Tiller forward or reverse tine tiller??

[gregp1083]

I found someone to sell me a tiller. Now I need to decide if I should go with a forward or reverse tine tiller. My soil conditions are mostly soil, gravel and sand. Very little rocks. By rocks I mean anything bigger than a softball. I am using a New Holland Hydrostatic drive TC24DA and a 52" tiller.

 

[oosik]

Well, I've had a Troy Bilt reverse tine tiller. It did a good job of opening up plots that had never broken before. Never had a forward rotating tiller. Literature generally indicates - reverse tine is better for opening new plots & forward is better for areas that have previously been broken.

I know that the 'ol Troy would tear up the soil and prepare a seed bed just fine. It could be a real handful when tilling an unbroken field but certainly wouldn't be as difficult being a 3-point implement.

 

[mddorange]

Gregp1083, a forward tiller is for protection from big roots and rocks as it will go over them without breaking anything. Reverse times will dig deeper but can cause problems by bogging down the tractor or breaking something if it gets caught. With your type soil you should be fine with either.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

In all the years I've been doing custom tilling, probably a couple thousand acres, I've NEVER, not once, wished I had a reverse rotating tine tiller behind my tractor!

SR

 

[gregp1083]

Thank you for your thoughts. It sounds like your far an away more experienced than most at the tilling trade. The reverse tiller would have to be ordered while the forward tine is in stock. Sounds like a forward tiller will break soil also with the added protection of a random rock or root.

In all the years I've been doing custom tilling, probably a couple thousand acres, I've NEVER, not once, wished I had a reverse rotating tine tiller behind my tractor!

SR

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I agree with Sawyer Rob. I have a forward tiller and I use it commercially. There are a few times that I want a reverse tiller and when I do, I just run mine in reverse. And, a reverse tiller is usually a LOT more expensive.

 

[jenkinsph]

I found someone to sell me a tiller. Now I need to decide if I should go with a forward or reverse tine tiller. My soil conditions are mostly soil, gravel and sand. Very little rocks. By rocks I mean anything bigger than a softball. I am using a New Holland Hydrostatic drive TC24DA and a 52" tiller.

I think you will find the forward tine tiller in this size to be all you will want to handle. Essentially the tiller will be pushing the tractor forward so your hydro transmission losses will be minimal. That leave you with the maximum pto output available to turn the tiller. You will need all the pto power you can get.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I do everything from small gardens with my small tiller, to larger fields with my bigger tiller,

To get the RIGHT tilth, it's really about learning HOW to get it! NOT, to just keep going over and over your garden spot...

Most guys waaaaaay "over till" their soil and ruin the soil structure!

SR

 

[bigtiller]

I agree with the others, forward is the only way for you. You will want more HP if you get the reverse rotation tiller.

 

[mapper]

I have soil that is fairly compacted below about 6". If I use my forward rotating tiller to break new ground it will only get down through that first 6" and tend bang off of the compacted layer. I find it much more effective to plow new ground first, then tilling is smooth as silk. I don't think a reverse rotation tiller would be much more effective and would probably beat the heck out of the tractor on the occasional rocks embedded in the hard soil layer.

 

[art]

That compacted layer is as far your plants roots can get in one season. You might try a sub-soiler to break it.

 

[mapper]

That compacted layer is as far your plants roots can get in one season. You might try a sub-soiler to break it.

I have a single bottom plow that I can get down 10-12" with, that seems to do the trick. Probably not as. Deep as a subsoiler but you work with what you have

 

[Qapla]

If you are using a "walk behind" tiller, reverse tine is much easier to run - especially when breaking the soil.

However, if you are using a 3-point tiller, the aspect of "holding it down" is usually no longer an issue and the forward tine will do nicely with minimal damage to itself.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I thought that a reverse tiller was the way to go. But I bought a forward tiller and have had excellent results

 

[GardenerJerry]

This site, Tillers Direct, has a very helpful buyer's guide for tillers. They go into detail on differences between front and rear tine. The buyer's guide link is at the bottom of the page.

 

[Bird]

In the "walk behind" tillers, I've owned both forward and reverse tillers. I liked the reverse better for the bigger jobs and the forward one for cultivating plants already up. But my tiller for the tractor was forward turning and with a hydrostatic transmission, I was quite happy with it.

 

[Clay45]

My Tarter tiller from Tractor Supply has the option of being converted to back rotation but comes in forward rotation configuration. After using it I have no need to reverse; forward churns it up just fine and it pulls out some pretty large rocks without damage (so far).

 

[gregp1083]

Forward tine it is. Thank you all very much.

 

[California]

I see voting is closed but I'll add:
In my orchard, the tiller is likely to hit old roots when preparing a site for a replacement tree. Turning forward, the tiller walks right over roots with minimal drama. I hate to think how a reverse tiller would dig in when it snags a root.

I do everything from small gardens with my small tiller, to larger fields with my bigger tiller

To get the RIGHT tilth, it's really about learning HOW to get it! NOT, to just keep going over and over your garden spot...

Most guys waaaaaay "over till" their soil and ruin the soil structure!

Can you elaborate on this?

I have a 54" tiller made in Japan for rice paddies. It is designed to accept the 540/750/1050 rpm output of the tractor it was originally matched for. (and I have 540/1000 available from my tractor). Faster speed seems to turn garden soil into fine flour, which I would think becomes airless clay when moistened. (Photo trying out the two PTO speeds available: 540 then after a few ft, 1000 rpm gear selected).

Seems to me small chunks is all the tilling any plot needs. Comments?

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have a single bottom plow that I can get down 10-12" with, that seems to do the trick. Probably not as. Deep as a subsoiler but you work with what you have

I use this to break up any hardpack and bring up rocks to the surface. It will pull all the way to the frame which is plenty deep enough for any root system other than a tree. If I recall rightly, I think it was around $250.