Want to build an 80 inch hydraulic tiller

[bobodu]

Plow and a disc.

 

[SpecElim]

Thanks for all the replies. Working on getting money first. Then I will finish my design part. Trying to build all of this from scratch. I am a certified welder so I do know how to build things with balance and precision. This should not be as much of a challenge as it is becoming. I do agree that pto driven is the way to go if I can get the parts as cheap as a hydraulic motor.

kennyd
Re: Want to build an 80 inch hydraulic tiller
Where are you located?

By the way I am in North Carolina on the East Coast. We have particularly hard clay soil here. My garden has been plowed plenty of times with a two moldboard breaking plow and disked until my disk bearings fell apart. I recently purchased a 6 tine cultivator from Agri-Supply. Those work great for shallow breaking but I need something to finely "chew" up the ground after breaking it. That is why I was suggesting something this large because I would not be using it for the initial breaking of the ground. This is only a project to break up large chunks of clay left behind after the plow/cultivator and for adding/mixing sand, peat moss, and cow manure in with the clay.

Thanks again for the replies and keep 'em comin!
Matt.

 

[jenkinsph]

There is also the matter of longevity too, a cheap hydraulic motor and pump will not last as long as a pto shaft and gearbox. I would be cautious about building a tiller when decent ones can be had for $2000. It is practical to build something that is hard to find or unique but for something like a tiller I doubt you can build one for less than a comparable factory built one with warranty and lots of R and D.



Steve

 

[bobodu]

QUIT ADDING SAND!!!!

I don't know why people think sand is gonna help. Look at concrete. Made from cement (a binder- like clay) sand and gravel (bigger sand...).
You need lots of organic material. I add truckloads of horse manure that has set outside the garden for at least a year. It takes a long time for the straw to break down and that helps the soil structure.

 

[garnet]

I am building a tiller.It will be pto driven, have a slip clutch and box with pto drive (a tractor scrap yard sold me the box for $250 and even that is not a great deal). Most brands use about 3 different boxes. Bearings and seals are cheap the only thing on my mind is weather to make it forwerd or reverse rotation, I am deciding on the pros and cons. I also have very rocky soil.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I was in the same boat as you a few months back...Same situation except I am building a Power Rake...

Ended up finding the perfect gearbox (Right Angle, 2:1, Super HD) for a steal on eBay, after that the decision was made for me. I thought Hydraulic would have been easier, but now that I am where I am, I'm thinking that the "Gear Drive" is going to be better in the long haul..

 

[Brad_Blazer]

Quick change of plans. I am going to use a 1-1/8" x 76-1/2" square disk axle from agri supply as my main shaft. This way the replacement shafts/ bearings are very cheap. I can weld the tines straight to the shaft. when they need to be replaced I can cut them off and reweld new ones.

That axle has much less bending and torsional strength than the pipe typically used for tiller rotors i.e. if you use it the rotor may turn into scrap metal the moment it contacts the ground. You would do well to copy the Woods design in detail as closely as possible, especially with respect to the high stress moving parts.

I will 3rd the suggestion that you get the King Kutter 72". I've used that KK and it is beefy. It leaves a beautiful, finely ground bed and is the right size for your tractor.

 

[BHD]

I considered building a tiller a few years ago and ran in to a very cheap mini three point tanam disk made by Massey so I never made one,

but my idea was to use a Car differential or truck as the gear box and first gear reduction, go to the sides and probably duel drive, (from both ends) bolt the sprocket on to the lug nuts and one on to a heavy pipe for the axle of the tiller it self, and weld on the tine attachments, on the end of the axle reduce to a shaft, bearing, and have the bearing area on the out side of the tiller sealed, and run the #80 or $100 chains in oil, at least sealed from the dirt, (similar to the new JD corn header drives)

use a PTO shaft to drive the differential, (I do not remember the RPM of the tiller) but to adjust to the desired RPM via the sprockets on the out side.

I figured the costs were basically going to be for the tines and the PTO shaft and bearing and sprockets and roller chain, the rest was basically scrounge materials (old car or pickup differential) a little channel or tube for the main frame, heavy pipe, some shaft, and some flat or plate for the ends,

I felt that by driving it from both sides would make it simpler (not having to lock the differential up), and would use lighter drive chains to transfer the energy to the main tine shaft, one end of the flat plate may need to be bolted on as to aid in assembly or repair,

even it one want to make it wider than the differential one would only have to make a plate what would bolt on to where the lugs would and have a shaft welded on it and a support bearing on the end and one could make it nearly any width,

that was my idea,

if it was an off set differential one could off set the tiller if not as wide as the tractor so you could cover your tire tracks

 

[Renze]

but my idea was to use a Car differential or truck as the gear box and first gear reduction, go to the sides and probably duel drive, (from both ends) bolt the sprocket on to the lug nuts and one on to a heavy pipe for the axle of the tiller it self, and weld on the tine attachments, on the end of the axle reduce to a shaft, bearing, and have the bearing area on the out side of the tiller sealed, and run the #80 or $100 chains in oil, at least sealed from the dirt, (similar to the new JD corn header drives)

I once had in mind to use a car diff to make a silage miller, to spread silage on the heap. That was before we sold the selfloading hay wagon for scrap, i built a frontloader and bale clamp and we switched to baled and wrapped silage completely.
My idea was to make it center drive and use two very wide steel wheels (allmost touching in the middle) as spreading augers.