B7500
Platinum Member
I have an area a little under 1 acre (200x200) that I want to plant a garden. Would that size justify buying a tiller for my tractor?
Thanks,
Terry
Thanks,
Terry
Tiller worth it?
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Bird
Rest in Peace
Absolutely!
jmattox1
Bronze Member
B7500,
I have 2 small gardens due to the way my property is laid out. Total area is 30X70 and 20X30.
Just purchased (Early April) for an early Fathers Day present a 5' Landpride Tiller.
I have tilled both gardens put in grass seed with it, yep hand sewn then tilled in works great, and pepaired flower beds with it.
Once you purchase it you may think of many other projects it may help with.
I have 2 small gardens due to the way my property is laid out. Total area is 30X70 and 20X30.
Just purchased (Early April) for an early Fathers Day present a 5' Landpride Tiller.
I have tilled both gardens put in grass seed with it, yep hand sewn then tilled in works great, and pepaired flower beds with it.
Once you purchase it you may think of many other projects it may help with.
I have a Caroni tiller and love it, I till three gardens of varying sizes. It sure beats walking behind a selfpropelled tiller that beats the hell out of you in rocky soil. I think the Caroni was about $850 and you would pay that much for a good walk behind. Where I live now the soil has NO rocks and i am finished in no time.
Anonymous Poster
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I think that would justify a small tiller. It might cost 2 times as much as a decent walk behind tiller, but is easier on your back and is one less thing to keep running.
Cdash
Silver Member
Seeing how I plant a 30x30 garden and bought a 5' King Kutter tiller, I would say your garden sizes justify it. They do a good job and don't beat you up, like others have said!
Anonymous Poster
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Well, I'll chime in with everyone else--definitely worth it! I do a 30'x30' garden every year and my First Choice 4' tiller saved my back this year. I'm thinking about expanding the garden next year and the tiller will definitely do the job easier, faster, and better than a walk-behind. Besides, it's always fun playing (working, I mean) with the power toys! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
robertm
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I have a 75' X 200' garden and I till it with the tractor. You could do it with a walk behind fairly easily now that it has been created and the soil is in good shape. I do my little garden with a mantis "chainsaw" (2 cycle) tiller. That garden is 25' X 50'. The soil is light and there are almost no rocks at this point. It takes so little time to do it with the small tiller there is no point in putting the big tiller on the tractor. I leave the backhoe on the tractor, and though it is easy to take on and off, it does take some time to do.
In my experience the big job is creating a new garden. I won't use herbicide in my vegetable gardens so eliminating the sod has been a big challenge in the past. If you till it in you have chopped up grass that grows back with a vengeance and you fight it all season. Every time you till you also expose new grass and weed seeds that sprout and you fight them too. What I do now is take the backhoe and cut off the sod. I find that with the FEL I tended to remove too much soil, with the backhoe I can take off just the amount of sod I want. Then I dig down 15" or so with the backhoe to loosen up the soil and remove all the rocks (I have a LOT of rocks). The tiller will only get down six to eight inches deep. When I used the tiller in the past to loosen up the soil for a new bed I thought at times it was going to bounce so hard on the rocks it would rip off the tractor. I had to till with the parking brake engaged to keep the tiller from driving the tractor forward and I bolted angle iron to the top of the tiller so I could stack cement blocks on it to add additional weight.
After the rocks are out of the new bed I till once to chop the clods up and then add compost and soil to replace the volume of rocks I’ve removed and till again. After that the tilling is almost effortless.
We have been using weed barrier fabric in the garden for the last few years and it is a great time saver. We used to fight the weeds all summer long and now a few minutes with the hoe takes care of any that sneak through the gaps in the fabric. I hated weeding corn and onions in the past because the sprouting grass looks just like them. Now I plant them through the weed barrier and forget about them until it is harvest time.
A small tiller would probably do your garden just fine. If you purchase one that is smaller then the width of your tire tracks though, be sure that you can shift it to one side to eliminate one tire track. This limits you to being able to till in only one direction in the bed but that is seldom an issue. With my BX22 the weight of most tillers is an issue. Even most of the smallest ones are over the mfg’s stated 3pt weight limit for my tractor. You should consider that when making your purchase. Given the choice I’d buy one large enough to eliminate both tire tracks.
In my experience the big job is creating a new garden. I won't use herbicide in my vegetable gardens so eliminating the sod has been a big challenge in the past. If you till it in you have chopped up grass that grows back with a vengeance and you fight it all season. Every time you till you also expose new grass and weed seeds that sprout and you fight them too. What I do now is take the backhoe and cut off the sod. I find that with the FEL I tended to remove too much soil, with the backhoe I can take off just the amount of sod I want. Then I dig down 15" or so with the backhoe to loosen up the soil and remove all the rocks (I have a LOT of rocks). The tiller will only get down six to eight inches deep. When I used the tiller in the past to loosen up the soil for a new bed I thought at times it was going to bounce so hard on the rocks it would rip off the tractor. I had to till with the parking brake engaged to keep the tiller from driving the tractor forward and I bolted angle iron to the top of the tiller so I could stack cement blocks on it to add additional weight.
After the rocks are out of the new bed I till once to chop the clods up and then add compost and soil to replace the volume of rocks I’ve removed and till again. After that the tilling is almost effortless.
We have been using weed barrier fabric in the garden for the last few years and it is a great time saver. We used to fight the weeds all summer long and now a few minutes with the hoe takes care of any that sneak through the gaps in the fabric. I hated weeding corn and onions in the past because the sprouting grass looks just like them. Now I plant them through the weed barrier and forget about them until it is harvest time.
A small tiller would probably do your garden just fine. If you purchase one that is smaller then the width of your tire tracks though, be sure that you can shift it to one side to eliminate one tire track. This limits you to being able to till in only one direction in the bed but that is seldom an issue. With my BX22 the weight of most tillers is an issue. Even most of the smallest ones are over the mfg’s stated 3pt weight limit for my tractor. You should consider that when making your purchase. Given the choice I’d buy one large enough to eliminate both tire tracks.
