Tiller pulling dirt

[WVH1977]

My reverse tine tiller seems to pulll dirt from one side of the garden to the other and digs deeper then the yard around it. Anyone else have this happen? Using the plow, disc and drag did not do this (kept the land more level and even. I like the tiller for its convenience and it does turn the dirt up nice but there is some downfalls to it.

What am I doing wrong? One of my old farmer nieghbors said he never liked a tiller on a tractor becasue of this kind of thing.

 

[jyoutz]

My reverse tine tiller seems to pulll dirt from one side of the garden to the other and digs deeper then the yard around it. Anyone else have this happen? Using the plow, disc and drag did not do this (kept the land more level and even. I like the tiller for its convenience and it does turn the dirt up nice but there is some downfalls to it.

What am I doing wrong? One of my old farmer nieghbors said he never liked a tiller on a tractor becasue of this kind of thing.

I’ve never had that issue, but mine is forward rotation. It fluffs up the soil but doesn’t move it around.

 

[WVH1977]

I was wondering if the forward rotation would be better. I am just wondering if a tiller is realy the best way to turn the soil in my garden. When i get to the end of a row and lift the tiller slowly, it always leaves the dirt lower than the ground arounf it. Its like it fluffs the dirt on top and just moves it from one side to the other. Probably not explaining right. It does fluff up and looks nice but I am wondering if its really good for the garden. Maybe I till it too much.

 

[kenmac]

My reverse tine tiller seems to pulll dirt from one side of the garden to the other and digs deeper then the yard around it. Anyone else have this happen? Using the plow, disc and drag did not do this (kept the land more level and even. I like the tiller for its convenience and it does turn the dirt up nice but there is some downfalls to it.

What am I doing wrong? One of my old farmer nieghbors said he never liked a tiller on a tractor becasue of this kind of thing.

I just bought a new 6 foot tiller. I was talking to the guy about a reverse tine and he said the same thing you are experiencing . I opted for the forward rotating tine tiller.
I have been pleased with it. Well built too !

 

[joecdeere]

Try not going so deep on a pass, you may be bringing up more than it can throw over the top, speed may be too fast also

 

[bigtiller]

That is the nature of the beast. There is an easy way to eliminate the "divot". At the end of the row, turn around and till the next row right beside the previous row.

When your done, there will be alternating "divots" and level spots on the two ends. If you went north & south, make one more pass going east & west on both ends.

This will fill the divot and level the garden, leaving only 1 divot on each end to fill in by hand.

 

[jyoutz]

I was wondering if the forward rotation would be better. I am just wondering if a tiller is realy the best way to turn the soil in my garden. When i get to the end of a row and lift the tiller slowly, it always leaves the dirt lower than the ground arounf it. Its like it fluffs the dirt on top and just moves it from one side to the other. Probably not explaining right. It does fluff up and looks nice but I am wondering if its really good for the garden. Maybe I till it too much.

Reverse tine tillers are for tilling hard ground, not an established garden. Forward tine tillers work better for soft soil. No a tiller isn’t too much, they are perfect for preparing garden soil for planting. Yes, it will leave a small trench at the end of the row when you lift it. That’s what a garden rake is for. A little smoothing the end of the row and done.

 

[Spindifferent]

My reverse tine tiller seems to pulll dirt from one side of the garden to the other and digs deeper then the yard around it. Anyone else have this happen? Using the plow, disc and drag did not do this (kept the land more level and even. I like the tiller for its convenience and it does turn the dirt up nice but there is some downfalls to it.

What am I doing wrong? One of my old farmer nieghbors said he never liked a tiller on a tractor becasue of this kind of thing.

I use a reverse tine tiller and am happy with it.

Perhaps you could decrease the tiller depth and try multiple passes over the same soil to see if that method decreases the amount of soil that is moved from end to end by the tilling? As an example, till one direction and then till the opposite direction on the same bed to "even" out the soil that is moved.

My garden rows are on a slightly sloped area and my rows are perpendicular to the slope. As such, the tiller will eventually level the soil in the garden bed so that one side of the bed - the up slope side - will be lower than the natural untilled soil level. The down slope side of the bed will be lower than the untilled soil level as well, but not as much as the up side.

I till my garden beds about once every 2-3 years and have done so for many years now. I really like how the reverse tine digs deep - especially after the very first initial tilling of the soil. I've got clay soil so I do want to till it as deeply as I can. I also use a subsoiler to get real deep to help improve drainage.

From what you describe, the tiller is working as it should.

Good luck!