Tiller Clay Garden Soil-Harley Rake or Tiller or??

[OkieG]

Our garden has plenty of clay mixed with the soil. There's not really any top soil to speak of. I use a middlebuster to break things up, down to about 8-10", then the scarifiers on the boxblade help smooth things out a little. But, there are still pretty big chunks of soil that I'd like to break up further. The chunks are semi-sticky when wet, and pretty hard (but breakable) when dry.

What would work best to break up the chunks that are left? Would a tiller or Harley Rake be good choices?

OkieG

 

[RonR]

Well, a harley rake will make your tomatos cost about $200 each! A tiller will cut that price to about $50 each. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Wait til the clay is dry, then use a tiller. Unless you can borrow or rent a harley......

Best wishes,
Ron

 

[Bird]

Of course, I think a tiller is indispensable for a garden. If you pick up a handful of soil and squeeze it and it makes a solid ball instead of crumbling, it's probably too wet to till. On the other hand if it's a dry clod that you can't squeeze and crumble, it's probably too dry to till good, but multiple passes may do the job anyway.

 

[sl3uth]

Short Story: I recommend the tiller. I had a hard enough time justifying the cost of the tiller. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Unless you're needing to make beds for lawns or something else like it on a "commercial" scale, I don't think a Harley Rake is necessary.

Long Answer: I have pure clay here, and I used a subsoiler and a tiller. I tried working it when it was too wet, and you'll regret it if you do...it is recoverable, but with a LOT of work. Also, don't wait until it's concrete. If you can pick up a handful of clay, and it crumbles when you gently move it around between your fingers, that's a pretty good time; if you wait until its too dry, you should water the day before.

I have an L-blade tiller, but I have read that C-blade tillers work better in clay.

Other things to consider are adding compost, lime/gypsum, and/or coarse-gritty sand. The compost will do the most. Depending on the pH of your soil, the lime or gypsum will condition your clay for better drainage and workability...helping you get some actual topsoil. The sand is simply a quick fix to help workability until the other things really start to help (can be a couple years from what I've read).

Sam

 

[theboman]

A tiller is the way to go in my line of thinking. They can do other things....
The soil...put anything there you can get your hands on that will rot. Mark off a section at a time if you must.
In the fall all those leaves can be tilled into the soil or make a compost bed.
Add all you're old grass clippings, any manure you can get from farmers and it's highly recommend you compost the poop outta the manure cause of weeds, but those can be tilled under too. Okay sawdust (from rough cut unutreated lumber), sand, lime should help.....
I'm working on a section of my garden right now....It won't get done over night or over a year but it's helping slowly.

 

[JJT]

Avoid plowing if your top soil isn't very deep. If I plow more than 12" I get some pretty crappy subsoil. I also have heavy clay soil, but I've been amending it for years. I've tilled in leaves, sawdust, hay, winter rye, straw, woodchips, peat moss, horse and cow manure, anything organic will work.

I've heard gypsum works wonders with clay, I may add some to a new garden plot and report back.

I'd go with the tiller, and make sure the ground is fairly dry, tilling wet clay just makes brick like clumps.

 

[DocHeb]

I have similiar soil and have had good success with a tiller. You have to time it just right (as others above have commented) to get the clay balls be broken by the tiller.

I rented a Harley Rake to prep my lawn area, and it worked well to push trash out and move stones along, but it didn't seem to break up the clay-balls very much. However, this may have been due to my inexperience with that attachment.

 

[OkieG]

Thanks to all, for the advice. This morning I bought a 5' King Kutter tiller at TSC. It's too damp today to till, but I'm looking forward saying goodbye to the chunks.

OkieG

 

[OkieG]

Wow! Now, that's what I'm talkin' about. Here's a pic taken after the first pass. You can sorta see the chunky soil on the left. It's worse than it looks in the picture. Would be tough to do a nice planting job. What happened to the clay chunks on the right?? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

OkieG

 

[RonR]

Great pic!

The ground looks good to go.

I would be a little concerned that the house is the low spot though.......

Best wishes,
Ron