WARNING ! Ansung misrepresenting

[murphy1244]

Catman, Just an FYI, I weighed all my attachments and trailer empty tongue weights then hand painted the weight on each for future reference. Hard to remember as you get older.

Now that is pretty smart! Thanks for the tip.

 

[sixdogs]

Last summer I had the chance to weigh some implements I had and was shocked to learn the weights were not at all what I thought. A chisel plow I thought was 1,000 lbs turned out to be only 700. My landscape rake was way more than I thought and a loader I thought was 1,200 was almost 1,800. Maybe time for a scale.

 

[the old grind]

Catman, I've been following since recognizing that our tractors and tillers are so similar. My toughest performance test was tilling a 30' x 30' patch of lawn in heavy for the area soil into a 'garden' for a Sis. (her way, of course )

I set the skids high up, maybe skipping a bolt hole or so, and my 60" KK (weight unknown) went nearly full depth on the first (creeping) pass. Went crosswise to that once, then a third pass like the first. There was no grass or weed matter to rake off by then and I suspect we got an honest 6" of plantable depth. There's a routine at the end of a row. I declutch, disengage PTO, lower rpm, raise 3PH, turn, lower, raise rpm, clutch, engage PTO and take off. ... Why I mention this is the bigger laugh you'd get watching me do them in order than my trying to look clever writing it down. :laughing: (lotta shakin' & noise, sometimes)

An interesting sideline to that task was when I complained for the sake of my gadget about splitting nearly fist-sized granite rocks and asked onlookers to grab a few between passes and she chewed my six for days about 'rocks' as if she'd wanted more brought in. Of course to get even I neglected to mention for a season or two that when hubby's pulling weeds (w/seeds set) in the fall they shouldn't be tossed into the middle to be tilled in later. (his way )

Anyway, what I came away with there and since is: - that on a first pass one needn't work too deep, easier yet if the area is flat or you're good on the draft control, - that on any subsequent pass, the tiller might surge & bounce within play in the pins etc as on the first, - that HST is the trick, you creep forward as the tiller works to depth under whatever weight it does have, - and what was most important to me that 540 RPM just didn't work for me on any job yet.

That 'shakin & noise' I get when lifting the tiller w/o disengaging first shouldn't also be there when it's working the ground and the PTO shaft isn't at any odd angle. I suggest you consider reducing rpm as much as say 10% by trial & error, but based again on our tractor & tiller sizes being so similar. My NH's rpm for 540 PTO speed is 2450, but tiller works best around 2100-2200. There'll be a setting where things just seem to run their smoothest, and I'll bet you find it in a jif.

Glad to have you with us. t o g

 

[Catman8]

George2615, sixdogs, and the old grind, thanks for sharing your knowledge.

 

[sixdogs]

I use tillers a lot and can be very abusive with them. Careful, but doing things like tilling hard clay ground in August. A better way to use a tiller and get more satisfactory results is to first break the ground a little with a simple set of cultivators. I use some serious ones, but light ones work too and just need to rip the ground a little. Then I till a couple of times over that. Blades last far longer that way and things don't get beat to death. Nothing happens in just one pass.

Tilling is in straight lines with no turns or you'll break tines.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I drove about 1200 miles round trip to get my tires filled with Rimguard . . . .

Really? 600 miles each way?

 

[powerscol]

I wondered about that myself, but decided to not say anything.

 

[Catman8]

After buying a countyline quick hitch I finally got a chance to get everything hooked up and was able to use the tiller a little bit today, the dirt on my property is very soft so the tiller ran pretty smooth.

 

[powerscol]

I dont know - the rest of us are working on tire chains and plowing snow. I'm a little jealous of you staying warm.:laughing::thumbsup: I did notice in the last picture you have the skids on the highest setting. If I may suggest, put them on the lowest and use the 3pt for depth control. Then you will really know how it works,

Happy Tilling and Merry Christmas

 

[Catman8]

I dont know - the rest of us are working on tire chains and plowing snow. I'm a little jealous of you staying warm.:laughing::thumbsup: I did notice in the last picture you have the skids on the highest setting. If I may suggest, put them on the lowest and use the 3pt for depth control. Then you will really know how it works,

Happy Tilling and Merry Christmas

I'm just using it for weed control right now, really don't have time for a garden, just to busy. But I do plan on using it for a garden so thanks for the info on setting the depth. Why does your tiller have springs that hold the back plate down and mine does not.

Oh and by the way You have snow because Santa has a sleigh, Merry Christmas to you to.:grinch:

 

[sixdogs]

I till a lot, much of it commercial and integrated with other tillage practices. I find the best use for a tiller is not maximum depth but rather to just skim the surface after other tillage, like cultivators, has disrupted the surface. I sometimes till deeper on successive passes to incorporate plant material and such but have found that continuous deep tilling creates a hardpan of compaction on clay ground and that causes other issues as well as brings up more weed seeds. Plus it's harder on the equipment in compacted clay ground.

Maximum tillage depth is set with my skid shoes and I often use the lift arms to raise the implement for shallower tillage. Now that I think of it, I probably have my skids set at maybe 3/4 maximum depth so that's the max for me. This is just what works for me. If I were on gravel ground I would likely till deeper.

When I used to till deeper I would go through tines pretty quick. Skim tilling like I now do gets the job done and barely wears them.

 

[powerscol]

The springs are a part of the heavier duty models and can be set to hold the door open (rocky ground so rocks kick out the back on the surface)) or closed to get max break up of the soil and better incorporate compost. There are several setting depending where you set the springs and clevis pins. I have only seen this feature on the HD Ansung, some Woods models and another HD brand. If you search the tilling threads you can find the information if you wish. Its one readon I went with the YJR series Ansung. My tractor is hydro-static, so by going slow it really mixes everything in. I also found by closing the springs down it actually compacts and levels the bed a little so it is ready for planting. By having the door closed I can actually carry soil to level low spots. I discovered that when re planting my pasture. I normally have the springs set to hold the door closed as I feel I get better results for the garden. A couple of passes, and a landscape rake and I am ready to plant. The only down side is the tailgate is darn heavy when doing maintenance, but I can live with that, Hope this helps

 

[BCrouse]

I'm just using it for weed control right now, really don't have time for a garden, just to busy. But I do plan on using it for a garden so thanks for the info on setting the depth. Why does your tiller have springs that hold the back plate down and mine does not.

Oh and by the way You have snow because Santa has a sleigh, Merry Christmas to you to.:grinch:

If you haven't figured it out yet, you can adjust the chain on the back to allow different hold opens of the back plate.

In your pictures it looks like youve got it shut (last link in the chain) which is fully closed.

 

[txdon]

Oh and by the way You have snow because Santa has a sleigh, Merry Christmas to you to.:grinch:

That explains a lot. I have not been bad, I just live too far south.

 

[sixdogs]

Leave the back lid shut and you can bury rocks rather than kicking them up. It will also level the ground a lot and mine is always shut. Also, till one way and then at an angle maybe 20% off from the first and you can really level things. It's not a good seedbed until it's packed.