B7500 First Choice Tiller & hard ground

[theboman]

No rain in these parts for a while and the ground is hard as a sidewalk. I'm a few weeks late puttin' out a garden but did manage to get a few tomato and peppers in the ground (up sidewalk) last night.

Anyhow, the shroud (cover thinkamdohickey) over the slip clutch vibrated lose during the tilling and wam bam it's bent all to heck mam.... The ole tiller tried really hard to grind it up too. Oh, that ground was so hard. I'll take a hammer/mallet and a board to the cover this week and bend it back into shape (I hope).

Hard Ground. My garden spot is always pretty hard, and the past 5 years or so I'd been tossing some lime about and that really helps, but after all the gravel that was hauled and heavy equipment (dozer, execavator and dump trucks) that crossed the garden as I set up my home it had packed the dirt pretty darn tight... Usually in two/three passes with the tiller it was 6-8" of finely tilled soil (lots of clay too), well, 5 passes and it's about 5-6" inches in most parts..whew.... I know if it was damp I could have gotten deeper, but boy howdy was that ol' orange tiller jumpin'! Ah, heck when the tomatoes ripen up no one will ever know ....

 

[Glowplug]

I know whatcha mean neighbor! Sounds like a good job for a subsoiler to me if I ever heard of one. I've always thought a subsoiler would be pretty neat. But I've never had any reason to get one. It would probably do a good job on that compacted soil. Actually, it'd be nice to run a subsoiler over (through) it, then turn it over with a plow, then till it. Of course that's something you wouldn't have to do often and could maybe get someone with a big powerful machine to come and do it for you. Good luck!

 

[shvl73]

My FC tiller also had the cover come loose. I was lucky, lost one thumb screw but, cover stayed on. I replaced the thumb screws with metric bolts, easier to tighten properly. Overall, its been a good tiller.

 

[theboman]

I know whatcha mean neighbor! Sounds like a good job for a subsoiler to me if I ever heard of one. I've always thought a subsoiler would be pretty neat. But I've never had any reason to get one. It would probably do a good job on that compacted soil. Actually, it'd be nice to run a subsoiler over (through) it, then turn it over with a plow, then till it. Of course that's something you wouldn't have to do often and could maybe get someone with a big powerful machine to come and do it for you. Good luck!

Heck, I got (my brother, who lives beside of me) a tater plow, it's nearly too tall for the little 'Bota, but it works, I've ditched a few times with it. Double Heck, same brother, has a single bottom plow that I've used before... I didn't think of it..... duh.

 

[theboman]

Some peat moss, compost, or well rotted manure tilled into your garden would help to loosen the soil and keep it from getting so hard.

The past 5 years or so the garden has gotten all the leaves tilled into the ground...except last year. I'm getting the rest of the barn emptied out as I can, they maybe truck load remaining and my freind has piles of mule manure and sawdust from his barn there for me. I reckon I oughta get it.

 

[flusher]

No rain in these parts for a while and the ground is hard as a sidewalk. I'm a few weeks late puttin' out a garden but did manage to get a few tomato and peppers in the ground (up sidewalk) last night.

Anyhow, the shroud (cover thinkamdohickey) over the slip clutch vibrated lose during the tilling and wam bam it's bent all to heck mam.... The ole tiller tried really hard to grind it up too. Oh, that ground was so hard. I'll take a hammer/mallet and a board to the cover this week and bend it back into shape (I hope).

Hard Ground. My garden spot is always pretty hard, and the past 5 years or so I'd been tossing some lime about and that really helps, but after all the gravel that was hauled and heavy equipment (dozer, execavator and dump trucks) that crossed the garden as I set up my home it had packed the dirt pretty darn tight... Usually in two/three passes with the tiller it was 6-8" of finely tilled soil (lots of clay too), well, 5 passes and it's about 5-6" inches in most parts..whew.... I know if it was damp I could have gotten deeper, but boy howdy was that ol' orange tiller jumpin'! Ah, heck when the tomatoes ripen up no one will ever know ....

I use a King Kutter middle buster plow ($140 from TSC) and my Kubota B7510HST to plow the garden area before hitting it with my Yanmar RS-1200 rototiller ($300 used from my local grey market tractor dealer). Makes it much easier on the tiller.

I spread compost and then do two passes with the tiller, criss-cross, to prepare the soil. Limit the rototilling to prevent breakdown of the soil microstructure.

 

[theboman]

I spread compost and then do two passes with the tiller, criss-cross, to prepare the soil. Limit the rototilling to prevent breakdown of the soil microstructure.

I don't have mircostructure in my garden...too hard to clean.

 

[DaddyRabbit]

I never put a tiller in hard ground that hasn't seen any rain for some time. Always use a cultivator first. It saves the life of the tines 75% not to mention the excessive vibration and the wear and tear that it implies.

 

[Buster57]

First Choice rototillers must all come with the optional self removing PTO guard (or what ever it is called). Mine came off as well!

I sold mya last Grand 'L' and boy was I stupid for getting rid of that rototiller.

They are keepers!