rototillers vs plow & disc

[CADplans]

Soil gets "HARD" when the organic matter is eliminated, and the soil is broken into too small of crumbles.
I feel that breaking organic matter into tiny pieces makes it decompose too fast to do the garden any good.
You need organic matter in the soil,, not simply clay.

The general consensus among some "organic" gardeners:

Tillers of any sort reduce or eliminate the tilth of the soil
TILTH
cultivation of land; tillage.

• the condition of tilled soil, especially in respect to suitability for sowing seeds.
  "he could determine whether the soil was of the right tilth"
  
  
  
  

 

[CADplans]

I try to not till or plow the garden every year, sometimes as infrequent as every 5 years.
When I do want to "plow", I use a Gravely rotary plow.

As far as weed control, I try to stick with a Gravely cultivator
(machine on the left)

It only disturbs the soil deep enough to knock down the weeds, it can not go deep in the soil.

My other option is a Troy-Bilt Horse, set to till very shallow,
again only disturbing the weeds, not the organic matter or the worms.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I till in buckwheat twice per year. Do you know how much organic matter is in an acre of buckwheat?

 

[Williy]

Only use a rototiller here and the ground is very soft about
8 inches deep very easy to plant anything we want

willy

 

[fatjay]

Rototiller I sometimes have to make 2-3 passes to get to full depth. It rotates forwards, so it sometimes propels me along the soil is so hard.

This isn't the field, but on the second run, you can see what happens in this video.

https://imgur.com/HYvFcMb

 

[2manyrocks]

Rototiller I sometimes have to make 2-3 passes to get to full depth. It rotates forwards, so it sometimes propels me along the soil is so hard.

This isn't the field, but on the second run, you can see what happens in this video.

https://imgur.com/HYvFcMb

You've got hard ground, and it is normal to have to make multiple smaller passes to till it. It would take a lot of organic material like sawdust to loosen it up. Even if you plow it, it will still compact like hard ground until you get a lot of organic material into it.

I know this because I started a garden spot 20 years ago in hard ground. Years of organic material have improved it, but it's still not the best soil.

 

[2manyrocks]

I try to not till or plow the garden every year, sometimes as infrequent as every 5 years.
When I do want to "plow", I use a Gravely rotary plow.

As far as weed control, I try to stick with a Gravely cultivator
(machine on the left)

It only disturbs the soil deep enough to knock down the weeds, it can not go deep in the soil.

My other option is a Troy-Bilt Horse, set to till very shallow,
again only disturbing the weeds, not the organic matter or the worms.

I have a Gravely rotary plow that still amazes me for how it fluffs the ground in one pass.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I had to make three passes on virgin clay loam to get a good seed bed. After that, one pass is enough, it's remained very soft.