Tiller Tiller follow-up

[newtothis]

There was a recent thread with tons of good info about tiller brands and all the various stuff to think through. The only thing I couldn't find is my current dilemna: size vs. HP.

I've got a 28 HP JD and keep getting different info from different dealers about what I can handle. JD dealer sez 5' all day long, Kubota sez around 4'. Saw a 5' Rotovator at an auction last week and frankly it scared me, darn thing was a tank! It was a great machine but I'm nervous about purchasing anything right now for fear it will be too large.

I've got between 4-6 acres of former ag. ground I want to put into wildlife plots so I'll be using it a couple times per year on fairly big spaces. I can afford a tiller so I don't want to monkey around with plowing then discing the rest of my life away. Kinda like the idea of just one pass.

The afforemented thread talked me into King Kutter brand at TSC, which I just looked at (AGAINjavascript:void(0)
/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif ) last night. Going to a state auction tomorrow AM in the hopes of picking up a nice 2 row JD planter so a tiller should get me all the basics.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[thingy]

Well your 28 h.p. john deere should handle a 5 ft kk tiller if my 25 h.p. jinma will,,,,,,,,now,,,some tillers offset,so you can cover up one tire track,,tire tracks are kinda important when tilling,,,the five ft kk of mine doesn't offset,BUT,it don't need to cause it covers both tire tracks,,,now maybe it will or maybe it won't on yours,,,if it won't,,,you need to get a five ft,[or even a 4 ft one,]that will offset so's you can cover up one track at least,,,,another thing to think about is tractor speed,,,got to go very slow when tilling,,mines a manual trans,,with a creeper gear,,,,just a couple things to think about,,,,thingy,,P.S.. the 5 ft gear drive kk,,weighs about 800 lbs,,,so it is indeed heavy

 

[newtothis]

Speed, hadn't thought it through but never imagined I'd have to be in creeper gear (which I have). Glad you mentioned it.

Why is it important to cover up at least one tire track? I noticed that in the other thread as well.

The local TSC has a 5 footer sitting out there calling to me and I think that's enough to cover up my footprints.

You've got gears on yours? I'm pretty sure the one I was looking at is gear driven as well. I don't have front weights but that shouldn't be a problem should it? The backhoe never seems to present any problems when I have that attached.

Jack

 

[thingy]

Well,,if you can't cover up your tracks,,you will have a track in your dirt,,,now,, if you can cover one side at least,,you can put that uncovered track on one side of area and by going in same direction,[by backing up],,all your dirt will be untread on by your tire,,,sounds complicated,,but if you think about it you'll see,,,no,you shouldn't have any trouble with front coming off ground,,if you use a hoe on back,,although not familer with your tractor,,size/weight,,just rember you want that tiller to cover both tracks if possible and for sure at least one....thingy

 

[surfran]

I just purchased a 48" KK for my Kubota BX1800 (18 HP) which is 15 or 16 PTO HP so I would think you would be fine with a 5'.

As for front weight, I just kept my loader on while tilling as this baby is ~550lbs so I could see the rear squat when I picked it up. I assume when you have your backhoe on you also have your loader so if you do the same with the Tiller you should be fine.

Good luck,

 

[thingy]

Course,,,I was speaking about tilling in a vegitable garden,,,you said you are doing a food plot for deer I guess,,,well it really wouldn't matter that much in that case,,,you just need an inch or so of dirt tilled,,so in your case it won't matter that much,,,BUT,,you may want to use it in a garden sometime,,,so guess it would still apply,,,if I was just planting a food plot,,,don't think tiller would be my first choice though,,set of good disks,,and maybe a harrow type drag should do it,,or just the disks,,,they will cut in most softer ground enough to plant the small seed you will be planting,,than run over it again to cover slightly and mix seed with dirt,,,course if you use disks you got to have a plot thats big enough to go at clip and enough room to turn around in,,,thingy

 

[Freds]

Just to throw something out there that I've noticed concerning tire tracks...
My rear tires measure "73" outside. My tiller is a 60" KK. I till using a method Bird mentioned. I make two rows going the same direction with a space inbetween and then till that space. I'm guessing I overlap about a foot on either side in case I get a little crooked with my rows. The only marks I see when I'm done are the skid shoe marks from the tiller.
I was thinking of offsetting using the lower lift arms to move the tiller more in line with one tire, but I don't see a need to after using the tiller like described.

 

[thingy]

Well if you and bird say so,,,can't picture it myself,,,I mean if both your tires extend beyond tilling path,,looks to me like you would have to leave tracks no matter how you did it,,,but you say it works so guess it does.......thingy

 

[CFHartman]

one thing I've learned reading these post. If Bird gives a reply you can bet it is right. The tiller will spread loose dirt out beyond the tiller width

 

[deere755]

I use a 56 inch Caroni on my 20 hp John Deere if that is any help. I have tilled sod but I usally go as slow as possible. I am glad I got the size I did, it takes out my tracks out.

 

[thingy]

Yeah,,if you all say so,,,still can't picture it,,but,,thats just me I'm sure,,,,thingy,,also from w.va.

 

[OkieG]

In my opinion, your JD dealer is right. I have a little 24hp JD. The KK "literature" says go with the 48" offset tiller. I didn't want to mess with offset, one tire track exposed, etc., so bought the 60". No regrets, it works great, and no tracks to deal with.

Much of my garden is clay, and a medium skid shoe depth setting seems to work fine. The tiller came with a medium setting from TSC and I haven't changed it. The second pass tills deeper.

OkieG

 

[DannyD]

bx23 with a KK 48". Not the estate series, this thing is heavy. works great, no tracks. I can dig 6" deep in one pass at slow forward speed.

One hint would be to add Pat's Easy Change, makes handling my tiller so much easier.

 

[newtothis]

Lot's of good posts over the weekend, thanks guys. Feeling much more comfortable now spending the big money!

Spent some time over the weekend taking off the backhoe and attaching the mower and the whole time I was thinking about Pat's EZ Change thingy, sure would be handy for all but the backhoe. It was 90+ degrees and humid so it was all the more frustrating to change them out.

As far as plowing/discing goes this is another one of those deals where I'm as green as my tractor. I've got one buddy who's been doing food plots for some time now with the traditional plow/disc and he's been looking for a used tiller for the last year.

His rationale is that he'd save a ton of time (and gas money) if he only had to make one pass as opposed to the several it takes using traditional methods.

My plots will be in wide open spaces of former ag. ground, nearest the woods in most cases. In order to get me out of my current dilemna he'll be bringing over his plow tonight and I already have his disc. It'll have the bonus of helping save a future tiller by exposing some big rocks in the field. There's enough already exposed and many more I'm sure after I plow.

I bought a 200 gallon sprayer 2 weeks ago and just bought a 2 row planter over the weekend, the only thing left is how to till up the ground.

As I've never used either I've been relying on his experience of doing it for the last 7 years but it looks like soon enough I'll be able to at least test out the plowing/discing method. Have to replace the pump on the sprayer still but as soon as everything's dead I'll be jumping onto it.

I've actually been getting a little cranky about this whole thing because, as you all know very well, I just want to get on the tractor and work!!! Getting much better now that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Had around 15 deer that I could see from the house last night (3 bucks including a giant one) and it would be cool to have built in food for them to eat!