Tilling speed

[wincher]

When you are out tilling what travel speed have you found works the best for you. I know slow would be best but are most of you making good time while tilling?

 

[digger2]

When i till,i till in low range,foot on the hydro pedal just enough to make the tractor move.For two reasons:
1-I only till twice a year,once in the spring,once in the late fall and if it takes a little time-who cares.
2-I paid good money for my tiller,and i figure the slower i go,the less chance a rock or some other object in the ground (tree root,etc.) has a chance to damage my tiller before i can catch it or my clutch slips on the tiller.
Actually,i dont think there is an absolute "right" speed for a tiller.
Ground conditions change from place to place,so use your own judgement.
In my opinion,a tiller takes a lot of punishment even in "good" ground so i take it easy on mine.
Digger2

 

[JDeerekid]

digger2 is right, There is really no right speed. The ideal speed is really slow, but it depends on your soil type. I have a geared tractor and I put it is low 1st and it still can be to fast for some soil conditions. I have alot of rocks so I go slow anyway and like to try to make only one pass.

 

[greenmule]

I go in low first on my kioti ck30 which is gear,5 ft kk tiller,which is a pretty good speed really[when you got a tiller on the back anyways],but it works good,in my garden,which has very few rocks and no roots.

You have to make about three passes to get it down deep enough wether you go my speed or slower,[neighbor has a tractor I have used and its got a creeper gear,you can keep up with it walking on your knees],still needed to make at least two passes,[tiller will only go as deep as the skid shoes allow,once you go over it once,skid shoes dig into the loose dirt,than you go deeper,etc]

 

[rdbrumfield]

If I am in new soil I always use the lowest gear so the bite of the tiller will make the smallest piece of sod possible. When gardening, I use what works the best. Usually high idle, low gear. However, in some soils going too slow can tend to make clod balls if it is a bit wet. When they dry, they are like rocks and trying to till them is like mixing marbles.

 

[Bird]

Yep, "slow" is best, but how slow is slow? The below is a quote from the Bush Hog RTS tiller manual:

Average soil with reasonable moisture will allow travel speeds up to 2 mph. Hard soil will require low travel speed, less than 1 mph to ensure smooth operation and maximum possible depth. Shallow weed cultivation will allow speeds up to 3 mph.

 

[gordyy]

used my new tiller today on my new tractor I might add
had put it on just for ballast as I was hauling sandbags in the bucket for some tight spaces flood fighting
and when I got done I decided what the heck I should try it out as long as it was hooked up
have to say after using one years ago with my old gear drive tractors the Hydro sure is nice for tilling
was a bit to wet but I can always go over the wet spots

 

[5030tinkerer]

I cannot imagine tilling at 2+mph. I just got through the spring tilling of the garden. Tractor is a Kubota 5030 HST (50hp). Tiller is a Woods GHT72 (6', commercial duty). Even though it was rock free, somewhat soft soil, I couldn't go any more than half a mile per hour without the tiller bouncing all over the place for the first pass. On about the third pass, I got up to 1.2mph, but that was about it. I paid alot for that tiller. I go slow to prolong its life.

Maybe a counter rotating tiller would allow faster tilling speeds.

 

[greenmule]

Well according to my book,low/1st is close to 1 mile an hour,on my ck30 gear.
No,I couldn't imagine going 2 miles an hour either.
No bounce in mine going that speed in hard garden[last fall it was hard].

 

[pharmguy]

Slow is definitely best. I have tilled the same plot for 3 years and each year the rocks keep on coming. I can till 1/2 acre in about an hour but I would prefer to do it in 3-4 hour to make sure I mixed everything well.

I have the HST so I creep along. I try to match my speed to how fast my wife can clear rocks (which isn't very fast at all) from in front of the tractor.