I almost never replace a tiller bolt but re-use them with Loctite. Granted, I'm in soft and prepped dirt a lot but used to till in the glacial till of New England. Today, I'll add, I till everything in my path with a commercial Maschio and the bolts are never loose and never break. I till clay tiles a lot, general decades old trash refuse and all kinds of farm residue and trash that is now someone's yard. If the bolts are tight, and mine are, they don't seem to wear or break.
Howard is probably the best tiller, maybe tied with the Maschio big ones, and I once tilled a driveway with a big rock sub base and moved the gravel/rocks/etc to a new spot I tilled and dug out. I had to add some gravel and the (chain drive) Howard took a beating, but never a problem. I would buy one now but they aren't widely available around here. Kuhn is also a good brand but I've never owned one.
I said carbide tines but maybe they're something else because I have seen them used hard in abrasive soil and they didn't seem to break or even wear very much. I've toyed with the idea of hard facing the edge of my tiller tines to get more use but figured it might unbalance things. Anyone think that would work?
