Rototillers for beginners

[keony]

Well, I found a used JD 4 foot tiller so that is what I use. Width of tires is 60", but the tire tracks really don't matter that much, works fine.

 

[Torvy]

Well, I found a used JD 4 foot tiller so that is what I use. Width of tires is 60", but the tire tracks really don't matter that much, works fine.

Congrats! If I got anything JD, I would probably have to paint it black (apologies to the Stones). I don't care as long as I get good value, but my family runs IH red.

 

[keony]

Congrats! If I got anything JD, I would probably have to paint it black (apologies to the Stones). I don't care as long as I get good value, but my family runs IH red.

Well, it a kind of yellow, I don't have anything green either:

 

[CH4Ohio]

Well, it a kind of yellow, I don't have anything green either: View attachment 715128

OK, I'll bite . . .

Those are some interesting skid shoes on that tiller. Looks to me like that perforated angle would get bent up dragging through the ground. No?

Is that some kind of epoxy repair on the bottom of the gear box? Does it work? As in not leaking? Wish I'd have thought of that a few years ago when I had a troublesome leak on a JD haybine gear case. Might have saved lots of time and money.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Looks like a stand to hold the tiller up, and dirt on the bottom of the case to me.

SR

 

[keony]

Looks like a stand to hold the tiller up, and dirt on the bottom of the case to me.

SR

You are right, it is a parking stand.

 

[keony]

OK, I'll bite . . .

Those are some interesting skid shoes on that tiller. Looks to me like that perforated angle would get bent up dragging through the ground. No?

Is that some kind of epoxy repair on the bottom of the gear box? Does it work? As in not leaking? Wish I'd have thought of that a few years ago when I had a troublesome leak on a JD haybine gear case. Might have saved lots of time and money.

Yes, the repair is fiberglass and west system epoxy over the rusted chain case. No leaks.

 

[CH4Ohio]

You are right, it is a parking stand.

Got it. Thanks. Can you leave that on when you use the tiller or do you have to unbolt it?

The other thing I was asking about is the mesh fabric material that looks to be wrapped around the oil case from the bottom and up above the bulge where the bearing is. Is that a repair of an oil leak or am I reading that wrong too? Thanks.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Yes, the repair is fiberglass and west system epoxy over the rusted chain case. No leaks.

Thanks! Had a similar case that was hard to remove and install. I tried to fix it once and the dealer tried twice and it still always leaked. Had permatex oozing out of every gap and bolt hole. This might have been a solution for that one. Good option to keep in mind. I don't think I've seen it before.

Thx.

 

[Grandad4]

I understand that if your area of work has lots of rock and/or root, it might be best to use a forward rotation tiller as it will throw the debris out the back making for less entanglement issues - what is your experience with that respect?

I was pretty fortunate in not having a bunch of rocks where we tilled. But the farmers I knew swore the ground could always grow new rocks no matter how many times it had previously been worked. So there were always a few to find every year. The small ones (4" or less) weren't much of a problem and got churned along with everything else. It was the bigger ones that shook things up quite a bit. I would always try raise or stop the tiller ASAP with one of those! Luckily I never had any damage, thanks to the slip-clutch.

As for where the rocks ended up, I can't say there was a pattern to it, but I always hoped rocks would end up visible so they could be easily removed, rather than getting re-buried. Didn't always turn out that way!