Tiller Tillers, 3pt. or hand?

Creamer · May 15, 2015

Maybe it is just me and I am cheap but a walk behind tiller just doesn't do the nice job a 3 pt tiller does. If you walk behind the tiller you have already packed the ground unevenly.

As far as pricing I am having a hard time believing the price difference you quoted. I have a Kuhn tiller that is 54" so it is offset to cover the 60" wide tractor. It is kind of a pain but you can work with it for the spring tilling. I wish I had a 60" but this came with the tractor and the house so I have lived with it. But for $300 difference the 3 pt tiller is so much better.

gerytb · May 15, 2015

Thanks to all who responded. Sounds like a 3pt. is probably the way to go. Not retired yet, but 60 and have bad knees. Have a cultivator (tine) to keep the weeds out between the rows

oldballs · May 15, 2015

Actually, I've found the 3 pt tiller to be quite handy when doing excavations for various building of pads and parking areas.

jenkinsph · May 15, 2015

Unless the guy charges too much I bet it would be cheaper to hire out a small garden job each year.

breadtrk · May 16, 2015

3pt to till, row builder to make rows and hand tiller to run between the rows after stuff starts growing. Very simple, never fails.

Gem99ultra · May 16, 2015

I don't think there's any contest between a walk-behind and a 3-point. I'd go with the smaller offset. But trust me, you'll find a million spots that you want to stir up and level - the 3-point will serve you well.

The last thing I want to do is to follow a walk-behind while it throws me around like rag doll.

powerscol · May 16, 2015

Hopefully you have maneuvering room around the garden bed, as with the 3pt you will need it. If it is just for the garden check with an agg rental place and rent one first to see if your tractor will handle it. I got my Ansung Terra Force through a rental place - barely used, but they were rotating it out after 2 years.

Once I got mine, I found a lot of uses for it.

mossdown · May 16, 2015

Having used all kinds and types of tillers for many years I like my 3pt. extremely well. I have since sold all my rear tine tillers and just kept a front tine one for weeding between rows and flower beds. With the front tine I can get right up next to the house barn or fences. I have several size garden areas as I raise different crops in each one. I like a 3pt. that covers my tire tread totally. I found that one of the smaller 50" tillers offset gave me troubles with limited access areas thus having to backup over previous tilled areas to get in tight spots. I till areas for a lot of customers also. This tiller gets a lot of use yearly. Go with what you can afford. 3pt. all the way. You may be able to pick up some extra cash on the side. Good luck.

flusher · May 17, 2015

I've used walk behind tillers, 3-pt tillers (Yanmar RS1200 tiller, 48" wide, behind my Kubota B7510HST, and a garden tractor (Bolens GT1453 with 32" wide rototiller). I used the 3-pt tiller to put in about 1/4 acre of landscaping around my house when it was built in 2005. The Bolens was used for my 50x75 ft garden. The walk behind was used for work in tight spaces (shrub beds).

The walk behind was a $200 tiller from Home Depot. The Yanmar cost $250. The Bolens with tiller and 48" wide mid mount mower cost $600 off Craigslist.