A neighbor who lives down the road from me, a neighbor who I've only met once or twice, finds out that I have a tiller. I have a Woods RT72.40 6ft tiller. Last spring, he "hired" me to till his garden plot, about a half acre. And by hired, I mean, I drove down the road about 10 minutes, tilled up the sod where he had marked, and drove home unpaid. He suddenly had to leave and never did pay the agreed amount of $50, which, in my opinion, was a steal. I really didn't care about the money, and didn't push for it.
This last weekend he calls me, first time I've spoken to him all year. He asked to borrow the tiller and informed me that he has recently purchased a new tractor.
Being the nice and helpful person I am, and realizing that this wont take much of my time, I reluctantly agreed. The tiller has been sitting all winter, so I brought it up to the shop, checked the gear oil, greased it, and slipped the slip clutch. I checked it all over for damage and set it next to my garage for an easy hook up to his tractor. He shows up in a small Branson 2400 21 HP at the PTO.... and backs up to my 6 foot wide tiller. Upon learning that his new tractor is only 24 engine HP, I advised that his tractor is simply not enough. I offered to use my tractor. He scoffed and said that he knows what he is doing, and he cannot afford my high prices! I left him to his work of hooking up to my tiller, hoping, at this point, that his 3 point wouldn't even lift it. But it did and he drove down the road.
He sends me a text message that afternoon: He said that the tiller worked very well. He was able to till at "15-1800 RPM, 1/1," and he needs to borrow it a bit longer. I needed clarification. Why so low of RPM? What is 1/1? Why does he need it longer?
Apparently, he is running as slow as the tractor could go: first gear, first range (1/1), and had to slow the RPM of the engine down to move slow enough across the ground, to do a good job. He needs it longer because he has decided to not only do the garden, but expand his garden, and also put in a big back yard.
My wife called me an idiot. Am I too nice? Too helpful? Would you have loaned your tiller (or other attachment) out to someone like this? He still has it, and I haven't heard anything back. I drove by his house this morning and I saw his garden is bigger, all tilled up, but couldn't see his back yard.
What kind of damage could I expect on my tiller of running it at low RPM on virgin soil? Its gear driven, so I assume the gears are taking a beating?
