Question for you guy with tillers

[screamin400]

I moved into a 4 acre parcel today that an older lady wants cleared and seeded. Trees have been removed but some remains are still there. Grass has grown upward of a foot and thick in spots. I am wondering how a tiller will do in this type of condition. My box blade and york rake are very slow. I will get to the goal but could be after I retire. I have talked to some folks and they say the grass will be an issue. I ran a large tiller back in the day on a large tractor and grass was no issue for it but it was very large. I am looking at a 6 footer. Possibly the Mahindra brand. What do you guys think? Will the grass wrap it up?

 

[WM75Guy]

If it were my land I would spray it with Roundup and then mow it as low as possible after you see it is dying. Then I would till it till smooth and seed it. If you broadcast the seed you will need to drag it to get the seed down into the soil a little, 1/4" to 1/2" is plenty. You don't have to wait long to reseed after Roundup, 3-7 days is plenty. It takes that long for stuff to start dying and to get the soil prepared.

 

[screamin400]

We are in full agreement on the roundup. I need to finish this asap. At the rate I am going 4 acres is going to take 3 days. Too slow. I need to get it done in two and ready to seed. Not sure a tiller is the answer in grass this tall. I have no way to cut it either. I wonder how bad it would wrap up. I could always use another attachment

 

[mapper]

I have a 60" Taylor Pittsburgh tiller, I get a little bit of tall grass wrapped around the very ends but nothing in the center of the tiller. It's not like a walk behind at all. A couple of weeks ago I turned under my annual rye cover crop in the garden, it was about 30" tall, I pulled a few dozen stems off each end when I was done.

 

[kthompson]

Can you spray with roundup and then burn it when dead?

 

[screamin400]

I have a 60" Taylor Pittsburgh tiller, I get a little bit of tall grass wrapped around the very ends but nothing in the center of the tiller. It's not like a walk behind at all. A couple of weeks ago I turned under my annual rye cover crop in the garden, it was about 30" tall, I pulled a few dozen stems off each end when I was done.

This is what I needed to know. Thanks

 

[screamin400]

Can you spray with roundup and then burn it when dead?

Time does not allow it for me

 

[Goose69]

My experience is same as mapper.

I have a 6' Taylor Pittsburgh tiller, and tilled up a few places without mowing first. And the tiller did fine. Had some grass wrapped around the ends, but was mostly clean.
.. It's not the way I would normally do it, but it worked fine for the 1/4 acre I did that way.

 

[powerscol]

I moved into a 4 acre parcel today that an older lady wants cleared and seeded. Trees have been removed but some remains are still there. Grass has grown upward of a foot and thick in spots. I am wondering how a tiller will do in this type of condition. My box blade and york rake are very slow. I will get to the goal but could be after I retire. I have talked to some folks and they say the grass will be an issue. I ran a large tiller back in the day on a large tractor and grass was no issue for it but it was very large. I am looking at a 6 footer. Possibly the Mahindra brand. What do you guys think? Will the grass wrap it up?

I agree with killing the grass and cutting it short before tilling. Also a littler moisture in the ground helps. As for tiller brands, consider Ansung Terraforce. Thier heavy weight units (YJR074 is what I have) are very tough and heavy (read thier specifications). In tilling weight is your friend. I got mine out of a local agg rental yard - barely used.

 

[jenkinsph]

Good heavy duty tillers would be my preference and the EA offerings seem to be reasonable. That said if you need it today TSC has a 5' tiller in stock for $1499 at the Rome store nearby. One of the other stores may have the 6' tiller model too. I would compare this to the Mahindra tillers up close before buying or paying more as these are similar in appearance. I reviewed the Mahindra tillers before responding to your thread and they do not appear to be anything special.

A King Kutter 6' tiller would be a good choice too if you can find one locally today. These are held in high regard here on TBN by lots of people. I honestly don't know how much difference there is between the Countyline models and the King Kutter models as I have not used either one myself.

I have a Deere 673 tiller that doesn't have trouble with tall pasture grass and has held up very well in tough rocky soil in the southwest. Well pleased with it so far and will be putting new tines on it next week. This is a heavy duty tiller that may be available at a local dealer if you can't find what you want fast enough but they are more expensive.

Sounds like you need to pick one up quickly to get this done. I do a lot of tilling with my work and would expect that your tractor and a 5' or 6' tiller with 30 pto hp. will take about 10 hours to make two passes in different directions on 4 acres. I don't think the 6' will be much faster than the 5' either as you can run the 5' model with a little higher ground speed without over loading the engine. Weather permitting you could till and plant Friday afternoon is my guess.

