Asking for advice on using a rental 3ph tiller for a first-time user

[jgoodma1]

Looking for some advice here, so I don't do anything boneheaded. I want to prepare my yard for planting decorative plants and turf. I have a Kubota L4060 tractor with HST. Last summer, a friend lent me a BCS walk-behind "tractor" with a tiller that is sort of a rototiller on steroids. I'm in Raleigh, NC and we have a lot of orange clay with plenty of rocks embedded in the clay. Over the next week, I tilled in 20 yards of organic compost in an area of about 1/4 acre. There were a lot of rocks, and I wore out one entire new set of tiller tines and it was pretty rough on the BCS tiller. There were many places where the tiller tines would not fully embed and kind of skipped along the surface, despite my trying to force it to dig deeper. I did get some improvement in the soil, but not really enough. I also don't have a rock rake and I hand-raked and hauled away the rocks that were on the surface after using the BCS tiller.

A year later, I want to try to do a better job of tilling the entire area deeper and preparing it for planting both decorative plants and turf (how much of each, is yet to be determined). I want to do it with my Kubota and use a 3ph tiller, then smooth it out. This will be the only time I ever use a tiller, so I want to rent one at approximately $150 rather than buy one, and I have never used one before. I have a Pat's Quick Hitch setup on my L4060, which I know extends the length of the PTO shaft needed, so I'm thinking of removing it when I rent a tiller because my intention is to use the PTO shaft that comes with the rental tiller. QUESTION #1 - Is the PTO shaft that is used with a category-1 tiller the same length for every tractor or should I figure on needing to buy and modify my own PTO shaft? I’ve never used the PTO, and I think I’ve read some horror stories of stripping gears internal to the tractor on this site and others when the operator engaged the PTO incorrectly. QUESTION #2 – What to I need to be careful about when hooking up the tiller to the 3ph and connecting it to the PTO to avoid damaging the tiller and tractor? QUESTION #3 – How do I determine the right forward speed to use when operating the tiller to avoid damaging it? Will I “feel” the resistance the tiller meets, and it will be obvious from the level of resistance when I am going too fast? QUESTION #4 – I’m also concerned about damaging the rental tiller with the rocks it will hit. How do I deal with the rocks? I know there's no way around hitting rocks, but should I make shallow passes first and make additional passes while gradually lowering the depth of cut of the tiller?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[diesel85]

The PTO length will dictate if it will work on your machine. Too long of a PTO shaft will either make it impossible to attach, or when you lift it up, the shaft will destroy your tractor as it gets shoved into the housing. Too short of a PTO shaft, it will make it impossible to attach, or potentially not have enough shaft to handle the loading. Measure carefully.

A working slipper clutch on the PTO is what prevents damage to your tractor. Make sure to always check it before running a ground engaging implement such as a tiller. If there appears to be rust, loosen the bolts with the springs, then slowly turn the PTO to burnish the clutch to get the rust off, the just snug the bolts up.

Start the tiller with it out of the soil, then slowly bring it down then use low gear to begin forward travel.

A reasonably built tiller should be able to handle rocks, especially if it's one that is designed for HP ranges between 25-50 PTO HP. See if the rental company offers insurance.

 

[TractorTech]

#1 PTO shafts are all different lengths. What you have to watch for is with the PTO shaft level with the ground, that it's not too long when the tiller is hooked to the tractor. If so, you could put your Pat's Hitch back on to add length. If it were too long, the shaft could push the PTO shaft into the rear of the tractor (worse case scenario).
The other thing to look for is whether it is too short when the tiller is lifted all the way up with the 3pt. You want at least 2" of shaft sliding together.
#2 See #1
#3 Use the lowest gear to start. If it seems too slow, go to the next gear and so on. You will see that you are going too fast as the finish of the tilled soil will be, well, unfinished or chunky.
#4 To deal with the rocks, go slow. Going shallow first wouldn't hurt.
Also, the tiller should have a slip clutch on it so that if a rock were to lodge in the tines or jar the drive system, it will slip. Ask the rental outfit to make sure it slips and is adjusted as this protects both the tiller and your tractor!

Good luck!

 

[Rebeldad1]

when i am feeling rocks i till at a idle... crawl speed and lift the tiller just so its barely into the rocks. slowly lower each pass. a tiller can get pretty violent and bounce everywhere.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

We always disc before tilling. Sometimes even break plow before disc. If you are trying hard ground, you will spend your rental time putting drive chains on repeatedly.

 

[Halftrack]

If you have a rental business with a tiller, they should also have either a box blade with rippers or a subsoiler to rent. Use one or the other to break the ground, pull up rocks and it will make using the tiller much easier. Criscross with either to break that hard clay.

 

[old and tired]

Buy their insurance for breakage! PS, I can bring home a subsoiler from the farm next weekend if you want to borrow it.

 

[jgoodma1]

If you have a rental business with a tiller, they should also have either a box blade with rippers or a subsoiler to rent. Use one or the other to break the ground, pull up rocks and it will make using the tiller much easier. Criscross with either to break that hard clay.

Thank you, I was wondering about that. I have an old, beat-up Gannon roll-over box blade that I use on my driveway, but with only 3 remaining scarifiers with no tips and I have not been able to find replacements. The scarifiers are also 3/4" thick. (see attached photos - the photo of the box blade is one like mine. Mine's in bad shape compared to the one in the photo). So, I am going to buy a land plane with scarifiers to replace it to maintain the driveway (800' long). I was wondering about first running around with the land plane with the scarifiers down before tilling. Do you think a land plane with scarifiers would work?

 

[Halftrack]

If it is sod now, the land plane will be difficult to use, as it will carry a lot of sod with it. What have you got to lose by using the roll-over. If the teeth are spaced so that it doesn't pull you to one side, use it.

 

[jgoodma1]

If it is sod now, the land plane will be difficult to use, as it will carry a lot of sod with it. What have you got to lose by using the roll-over. If the teeth are spaced so that it doesn't pull you to one side, use it.

No, it's just dirt now. I only have 3 teeth left on the roll over and there are no tips on the teeth (they are like the photos I posted) and the ground is hard enough that despite the weight of the roll over, they don't really dig in.