Craigslist Find: 60" Iseki Tiller

TSO · Oct 2, 2013

Found this on CL last week. He wanted $650, I paid $440. It's funny, he listed it as "not sure what brand" as it has only Japanese writing on it. I used the Google Machine to find pics and identify it, turns out it's an Iseki model (although I've also seen it called a Mitsubishi). It came with a PTO shaft that needed the U-Joint Yoke bearing replaced... no big deal, did that tonight and tried it out.

It works pretty well. I tried it on unbroken ground so there was alot of bouncing. I'm assuming it would have been smoother had I cultivated or disced the ground first. I would also prefer it if it dug down a couple inches deeper, but for the price, I think I did pretty well. Now she just needs a fresh coat of paint

Q: The tines on this tiller are the "curved" kind, different from my buddy's new King Kutter tiller, which uses a more "L" shaped tine... I'm going to have to find some new tines as some of the existing ones are damaged and/or missing. Should I look for something in the "L" shaped group, or stick with the curved tines?

robbyr · Oct 2, 2013

How far did ya drive to pick it up? Look it over real good and see if there is any kind of depth guide like on walk behinds that can be adjusted to let ya cut deeper. Is there room enough to use the L shaped tines instead of the curved? Looks like you got a pretty good toy. Good luck with it.

TSO · Oct 2, 2013

robbyr said:
How far did ya drive to pick it up? Look it over real good and see if there is any kind of depth guide like on walk behinds that can be adjusted to let ya cut deeper. Is there room enough to use the L shaped tines instead of the curved? Looks like you got a pretty good toy. Good luck with it.

Not far at all. .. within 30 mins. I'll check for adjustments tomorrow.

bcp · Oct 2, 2013

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/iseki/51184-bolens-iseki-rototiller-help-needed.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/iseki/57580-using-iseki-tiller.html

and many more:

Iseki tillers on TBN

Bruce

TomSeller · Oct 2, 2013

Nice find at a good price. Depending on how many tines are missing I might opt for replacing the missing tines. Of course that might depend on the amount you will use the rotavator.

Guesseral · Oct 2, 2013

Nice find. Yes it will bounce around more on hard ground, also depending on how many tines are missing that will also make it bounce around some. Is that shot where you tilled with it only one pass? If so wow that is really chewed up good, you couldn't complain about that! The tiller will go deeper the more you go over the ground the harder the ground the less depth.

TSO · Oct 2, 2013

That was 2 widths, 2 passes (down and back) each.

And like other people in other posts noted, I need to find a way to extend the lift arms or the pin attach points, the tiller is too close to the rear tires.

Guesseral · Oct 2, 2013

If you shorten the center link it should tip the tiller away from the tires, that will also help with the depth although tipping it is not going to get you a lot of distance it should help. This looks like a great application for a quick hitch, that would get you like 4", and a hydraulic center link would make shorting real easy.

TSO · Oct 2, 2013

Me and my helper tilled for about 20 mins today. Did a great job, but I still think I need to use a cultivator first to break up the ground (lots of clay).