If you had more time I would suggest running an S tine cultivator across the field first. It can help break up the sod but more important it can find things beneath the grass before you find it with the tiller. Keep an eye out for wire and other debris.

 

[screamin400]

The photos online of the Mahindra tiller seem to be of an older flat top style. The one my dealer has is a rounded top. I have looked at the county line at tsc and the KK at runnings. In person the Mahindra has a nicer appearance and I think the rounded top may like the grass better? I have heard this but I do not know this. The Mahindra is more money but does look better built. I can have either today.

My main issue is that I am subcontracted to do this field. Lady is paying a large sum to have it done quickly. I am a perfectionist on my work and a box blade and york rake will not give the appearance that I prefer but then again it may be what the contractor has in mind. He is coming this morning to take a look. So far he says he thinks it will be fine. In my mind it will not look like the work I try to do. If I am spending this kind of money I do not want to see any standing grass in my new grass. I know what I would do as the contractor and I know what the right thing to do is as a sub but going to let the contractor make the decision.

 

[screamin400]

This is the area I am doing. Hopefully it dries out a bit from the storm we got right before some of these pics. No lie I have been over this 10 times to get it to look like that and I am not happy with the look. I am pretty sure a good tiller will run through this grass. I am thinking a tiller can do this in one day and I will be 4 days at the rate I am going.

 

[jenkinsph]

With two passes at 90 degrees to each other I don't think you will have any standing grass.

I do lots of box blade work too but I do not use a box blade to replace a tiller. Most times working over fields I till first then use box blade to grade and smooth.

 

[radioman]

looking at your grass picture - i dont think you will have major problems with plants wrapping around your tiller if you get one. looking at your dirt pics - you should not be working the land when its wet - it just creates more work and its like day and night when soil is dry enough to work. also the worked wet dirt doesnt look to bad right now and i am afraid that if you will it anyways - you will create more work for your self. you may bring up rocks and stones and other hidden surprises to the surface where you need to go back and pick it up and remove. you are trying to save time and this could set you back.
I would wait till the dirt actually drys out so the dirt can go thru the rake better sandlike and you can get a better finish.

sometimes waiting long enough is the best thing to do instead of making yourself trying to do things in a short period of time with a deadline.

 

[Ivan49]

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This is the area I am doing. Hopefully it dries out a bit from the storm we got right before some of these pics. No lie I have been over this 10 times to get it to look like that and I am not happy with the look. I am pretty sure a good tiller will run through this grass. I am thinking a tiller can do this in one day and I will be 4 days at the rate I am going.

A tiller will work good on that. What I have found with mine is areas with that type of grass till really good, but if you have something like 3 foot tall rye it will wrap around the tiller

 

[screamin400]

Sun is out so should be drying out quickly I hope. I have a deadline so it is what it is. I have 8 hours in that little bit. I am not 1/3 of the way done.

 

[Ford850]

A tiller will work good on that. What I have found with mine is areas with that type of grass till really good, but if you have something like 3 foot tall rye it will wrap around the tiller

This is what I have found with mine too. I just tilled some areas last evening that looked similar to the pictures, and one pass knocks most of it out. Two passes and it's clean.
Be careful when tilling an area to be seeded for a lawn though. Do not till very deep, or it will settle and have rows of ridges and dips in the years to come.

 

[jenkinsph]

Here is a picture after running my tiller over a pasture. Two trips with the tiller and one pass with the land plane grader scraper. My concern would be since you have to do this so quickly the grass doesn't have any time to dry out. I suspect you will be okay though.

 

[jenkinsph]

The photos online of the Mahindra tiller seem to be of an older flat top style. The one my dealer has is a rounded top. I have looked at the county line at tsc and the KK at runnings. In person the Mahindra has a nicer appearance and I think the rounded top may like the grass better? I have heard this but I do not know this. The Mahindra is more money but does look better built. I can have either today.

My main issue is that I am subcontracted to do this field. Lady is paying a large sum to have it done quickly. I am a perfectionist on my work and a box blade and york rake will not give the appearance that I prefer but then again it may be what the contractor has in mind. He is coming this morning to take a look. So far he says he thinks it will be fine. In my mind it will not look like the work I try to do. If I am spending this kind of money I do not want to see any standing grass in my new grass. I know what I would do as the contractor and I know what the right thing to do is as a sub but going to let the contractor make the decision.

Do it right and do it once is the cheapest and best way to come out and preserve your reputation. A tiller is the right tool for this job. Good luck with it.

 

[Spindifferent]

As others have said, you will need to wait until the soil is dry enough to use a tiller on it. When the top several inches of the the soil are dry enough to crumble into your hand, then you can till it. Otherwise, it will be a very sticky mess and likely clog the tiller tines until the tiller is useless.

Good luck!