Tiller Differences in Rotary Tillers?

[Boria]

I have been looking at 72" rotary tillers. I don't have any experience with a tiller and was wondering what the differences are between manufacturers models? Landpride has a higher price tag and I was curious if they were built any different or are they just higher priced?

These are the tillers I have looked at so far:


Taylor Way 962-GDT-72 $1875

King Kutter TG-72-Y $1850

Landpride RTR 1572 $2800

Landpride RTA 2072 $3800

I understand the Landpride RTA 2072 is a little more heavy duty than the other three but are there any other differences to look for.

 

[jeff9366]

Some churn dirt forward, some churn dirts backwards, some can churn dirt in two directions. Some are chain drive, some are gear drive. Spline layout, number and strength varies.

What are your soil conditions in Baconton? (I love the name) Red clay, hard when dry?

How big an area do you intend to till? Will you be turning under crop residue? Green or dry crop residue?

When shopping implements I like to calculate dollars per pound. This measure can be very informative.

I have never used a King Kutter tiller but I have owned other KK implements and found them to be completely satisfactory. I am not an equipment abuser, rather a old, slow and steady operator.

LINK:

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=King+Kutter+Tiller+site:tractorbynet.com

 

[Gary Fowler]

About the only differences I saw when shopping was the chain drive vs gear drive and clockwise vs counter-clockwise rotation. A few have thicker plate on top and a bit heavier frame but not substantially more for double the price of the lesser ones. I suppose if I were tilling hundreds of acres per year, a super duty one might be worthwhile but for the normal CUT owner with a small garden that might see a couple of hours per year use, the light duty ones like the KK will last as long as a heavy duty one.
If you are looking for deep tillage, look for one that rotates the tine up in the front rather than down (forward rotation vs reverse rotation) as the reverse rotation ones will pull the choppers into the ground rather than out of the ground. I don't know how they would act when hitting a rock which is why I got the forward rotation one. I have hit lots of large rocks and only had one hang up and cause the slip clutch to slip. Have not broken any thing so far and it has banged on lots of large to medium sized rocks.

 

[jenkinsph]

About the only differences I saw when shopping was the chain drive vs gear drive and clockwise vs counter-clockwise rotation. A few have thicker plate on top and a bit heavier frame but not substantially more for double the price of the lesser ones. I suppose if I were tilling hundreds of acres per year, a super duty one might be worthwhile but for the normal CUT owner with a small garden that might see a couple of hours per year use, the light duty ones like the KK will last as long as a heavy duty one.
If you are looking for deep tillage, look for one that rotates the tine up in the front rather than down (forward rotation vs reverse rotation) as the reverse rotation ones will pull the choppers into the ground rather than out of the ground. I don't know how they would act when hitting a rock which is why I got the forward rotation one. I have hit lots of large rocks and only had one hang up and cause the slip clutch to slip. Have not broken any thing so far and it has banged on lots of large to medium sized rocks.

]'


My thoughts too ^^^^
A King Kutter tiller is good enough to till up most small homesteads as well as garden plots.

 

[Boria]

So is landpride just an expensive name?

I was leaning towards the Taylor Way because I have a local dealer plus I have a couple of other taylor way implements that seem pretty well built. I also have a local landpride dealer but I don't understand why they would cost $1k more.

 

[newbury]

King Kutter makes 2 lines of tillers, the "professional" and the regular. One of the main differences seems to be the top of the professional. I've the regular 5' and just used it a very little today with my B7610. Well worth the $800 used.

 

[coobie]

So is landpride just an expensive name?

I was leaning towards the Taylor Way because I have a local dealer plus I have a couple of other taylor way implements that seem pretty well built. I also have a local landpride dealer but I don't understand why they would cost $1k more.

Not a big fan of taylor way products as far as my rotary cutter is concerned.My 5 ft cutter was pretty flimsy made.I ended up with a Bush hog model bh 16 brand cutter,night and day difference.To be fair the Taylor way cutter cost me about half the price of the bush hog brand cutter.IMHO you get what you pay for.

 

[Rocky Hoffler]

I have a few tillers as I do a lot of beach tilling gear or chain I like gear the rotation is going down in forward travel seems good to me as it tends to climb over a buried object stump concrete car blocks there is no telling what you find I have found a better results from a six cutter rather than the more common four cutter ones I have a sicma which has been superior Lovette and Tharpe whick is a wholeseller dist find a dealer and check in to this happing digging

 

[flusher]

You can get by with a light to medium duty rototiller if you plow the ground first. I used an old Yanmar RS1200 rototiller (48" wide) that cost $300 to put in the lawn at my new house a few years ago. Plowed the ground with a $150 middle buster plow first and then used the rototiller to finish the job.

 

[Spindifferent]

On new and unknown soil, subsoil first, disk second, till third.

I have the Woods TRC68 reverse-rotation tiller and love it. They make a 74" version as well.

Product Details

 

[oosik]

What Spindifferent says. Break & tilling new, unbroken ground will be tough on you and the equipment. "Break" it first with a scarifier or some kind of subsoiler first and then if you have it, disk. I had a counter rotating rototiller and it was like a wild stallion on unbroken ground.

However, if you are only going to be opening a small plot then go with the rototiller only - rather than spending on added implements. The first pass will be rough but thereafter it goes a lot easier.

Also, if you are only opening a small area, go with a less expensive unit. High cost units may work better, perhaps last longer but are hard to justify with seldom(once or twice yearly) use.

What you buy and how much you spend should depend upon how much you will be using the implement.

Another tip - if you break new ground with a tiller only. Go shallow(2-3 inches) on the first pass. Then go deeper - its a lot easier on all the equipment.