Garden tiller suggestions

[Nissan197]

I am looking at purchasing a rear tine tiller sometime in the near future. I want to keep it under $800 and from the looking I have been doing there are a lot of different brands out there. So far I have looked at the following brands which have counter-rotating tines. Cub Cadet, Troy-bilt, Yard Machines, Craftsman, Husqvarna. The Husqvarna says it has a 10 inch depth whereas the others only show to be 6 - 7 inch. Does anyone have any experience with any of the above brands. Prices were all pretty close ranging from around $650 to $799. Part of this garden has been tilled in the past, but I plan on expanding it which of course is covered in grass. Thanks for any responses.

 

[LBrown59]

Why not put a tiller on your tractor.
I got this one new for 1100 bucks.

I am looking at purchasing a rear tine tiller sometime in the near future. I want to keep it under $800 and from the looking I have been doing there are a lot of different brands out there. So far I have looked at the following brands which have counter-rotating tines. Cub Cadet, Troy-bilt, Yard Machines, Craftsman, Husqvarna. The Husqvarna says it has a 10 inch depth whereas the others only show to be 6 - 7 inch. Does anyone have any experience with any of the above brands. Prices were all pretty close ranging from around $650 to $799. Part of this garden has been tilled in the past, but I plan on expanding it which of course is covered in grass. Thanks for any responses.

 

[Nissan197]

I bought a 5' KK last year and oh how the wife had a fit. I am talking a fit!!!!! Needless to say she won that battle and I returned it without even getting it unloaded from the truck. Oh well. It would be a lot easier for me to transport a smaller tiller down to the parents, etc instead of loading the tractor and everything else on my 16 ft trailer.

 

[LBrown59]

I bought a 5' KK last year and oh how the wife had a fit. I am talking a fit!!!!! Needless to say she won that battle and I returned it without even getting it unloaded from the truck.

Would she still have a fit about something like this?
It's $300 less than the $800 limit you set !

L B
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/1564461-post5.html

 

[Shmudda]

I bought a 5' KK last year and oh how the wife had a fit. I am talking a fit!!!!! Needless to say she won that battle and I returned it without even getting it unloaded from the truck. Oh well. It would be a lot easier for me to transport a smaller tiller down to the parents, etc instead of loading the tractor and everything else on my 16 ft trailer.

Let her go till the garden and do the yard work the tractor would do. She'll change her miind if you set the situation up correctly!

Craig

 

[coobie]

I am looking at purchasing a rear tine tiller sometime in the near future. I want to keep it under $800 and from the looking I have been doing there are a lot of different brands out there. So far I have looked at the following brands which have counter-rotating tines. Cub Cadet, Troy-bilt, Yard Machines, Craftsman, Husqvarna. The Husqvarna says it has a 10 inch depth whereas the others only show to be 6 - 7 inch. Does anyone have any experience with any of the above brands. Prices were all pretty close ranging from around $650 to $799. Part of this garden has been tilled in the past, but I plan on expanding it which of course is covered in grass. Thanks for any responses.

I had this same question last year on a tiller purchase.I found that a good walk behind tiller can run from $1,000 up to $3,000.I chose to buy a 3pt. tiller for my tractor and have no regrets with my choice,its much easier on my old bones setting on the tractor.LOL.coobie

 

[2manyrocks]

If I am not mistaken, Cub Cadet and Troybilt brands are owned by the same parent, MTD. NOt sure who makes the Yard-Man or Craftsman.

I have had a Troy Bilt I bought in the 1980's that still runs with no problems. I brought a smaller Troy Bilt (4HP I think) a couple of years ago to get between my rows and broke two tines. Also, the hinge on the sheet metal tine cover on the new one came apart. I am not pleased with the quality of the new one. Hasn't had that much use, either.

 

[SnowRidge]

Buy a tiller for your tractor. It won't be all that much more than the $800. You will be far better off, unless you have to till someplace you can't get the tractor mounted tiller into.

 

[bontai_Joe]

Further down the page there is a great review of Husqvarna's tiller that you might be interested in reading:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/lawn-garden/123488-husqvarna-tiller-long-post.html

 

[Gittyup]

I have the troy bilt pro series that Lowes sells. Pretty good tiller for the money ~$700; is counter rotating. But doesn't have the beefy handles like the old troy bilts. If I could have found a good old one, I'd rather have bought that. But, they are few are far between for sale.

One thing I don't like about it, and maybe it's endemic in all rear-tines, is that it doesn't dig nearly as deep a my old cheapo craftsman front tine. But the rear tine CR sure does make for fine soil.

I found that it is too big for some spots and I bought a little Mantis. Man that little 2-stroke does a real nice job weeding!

 

[escavader]

Itoo am in the market for a rear tine tiller.Ihave heard the old troy builts were tougher.Icontimplated one for my bx.It would be great fo preparing a food plot for planting,but useless for tilling between the rows for weed control..Ialso heard id like the counter rotating tines too.Im leaning against the tractor onealso,because every body and their brother will want me to prepare their garden for them,not a task i want to under go.
ALAN

 

[SnowRidge]

Im leaning against the tractor onealso,because every body and their brother will want me to prepare their garden for them,not a task i want to under go.
ALAN

"Sorry, but I don't have the tiller on my tractor at the moment. It's a real bear to put on and take off. Maybe next year."

 

[KentT]

How do you plan to use it?

Preparing a new garden site, busting sod, would point toward a tractor-mounted or counter-rotating walk-behind tiller...

Preparing to plant an existing garden, and then cultivating the plants in the garden, would point toward a rear-tine walk-behind...

