Tiller Tiller for brush clearing - abusive?

[SuburbanMD]

Would I be abusing my tiller (42" Frontier mounted on JD X475AWS SCUT) if I used it to clear brush, by backing in and tilling my way out? I would remove the leveling board first. I have turf tires so my traction is limited.

 

[SnowRidge]

Probably. I wouldn't use my tiller for that.

 

[Reg]

Depends on what you back up onto/into.
If it is the edge of your cleared land and the edge is into woods you would likely run into roots. Depending on the species they could run far out and be very near the surface. I think I would try it, but till very shallow for the first pass or two.
Also, depending on who cleared your land and how... there could be all sorts of construction debris half buried back there. Maybe...

 

[Highbeam]

In my experience tillers are quite fragile. The tines easily break off on even smallish rocks. If you can subsoil the area and remove the large debris and rocks then a tiller is a grand tool to level out the area. Too expensive to abuse on pioneer work.

 

[john_bud]

Been there done that, broke the tines, cracked the metal.

jb

 

[Bird]

Unlike John Bud, I've not been there or done that. Nor would I.

 

[shvl73]

I would think, if you have a slip clutch adjusted correctly, you would have to re-adjust it frequently until it eventually needed replacement. If you had shear pins, you'd get tired of constant replacement. I can't imagine during either scenario, it doing much clearing of brush. If its under 1" stuff, and you have a string trimmer with a brush blade, cut it first then mow it slowly. If its small stuff, it won't hurt the deck and it'll cut it up fairly well.

 

[browns40]

Yes. That would constitute tiller abuse... you can go to jail for less than that!

Thats where bushhog & scarifiers/subsoiler comes into play--likely for about the price of a new tiller... you have an X475 though, so I am not sure how much brush clearing that'll get you (???)

 

[Rara Avis]

Would I be abusing my tiller (42" Frontier mounted on JD X475AWS SCUT) if I used it to clear brush, by backing in and tilling my way out? I would remove the leveling board first. I have turf tires so my traction is limited.

If I were a Tiller saleman...I say go for it...because you become a REPEAT customer...

 

[2manyrocks]

Looks to me like this would end up being both an expensive and slow way to clear brush.

Probably rough on the operator and the tractor, too.

The brush might look better than the repair bills?