Looking for best quality/price for 48" rotary tiller with adjustable tilling depth

[eisaachsen]

26hp compact tractor (Mahindra MAX26 XLT HST). Use will be to rip grass from a track around a pasture field and keep track grass free; 5 acre farm so I would consider it to be used for low to moderate duty. Won't have to go deep--maybe 2 or 3 inches max. Soil is clay; not a lot of rocks. Prefer gear driven. Looking at Land Pride RGA1250, Frontier RT3049...wonder about the Ignite 48" rotary tiller.

 

[leonz]

Have you ever broken sod or brush covered ground in clay?

It won't happen in one pass.

You need to spread a lot of Gypsum to dissolve the clay before
you even think about tilling as the roots will be deep.

Hire a spreader and buy a ton of gypsum either deep mined or
chemically rendered and wait for a week of dry weather before you
till it as you are going to have to make many passes at right angles
and opposite direction runs one inch at a time.

 

[California]

I have an ancient 4.5 ft Japanese rice paddy rototiller and I learned it doesn't work at all for digging out high grasses or brush. It just rips them out intact and wraps them around the main shaft. Illustrated in this thread I posted recently. Mostly Blackberry vines in that photo. My experience with tall grass was the same.

Maybe an American tiller where the tines end at a right angle would work better. But I expect it's essential to mow and then let everything decay for a week or two before the first pass with the tiller.

 

[bigtiller]

I have an ancient 4.5 ft Japanese rice paddy rototiller and I learned it doesn't work at all for digging out high grasses or brush. It just rips them out intact and wraps them around the main shaft. Illustrated in this thread I posted recently. Mostly Blackberry vines in that photo. My experience with tall grass was the same.

Maybe an American tiller where the tines end at a right angle would work better. But I expect it's essential to mow and then let everything decay for a week or two before the first pass with the tiller.

To the OP.
With these light duty tillers, I don't think brand matters much. They're all about the same weight and price.

That is exactly what all my "American" tillers have done, rip & wrap.
Then it is time to pull weeds....out of the tiller.
It's best to mow first, preferably under 8 inches.

Also, they don't cut sisal baler twine, it wraps like tall grass.

 

[5030]

Whatever you get, if price is the driving factor, it will assuredly be Chinese and the usual Chinese quality.

Quality and price aren't good partners today, in fact, just the opposite.

 

[RayIN]

I agree with 5030, low price and quality should not be used in the same sentence
Were this my project the first thing I'd do is mow the grass as low as possible, then spray with a total kill vegetation spray. When the green stuff is gone the roots will not be far behind. Wait a month before tilling if you wish to obtain the desired results, otherwise your result will be clumps of roots and clay, which when dry are practically impossible to pulverize without a heavy cultipacker or like equipment.
This how to make your own cultipacker if you don't have access to one. I recommend plastic culvert material, if the plastic breaks you still have a concrete cultipacker.

 

[5030]

Exactly what I do Ray but I have and use a Cub Cadet rear tine tiller and I spray the intended plot with Roundup Ultra Max a week a head of time to kill everything. Ultra Max has a 5 day half life. Never had any need to buy a rear tine tiller. If I did a larger are, would still be ultramax followed with a Swedish tine ciltivator, not a tiller.

Tilling large area's is not only labor and fuel intensive, it's very time consuming.

Far as I'm concrened, rotary tilling is best left to smaller plots.

 

[eisaachsen]

To the OP.
With these light duty tillers, I don't think brand matters much. They're all about the same weight and price.

That is exactly what all my "American" tillers have done, rip & wrap.
Then it is time to pull weeds....out of the tiller.
It's best to mow first, preferably under 8 inches.

Also, they don't cut sisal baler twine, it wraps like tall grass.

The grass I would be removing has been cut very short by a regular lawn grass mower, so no worries about having to pull weeds out of the tiller.

 

[eisaachsen]

Quality and price aren't good partners today, in fact, just the opposite.

I understand. But one can spend a lot of money for just a name. As I said in the title looking for best quality/price combo that others have found. Then I can pick what works for my particular application. (I do highly prefer American made, will consider foreign made, but will not buy Chinese made.)

 

[eisaachsen]

I agree with 5030, low price and quality should not be used in the same sentence

Agreed.

 

[Spindifferent]

26hp compact tractor (Mahindra MAX26 XLT HST). Use will be to rip grass from a track around a pasture field and keep track grass free; 5 acre farm so I would consider it to be used for low to moderate duty. Won't have to go deep--maybe 2 or 3 inches max. Soil is clay; not a lot of rocks. Prefer gear driven. Looking at Land Pride RGA1250, Frontier RT3049...wonder about the Ignite 48" rotary tiller.

Looks like the PTO HP on that tractor is 20 and the minimum PTO HP for those tillers is 18. You may not be happy with the performance of both your tractor and the tiller with those tight specs. Perhaps look at tillers with lower PTO HP requirements?

Tilling requires plenty of both weight and HP to be effective...

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[RayIN]

FWIW. Years(late 1950's) ago dad bought a Craftsman tractor-type lawn mower and the roto-tiller attachment. On hard ground the tiller would climb out of the ground and push the little tractor along with the rear wheels off the ground.
He had to plow and disc, before he could use that little tractor N tiller.

