King Kutter 5 Foot Tiller Clogging Issue

[zzvyb6]

Is that good practice, to sharpen rototiller blades? I asked about this here several years ago and everyone said no.

Well, new ones don't arrive dull. It's not done for the dirt, but for roots, weeds, grass, etc.

 

[bigtiller]

Is that good practice, to sharpen rototiller blades? I asked about this here several years ago and everyone said no.

Everyone was right several years ago. It is still today, a waist of time.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I am running a 5 foot King Kutter tiller behind my JD 3038E.
Recently did a large till job. The area is does evey year. The owner cuts the grass down before I till.

Issue is that at the ends of the tiller, grass and dirt are getting wound around the main axel tube between the outer most tines and the edge of the tiller where the bearings are. See circled area in picture.
It's not an issue with the more inner tines.
When it does this the grasses get wound around so tight that they get everything very hot from rubbing while the tiller is running.
It also puts a big drag on the tractor PTO from the friction the grasses create.

Anyone have this issue and know how to reduce or eliminate it?
My first guess is that the grass is starting to hang up or tangle on the bolt heads for the tines and it just escalates from there.
Once it is all clogged up the grasses are very hard to remove!

What you see in the picture was only about 15 minutes of tilling at the end of the job.
There is build up on the other tines towards the middle, but it is just on the tines and not wrapping around.
It only does this at the ends.

View attachment 3795731

The issue is due diligence by the field owner. The field should be kept short by frequent mowing and perhaps tedding until you till. It should be the owners problem to work around the preparation challenges, not yours.

 

[5030]

Spray it first with Glyphosate, let it die and turn brown and then till it. What I do every year.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

I did a little rototilling this morning after I cut the grass on it ...

The area is small, probably only 35' square, I tilled it in both directions ...

I did have a little grass wound on the ends, not the times, but less than 30 seconds of pulling it with my fingers, cleaned it out!