Will tilling destroy my TC40?

Laminarman · Apr 29, 2012

Hi folks. I've just rented a 5' Taylor Pittsburgh tiller for TC40da and I must say, this thing is nice! However, I live in rock-ville and it was not pleasant, but it handled it well. I was told a while ago that tilling will destroy my tractor due to the stress on the whole machine, specifically the pto shaft. The tiller is gear driven and has a slip clutch. I'm wondering if I buy one, will it indeed cause long term harm? My soil is filled with small rocks, and lots of larger ones. But it was nothing to till up a few inches of soil in a few strips and will be easy to plant corn now and clover. I just HATE plowing and discing, as time is precious. Any advice is appreciated. Haven't been on here in a while. Life got in the way of managing my property but now this year back at it.

SPYDERLK · Apr 29, 2012

I cant imagine it damaging a 40HP tractor in any way. Does the TC40DA have some known fragility in its design?
larry

nybirdman · Apr 29, 2012

I till about ten acres a year with a 44hp Kubota.You shouldn't have any problems if the slip clutch is working properly.Make sure it is.I live in the Northeast any its very rocky;what I do is make sure the discharge flap is wide open.You don't want to trap the rocks inside.Tillers don't break sod very well,I plow then till.

Laminarman · Apr 29, 2012

Thanks folks. There are no frailty issues with the TC40. I guess I worked it so hard i was concerned the guy was right (Tractor Supply employee...). It was rocky and bouncy and not exactly fun, but it sure makes a nice, smooth seedbed. Any recommendations for units that are notoriously tough?

WM75Guy · Apr 29, 2012

I use my Landpride 6' tiller behind my TC40DA all the time without any problems. I do not have a slipclutch and rarely shear a bolt. Most TSC employees I have dealt with have never used the majority of the equipment they sell, their info comes from the brochure or the sales pitch they were given.

JoeBuyer · Apr 29, 2012

I would rent one more time and get off the tractor to move the larger rocks I see out of the till area. There are numerous good 3 point tillers out there, I have a used Agric. Now that I de-rocked the soil, I am sure I will never wear it out. I didn't worry about anything potato sized and below, but if it jumped the tiller I got it out of there.

jinman · Apr 30, 2012

I have my PTO clutch adjusted a bit loose just for safety. I think if your clutch is adjusted right, you won't have to worry about the tractor. You may bend a few tiller digging tines, but the tractor will be okay. Many times, I've picked up rocks that were just big enough to jam the tiller tines and stop rotation while the clutch slips. Since you have a PTO brake on your tractor, you may have to pull the PTO shaft off the stub so you can reverse the tines to get big rocks out. It happens, but not too often.

A couple of years ago, my neighbor asked me to help with changing the elevation of his driveway so he could make water flow away from his house. I took my tiller and loosened the gravel in his driveway and then used the FEL to scoop it up into a pile. After several passes in the ground to loosen the soil, I was able to cut down the drive in the needed areas and get him the proper drainage. The tiller never showed signs of any problems. It did a great job and made my moving the dry hard dirt easy.

Bird · Apr 30, 2012

Apparently a 5' Bush Hog tiller hasn't hurt my cousin's TC29D in the last 11-12 years.

I only had a 40" Bush Hog tiller myself, used first with a Kubota B7100 and later a B2710, but besides my gardening, as well as some neighbor's gardening, I used it for some rough work maybe similar to what jinman did. I took down an old stock tank dam that was too hard for the front end loader and box blade, so I broke up the dirt with the tiller. And I once found a brick sidewalk about an inch under the dirt that the new property owner didn't know existed. It sometimes got noisy and sometimes the tiller hopped up and down, but it never did any damage to the tractor or tiller.

JC-jetro · Apr 30, 2012

I use a 5 foot King Kutter on my 25+ Ford 1700 that now weight about 2700 lbs. Never had any issues but my soil or at least my garden site is good without any rocks. I too like Jim loosened my slip clutch some to err on the side of safety.

JC,