 

[California]

FWIW. Years(late 1950's) ago dad bought a Craftsman tractor-type lawn mower and the roto-tiller attachment. On hard ground the tiller would climb out of the ground and push the little tractor along with the rear wheels off the ground.
He had to plow and disc, before he could use that little tractor N tiller.

32 wheel drive! That's how the Japanese can till their rice paddies with just 2wd.

Photo I copied from Yanmar-Japan's corporate website long ago:

 

[TheEquineFencer]

spray and disc if you're going shallow...

 

[ch47dpilot]

I've had good luck with king kutter products. Don't have they're tiller but other items. Rural King sells them. American made in Alabama

 

[Tjaltz]

I’m running the Bush Hog RTC50G tiller on a B3200. It requires 15 PTP hp, and my B3200 has 23. It’s gear drive, made in Alabama and has a Chinese gear box. I’ve used it for 4 seasons and have no complaints. You have to be realistic with what you can do when breaking up grass/clay. I started by mowing as short as a could, then set the tiller to about 1 inch just to break through and dislodge rocks near the surface. After a few slow passes, I pick out the larger rocks, then lower the tiller with each subsequent pass until I’m at the 5-6” for my garden. I have never had a problem with it and have no complaints. It pairs well with a B series Kubota.

 

[redmt]

26hp compact tractor (Mahindra MAX26 XLT HST). Use will be to rip grass from a track around a pasture field and keep track grass free; 5 acre farm so I would consider it to be used for low to moderate duty. Won't have to go deep--maybe 2 or 3 inches max. Soil is clay; not a lot of rocks. Prefer gear driven. Looking at Land Pride RGA1250, Frontier RT3049...wonder about the Ignite 48" rotary tiller.

I have a land pride tiller for sale. I'm in central/Northern CA

 

[richheyn]

After much research, I purchased a Tartar brand tiller from Tractor Supply. It's made in the USA but I believe the gearbox is from China. The thing that attracted me to this brand it that you can reverse the mounting of the gearbox and thereby reverse the rotation of the tines. This mean the tiller wants to dig into the ground rather than push the tractor forward and bounce up out of hard ground. Overall, I've been very pleased with the performance. It actually performs better than the heavy Agric brand that served me for 20 some years.

100 Series 4 ft. Rotary Tiller - Tarter USA

4 ft. rotary tiller with three adjustable depth levels to meet any challenge and create large food plots, no matter how rough the terrain. Made in USA.

tarterusa.com

 

[tjandrews]

I understand. But one can spend a lot of money for just a name. As I said in the title looking for best quality/price combo that others have found. Then I can pick what works for my particular application. (I do highly prefer American made, will consider foreign made, but will not buy Chinese made.)

No experience here with chewing up a sod with a tiller, or with working in clay, so I can't say if a tiller would be the best tool for your purpose or not.
That said, less than a month ago we had to replace our 10-year-old 60-inch Tractor Supply tiller because after hitting one too many of our numerous rocks the central shaft broke in two in the middle. We replaced it with another 60-inch tiller from Tractor Supply, purchased on a sale with around $350 off.
Both tillers were made by Tarter. I don't know where the older one was made, but I do remember reading that Tarter had at least one plant in the US where they assembled stuff. The new tiller sported a tag that said it was made in India. The newer tiller is also obviously built heavier. The three-point hitch points are better, can be used by a quick hitch attachment, and can be adjusted to offset the tiller to one side or the other if desired. I can't speak for that shaft that broke on the old one, but the visible frame on the new one is obviously made of thicker metal.
I would not automatically dismiss something that's imported, nor would I automatically assume that everything made in China is inferior.

 

[CoyPatton]

26hp compact tractor (Mahindra MAX26 XLT HST). Use will be to rip grass from a track around a pasture field and keep track grass free; 5 acre farm so I would consider it to be used for low to moderate duty. Won't have to go deep--maybe 2 or 3 inches max. Soil is clay; not a lot of rocks. Prefer gear driven. Looking at Land Pride RGA1250, Frontier RT3049...wonder about the Ignite 48" rotary tiller.

My tiller I’m sure is a Chinese tiller, as it was listed in mm, approximately 53.5” in tilling width. I have had it for around 15 years.
Not sure what you plan yo do with the ground once tilled, but a few points from my experience which includes a gray clay locally called gumbo in reclaimed swamp ground from about 100 years near the Mississippi River and red clay in hilly areas.
You do not want to till tall grass or vines. Mow both, shorter is better for tilling. Either gather and remove cut material or allow 7-10 days for it to die. Since you are tilling clay it needs to be mostly dry, but not baked hard dry.
If possible till 1 pass whatever direction, next pass till at 90 degrees if possible, next past at 45 degrees, then opposite 45 degrees. If the clay is too wet it will clump, delay additional passes for several dry days to allow to dry. If you want loose soil, gypsum till in is a must, it may rake applications to get your desired results. You may want to purchase a spreader. If area is not too large, a walk behind or even hand held may be options.