Hey, what's the best walk behind tiller?

[clarksvilleal]

Dargo - I have just used my BCS 853 with 30" tiller to begin tilling about 1500 sq. ft. of ground which is rock hard clay covered with dry weedy sod, with many rocks, some softball size, a couple more like small cantaloupes. I have made 3 passes so far, and am down to 4" - 6" average, deeper in some places, shallower in others. I probably should have waited for a good rain . We have had virtually no significant rain since late May, and in addition to the ground being rock hard, I was kicking up a a veritable dust storm of fine clay, and may have major erosion if we get one of our classic summer thunderstorms now.

On the other hand, it was a good experiment to see what the BCS 853 was capable of. I don't think I would have gotten as far as I have with a lighter machine. I was amazed at the way it kicked up those big rocks with little trouble. And it cut right through the tough weedy sod without much problem either. I did have to set the tiller to the shallowest setting on the first two passes, then one notch deeper on the third. Any deeper setting caused severe "tine-walking" - i.e., the d*** thing tried to git up and run like h*** away from me. Of course the BCS has the safety dead-man handle that shuts the engine down if you let go, so that wouldn't have been a big problem exceptin' yours truly thought he was strong enough to hold 'er back and stupidly tried to hang on the first time it happened. Lucky I wasn't dragged 10 yards through the dust before I had the good sense to let the clutch up and stop the PTO. (Just couldn't bring myself to let go completely. Idiot

Bottom line: the 853 is up to the task, and I am certain that had I waited for some rain to moisten the rock-hard clay a bit I would have been able to finish in 3 or 4 passes easily. Of course on my already-tilled garden - also clay, but much softer and with more organic material - one or two passes was all it took to till up a beautiful seedbed, and in that case I could literally walk alongside and guide it with one hand with no problem, like all them Troy-Bilt ads claim. But keep in mind that I was guiding a 350+ lb (tractor plus tiller) macho machine and tilling a 30" swath, unlike the puny little Troy-Bilts.

Yeah, Troy-Bilt bigots out there, my BCS will kick sand in your Troy-Bilt's air intake any day .

Thanks guys. I've looked at and looked up several tillers now, but I've never had a chance to actually use any tiller. My ground is rock hard right now and I plan on doing my major tilling work later this summer. Has anyone tilled really hard clay soil with a walk behind tiller? I've done a lot of things and have operated so many pieces of large equipment, but I've never used a little walk behind tiller. I feel almost foolish pondering so much about just buying a darn little tiller. Sometimes I think I ought to just go buy one, but I don't want to buy a "junk" one that might not do what I need. If so, I will have wasted $800 to $1000 or so since it seems that the used cheapo tillers can be had for a hundred bucks or two at pawn shops. I've always been in control and known exactly what to look for, what I need, and what prices to expect on buying equipment. Now on a silly little garden tiller I feel lost.

The job I'm going to do first with one later this summer may end up being big enough to kill a really light weight tiller, so I've pretty well crossed off the $400 cheapo tillers at the big box stores. Other than that....???

 

[Knight9]

I don't think I could make myself buy anything Cub Cadet makes. My dad had an old (very early 70's) model Cub that was a true working machine. Now everything I've seen from them seems to be just pathetic. Again, no insult intended to anyone, and I probably shouldn't be this way, but since I'm the guy in the family with trucks and trailers I've toted these junk Cub mowing machines back to be repaired so many times I'm sick of seeing them!

But when work has to be done....you got to do what you got to do.

 

[Dargo]

Exactly! Like I said, go ahead and pick on me now. I need to be man enough to admit when I have to eat my hat when required. That's why I made a point of posting what I ended up getting. Since I said that earlier, it just wouldn't be right to not mention what I bought and receive the appropriate flap. In all fairness, it's not in the same league as a BCS machine but seems to be better than the Husky or Poulan. Time will tell if it will do what I need.

 

[clarksvilleal]

Dargo - I neglected to tell you that for 35 years I did just fine with an original Merry mid-tine tiller with a 4-1/2 HP Briggs. I still have it, and still use it for tight spots that my BCS won't fit into. I've tilled a lot of dirt, including hard clay, with my Merry, and it has served me well and paid for itself many times over. I even rented it out on the side for several years way back when. I wore out a at least 3 or 4 sets of heavy-duty "slasher" tines. I did get a new short block once and changed out the transmission, but other than that have not had to do anything to it.

So don't pay any attention to my razzing about the BCS - I was just havin' some fun. It was a big splurge, but I'm about to retire and wanted something that I could use to expand my garden in a big way and keep using till the time [pun intended ] - hopefully many years into the future - when I am ready to dig my own grave with it. And the little lady made the mistake of asking me what I wanted for Father's Day this year, so ...

Best of luck with your Cub Cadet. I'm sure it will serve you well just like my old Merry did for so many years.

Al

Exactly! Like I said, go ahead and pick on me now. I need to be man enough to admit when I have to eat my hat when required. That's why I made a point of posting what I ended up getting. Since I said that earlier, it just wouldn't be right to not mention what I bought and receive the appropriate flap. In all fairness, it's not in the same league as a BCS machine but seems to be better than the Husky or Poulan. Time will tell if it will do what I need.

 

[Knight9]

Dargo,

I was just teasin' Good on ya for reporting the final purchase. I'm sure you will get years of service out of the tiller. I hope anyway....cause I'm sure we have the same one

 

[Dargo]

Dargo,

I was just teasin' Good on ya for reporting the final purchase. I'm sure you will get years of service out of the tiller. I hope anyway....cause I'm sure we have the same one

Oh no, I have the razzing coming. I opened mouth (or fingers on keyboard) and commented without even following your link. To make things worse, it was my wife who suggested I look at what you posted because she asked me if I was sure that the same company that produced the poor quality lower priced lawn tractors is the same company that makes the tiller. Hmm, she had a point there, so I went back and followed your link. That is how I discovered that Home Depot carried them. (note: I never even considered looking at HD before following your link)

Based on my one relatively big project I need to use it for and then only use it in a small garden, I figured that it just may fit my needs. When I went to look at it, I liked the looks but still couldn't convince myself to buy it. So, I stalled a bit more. That is when my wife informed me that she'd already purchased plants for the garden and they would die if I didn't get a garden tilled and ready now. So, since the CC looked like my best option I picked it up. I call it a lower end of the medium priced tractors. It's not a true cheapo unit, but it's not a BCS tractor either.

I ran it for almost 4 hours yesterday. After making the first pass in the garden, I made the turn around and started to go back across that same area and the tiller wouldn't pull itself or even spin the tires. I thought "great, I screwed myself but at least I can take it back". However, after looking, I noticed that the cable adjuster between the handle bars didn't have the little jamb nut tightened on it and that was causing the problem. I adjusted the cable, tightened the jamb nut, and I was fine the rest of the time.

So, if it doesn't work, I'm blaming you! (just kidding) I see I neglected to thank you for the link in your earlier post; thanks. I think it will fit my limited needs. I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't. But, you are certainly correct and totally in line to offer up a nice big slice of humble pie to me. I can take that too. I just try to not make it a regular part of my dietary intake.

 

[DaddyRabbit]

This is the best walk behind tiller IMO. Yep, you certainly can walk behind it, that is, when you're done.