Dirt Moving TILLER on Max 28

drajj5 · Apr 11, 2014

Wow - a rock crusher!!! Guess I do have good soil. The amount of rocks and the size that I tilled were few and far between. I guess the largest was the size of a soft ball, and the quantity of them didn't even make a respectable fire ring. The rocks were not granite either, they looked like some sort of clay that could easily be broken with a hammer. There was a lot of clear quartz stuck to marble too.

I would love to see LD1's soil. I am trying to picture it.... sounds like some super sticky material !!! would love to see what your looks like

LD1 · Apr 11, 2014

drajj5 said:
Wow - a rock crusher!!! Guess I do have good soil. The amount of rocks and the size that I tilled were few and far between. I guess the largest was the size of a soft ball, and the quantity of them didn't even make a respectable fire ring. The rocks were not granite either, they looked like some sort of clay that could easily be broken with a hammer. There was a lot of clear quartz stuck to marble too.

I would love to see LD1's soil. I am trying to picture it.... sounds like some super sticky material !!! would love to see what your looks like

Let me see if I can find a picture.

LD1 · Apr 11, 2014

Well, no pictures on my computer that illustrate it well. But I can tell you this, I have no trouble getting half a backhoe bucket packed with the stuff so it wont come out without a shovel. And thats a 3' bucket...

drajj5 · Apr 11, 2014

Here is some pic's of the ground I tilled. I did break one of the rocks with another to show you what they look like clean. I think that it is marble? A close up shot and you can see that they (the rocks are all small), tiller did not even wiggle but a hand full of times.

drajj5 · Apr 11, 2014

LD1 said:
Well, no pictures on my computer that illustrate it well. But I can tell you this, I have no trouble getting half a backhoe bucket packed with the stuff so it wont come out without a shovel. And thats a 3' bucket...

Good lord.....That is sticky!!! Love to see pic's, if you get a chance

LD1 · Apr 11, 2014

You have some beautiful looking topsoil. I am jealous.

Here is what my garden spot currently looks like. I have till in about 20-30 yards of mulch (free courtesy of trimmers). And the area is only ~40'x40'

A few shots of what it does to a shovel (note, the shovel is upside down in both pics)

A shovel after banging on the ground, and then into a tree 4 or 5 times

And what the holes look like I just dug, and my boots after about 30 steps in the stuff.

LD1 · Apr 11, 2014

Now just to be clear, we did get about 1/2" of rain last night. So that makes sticking to the shovel and boots a little worse. But prior to that, it hasnt rained for 4 or 5 days. And just yesterday I was digging and trust me, it still sticks to the shovel.

This stuff never seems to dry out. EVER. Using a disc is impossible as it just plugs up. (good for counterweight though with 1000# of clay stuck in a 6' disc). You can till this stuff 100 times and it will still be clumpy. Hence adding wood chips.

The stuff also sucks to try to get dry, cause tiling it is all but worthless cause its watertight. The stuff is literally the consistency of modeling clay.

On a positive note, it is excellent for ponds. And it does make good ground once you have some topsoil over it and seeded. IT seems to be a good base for trees and stuff as it retains so much water. But for gardening, and trying to get a yard established, or using for fill dirt, it sucks.

drajj5 · Apr 11, 2014

And what the holes look like I just dug, and my boots after about 30 steps in the stuff.

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I can see clearly the consistency of your soil in the first image.... Layer upon layer of different types of clay (sticky clay), you are right my friend- Even my Max would cower tilling that.... It looks like that would suck a shoe right off your foot. My cousins house has soil similar to yours, "dig a hole and it fills with water". He has 'a lot' of water running through his land, two creeks run around half his property lines.

Thank you for sharing pic's. Neat to see soil variations