I have both a tractor-mounted and an old Troybilt Pony. The tractor-mounted one gets used twice a year, at most. Once to prep the garden for planting, and once in the fall to turn things under (if the weather, schedule, and soil conditions cooperate, which here in New England if hit or miss). Once the garden is planted, it is simply too big to use in cultivating. In comparison, the old Troybilt gets used at least a half-dozen times, or more, cultivating the garden once planted...

IMO, if you get a Troybilt, spend the money to get at least a Pony or Horse models, or don't bother... either one would be a "one-time" purchase that'll likely outlast you, with maintenance.

I just put new tines, shaft seals, and axle seals on my 20 year old Pony last spring -- the first major expenditure of $$ on it in 20 years. For the first half of its life, it was the only tiller I owned, so it did the additional tasks I now use the tractor-mounted tiller for...

 

[HarryVanderpool]

The claims and expectations for depth have always been overblown.
I recall tiller ads back in the hayday claiming 12" deep!
Forget the claims and look into the proper operation of each tiller.
Depending on soil type; if you are freshly breaking sod you will be tilling about 2" or less on the first pass.
Subsequent passes will increase the depth until you finally reach a point that you are high-centering the tranny assembly etc...
usually that will be in the 8" range.

It seems like all of the good tillers are no longer made.
Is BCS still making tillers?

 

[KentT]

It seems like all of the good tillers are no longer made.
Is BCS still making tillers?

Yes, they're still made, if you're up to spending $3000 or more for a tiller. The power heads are expensive, as is every attachment. Add on a few attachments, and you're getting close to the price of a Kubota BX tractor, minus attachments, for example.

The Troybilt Big Red, Horse and Pony models appear to be the same old design made for 30 years or more. Some of the other Troybilts are newer less-proven designs. The Big Red and Horse will take other powered attachments (chipper, etc.) but the Pony will not. It's only a tiller that you can add furrow/hilling attachments and row-markers onto.

The Big Red is comparable in price to BCS -- unless you're planning to use them like an old Gravely, for example, as your primary "tractor", it's hard to rationalize the price...

 

[LBrown59]

How do you plan to use it?

...

I use mine for this.
Tilling the dirt with the used BX1500 to make it finer for back filling the trench for the electric line.

 

[whistlepig]

Further down the page there is a great review of Husqvarna's tiller that you might be interested in reading:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/lawn-garden/123488-husqvarna-tiller-long-post.html

Thanks for the link bontai Joe. Good information. I am looking for a tiller also. I have been looking at the Cub Cadet and Troybilt tillers. Going to check out the Husqvarna tillers now.

 

[2manyrocks]

I have the old 7 hp kohler Horse Troy Bilt. It can prepare a garden in the Spring, but because of its weight and size, it is not the tiller to use for cultivation once things start growing unless you really leave a lot of open space between your rows. That's why I bought a smaller model which I think is called the "Tuffy" model, but it has no reverse on it and is fairly narrow. The small tires also get buried when you till deeply and there is no neutral to free wheel it. You have to pull some pins out of the wheels on the Tuffy. If you are going to have only one tiller, something in between the horse and the Tuffy sizes is probably best. The other aggravation is that the motor has the EPA compliant engine on it which means the carb is not adjustable. If it gets dirt or clogs up, you have to clean the carb to get it to run right--there's no adjusting the carb to compensate.

My father in law had a later model of the Horse. I forget what he did exactly, but he hurt his back. They look a lot smaller in the catalog than they are when you get them in the garden.

I have hard soil and usually break it with a plow on a CUT or sometimes for fun, I'll use a Gravely rotary plow on it before using a tiller to break ground in the Spring.

Depends on your soil conditions, but our ground is so hard that I wouldn't want to go back to a front tine tiller.

The disadvantage of the CRT feature is said to be that it makes it difficult to till in corn stalks or other material.

 

[whistlepig]

I have the old 7 hp kohler Horse Troy Bilt. It can prepare a garden in the Spring, but because of its weight and size, it is not the tiller to use for cultivation once things start growing unless you really leave a lot of open space between your rows. That's why I bought a smaller model which I think is called the "Tuffy" model, but it has no reverse on it and is fairly narrow. The small tires also get buried when you till deeply and there is no neutral to free wheel it. You have to pull some pins out of the wheels on the Tuffy. If you are going to have only one tiller, something in between the horse and the Tuffy sizes is probably best. The other aggravation is that the motor has the EPA compliant engine on it which means the carb is not adjustable. If it gets dirt or clogs up, you have to clean the carb to get it to run right--there's no adjusting the carb to compensate.

My father in law had a later model of the Horse. I forget what he did exactly, but he hurt his back. They look a lot smaller in the catalog than they are when you get them in the garden.

I have hard soil and usually break it with a plow on a CUT or sometimes for fun, I'll use a Gravely rotary plow on it before using a tiller to break ground in the Spring.

Depends on your soil conditions, but our ground is so hard that I wouldn't want to go back to a front tine tiller.

The disadvantage of the CRT feature is said to be that it makes it difficult to till in corn stalks or other material.

I have heard good and bad about the CRT. I have never used a tiller with CRT so I would be hesitant to buy one. I have used a Gravely with a rotary plow though. When I first saw the rotary plow I thought to myself this thing will never work. But they do work very well.

 

[2manyrocks]

Harold Gravely must have been a mechanical genius. Until someone sees a rotary plow in action, it's hard to imagine that it would work.

YouTube - Other side of the Gravely