clarksvilleal
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2007
- Messages
- 79
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 .
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 .
Dargo said: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....???