple passes to dig more than 12" down, and planting potatoes in virgin soil. Also, when I needed to dig a bit down and remove soil to place a concrete pad, I just made some passes with the rotary plow, and then easy scooping away the gravel-clay soil mix that is otherwise a pain to dig through.

RalphVa · Mar 1, 2017

I had a Gravely 5665 (12 hp). Had all sorts of attachments for it but later bought a used rotary plow to till some virgin ground (lots of fescue). It did fine. Later used it to make raised rows in the plowed ground. That's it. Went no till and never used it again. Sold it with the plow and all the other implements when I got my JD 4WD.

Rotary plow worked great. Took me a while to get the wheels unfrozen (rusted) to the axles.

Ralph

mikelandis721 · Mar 6, 2017

From everyone's input I feel the rotary plow is a great option...but it is at a great price which isn't in my budget. I'll keep perusing craigslist and auctions and see if I can find a used one more inline with my budget.

farmerboybill · Mar 8, 2017

The rotary plow and tiller aren't really interchangeable. A rotary plow is for primary tillage, bedshaping, trenching, hole digging, etc. A tiller can be used for primary tillage and bedshaping, but is better for secondary tillage and cultivating. They're $1200 for a new one-way. They are very hard to find used, and are usually priced close to new if you do find one.

I want to comment on tillage in general if you'll allow me. Less is better. I'm farming 180 acres of organic crops, and I avoid tillage as much as possible. There's just no way around not working hay fields without using chemicals, so I have to till them. But I run a no-till drill & no-till planter as much as possible otherwise. Last year, I planted 200 acres with a no-till drill (yes, many acres got drilled twice & the hay fields got none). Those pictures of super finely tilled soil in a garden may be visually appealing, but they're TERRIBLE for soil structure, beneficial micro-flora and micro-fauna, and soil erosion. Tilling your garden three or four times just to make it look nice is a bad idea. One pass with a rotary plow at full depth in the spring is much gentler on the soil than three passes with a tiller.

mikelandis721 · Mar 9, 2017

Thanks! A rotary plow and a stump grinder are on my wish list. I'll keep my eye out for a used one, if not I'll see about picking one up before next year.

farmerboybill said:
The rotary plow and tiller aren't really interchangeable. A rotary plow is for primary tillage, bedshaping, trenching, hole digging, etc. A tiller can be used for primary tillage and bedshaping, but is better for secondary tillage and cultivating. They're $1200 for a new one-way. They are very hard to find used, and are usually priced close to new if you do find one.

I want to comment on tillage in general if you'll allow me. Less is better. I'm farming 180 acres of organic crops, and I avoid tillage as much as possible. There's just no way around not working hay fields without using chemicals, so I have to till them. But I run a no-till drill & no-till planter as much as possible otherwise. Last year, I planted 200 acres with a no-till drill (yes, many acres got drilled twice & the hay fields got none). Those pictures of super finely tilled soil in a garden may be visually appealing, but they're TERRIBLE for soil structure, beneficial micro-flora and micro-fauna, and soil erosion. Tilling your garden three or four times just to make it look nice is a bad idea. One pass with a rotary plow at full depth in the spring is much gentler on the soil than three passes with a tiller.

mikelandis721 · Jul 2, 2017

Purchased a rotary plow and I love it. It takes longer than a tiller but does a much better job. One question, I use it at high throttle, 1st gear. Is that correct or will it perform better in a higher gear? I couldn't find recommendations for speed in the manual.
Also my throttle cable broke, it turns out it is a warranty item so I got it replace at no cost, has anyone else have an issue with the throttle cable?

rickyd79 · Jul 2, 2017

mikelandis721 said:
Purchased a rotary plow and I love it. It takes longer than a tiller but does a much better job. One question, I use it at high throttle, 1st gear. Is that correct or will it perform better in a higher gear? I couldn't find recommendations for speed in the manual.
Also my throttle cable broke, it turns out it is a warranty item so I got it replace at no cost, has anyone else have an issue with the throttle cable?

Hi Mike
How you use the rotary plow depends upon your conditions. For breaking new ground especially in hard soils, I usually use first gear and higher throttle. My soil is heavy clay. For making raised beds I am usually in 2nd gear. Throttle depends upon soil condition and exactly what I am doing. The higher the throttle the more RPM you get on plow, which then dictates how far it "throws" the soil. In some cases (depending upon soil type) if running at full throttle the soil will "over shoot" your raised bed. So in this case I would reduce my throttle until soil is going where I want it. Bottom line is, you need to run it some and adjust based upon your needs and soil type.
As to the throttle cable breaking, sure cables break sometimes (usually later on in tractor life) but if your machine is new its rare that I get a call from a customer with a new cable breaking. One thing to check would be to make sure linkage on engine where cable connects is not too tight. Make sure cable is routed properly (common sense fashion).
I hope this helps!

mikelandis721 · Jul 2, 2017

Thanks Ricky!
I bought it used from a local dealer, they had it as a rental and only rented it a couple times so they may have replaced the cable for free as a courtesy. I'm still itching to use it, but is getting late in the season, about 10 days ago I used it to prepare some plots for a community garden and was really impressed.