Need rototiller advice

[Kevin999]

fellow gardening enthusiasts,

this year my wife and I decided to try our hand at having a vegetable garden. we took a chunk of our yard, about 20' x 40' turned it into a garden. I rented a rototiller to chop the ground up and also help me mix in a bunch of compost. Have one question, guys, if you don't mind. Anyone among you is interested in casino reviews? Here is an example of such reviews - casinosranker.com/reviews,So I wanted to know what you thought about it, and if you could help me? Any advice would be worth its weight in gold.

 

[tom3]

Starting a garden with a tiller is not really the way to go. Need to actually spade/plow the ground to get the deeper roots chopped up, help eliminate the critters, prepare the dirt for good root growth, then go with the tiller. A rear tine machine is usually the best design, but still needs some experience to get the feel of it. Most gardens have a short term life, too much work, too much money, too little produce. And organic non-pesticide growing usually is a dismal failure. (all my experiences anyway) And depending on where you live a fence might be required to keep animals from your feast.

 

[Romore]

In my experience in equipment sales and service it simply doesn't pay to purchase an expensive machine that will get used two or three times per year. It takes up valuable storage space and needs frequent maintenance due to the dirty work environment. The biggest problem is bad gas due to long storage periods. At $40 a pop twice a year it would take 7 or 8 years to equal the cost of a good front tine tiller. Is it worth it? If you are set on owning Honda, Snapper, Maxim and others offer quality units. The best I have seen are Merry Tiller, pricey but bulletproof.

 

[Darryl G]

I suggest that you look into the no-till gardening method or just use a spade. That isn't a very large area and it could be hand dug a little at a time. Roto-tilling a garden has a lot of draw-backs and there's a ton of info on the internet about the alternatives.

 

[mechanic mark]

Tillers | Troy-Bilt US

Troy-Bilt is committed to providing a large selection of industry leading garden tillers to help with all your gardening needs. Troy-Bilt offers Small, Medium and Large frame rotary tillers that are well built and easy to control and protected by a Limited Lifetime Warranty.

www.troybilt.com

I have 1985 Troy Bilt Pony 5 h.p. that I purchased new, still going strong! I use to add leaves, grass clippings, & annual rye grass seed in Fall & till it under early Spring. I used a furrow that came with tiller to make rows, wife & I had raised beds. Rich loamy soil with earthworms produced nice vegetable garden 20ft. x 40ft. for years.

 

[bertsmobile1]

I have a veggie garden and would never be without it
Tilling should only be done to the upper 2' because it damages the fungi & microbes which are the most essential thing for a productive garden..
My gardens have never been tilled.
Most veggie farmers down here are using no-till farming & actually getting better results.
If you had of come here first, I would have suggested 20 x 5 to 10 gallon pots so you can experiment with what will grow in your soil & region.
When I started the one at the workshop I used pots for the first 5 years while I experimented with different plants & soil mixes.
The workshop is on a flood plane so we have ultra fine soil structure and ultimately I had to use tons of charcoal & compost to get drainage and lots of manure & vermipost to get the nutrients up.
When plants have finished producing I just pull them up and toss them into to worm bin.
Pulling the plants breaks up the soil more than enough.

 

[jp1961]

Hello,

You can check out YouTube to get ideas on which rototiller to buy.

Ive never operated a front tine tiller, but own 2 used Troy-Bilt rear tine tillers. One an older unit made before MTD bought them out. The older one (a MUCH heavier constructed model) has a 4 hp Tecumseh engine, the newer one a Briggs 5 hp Intek engine.

My two gardens are roughly 12' x 25' and 12' x 40'. I did remove the grass using the tiller, but it takes many passes to get through the grass roots with the tiller set at it's shallowest setting. I'm 6'3" and weigh close to 2 bills and it was an it was at times a comical experience as the tiller once it hits the roots will shoot forward (I don't think a NFL defensive back could hold back a tiller once it hits roots,,,lol). Troy-Bilt recommends removing the grass first before tilling. Is your soil clay or a fertile loam? Clay is MUCH harder to till through. Hitting rocks will also cause the unit to lurch forward.

I'd stay away from the rear tine tiller made by MTD (for various companies) the gearbox is a stamped steel affair with gears and chains, which have had their share of problems.

Regards

Jeff

 

[Romore]

I have caught roots with a rear tine tiller, almost launched me into next week. They are not suitable for a small patch like the op's, too hard to manoever and and can't get close to a fence or shrubbery. As mentioned tillers are great for cultivating but miserable beasts when trying to break ground. Ditto on MTD products which include Troy-Bilt which was once a proud name.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

I have 2 tillers and i don't have a garden, go figure. One is a about 50 year old JD brand with a 6hp Tecumseh and front tine. Will it open new ground? Yes. Will it beat the hell out of you? Yes. Will it break? No. Great for cultivating rows but breaking new ground with a front tine tiller is not an enjoyable event. The other tiller is a 1950's Frazier Rototiller i am in the process of restoring it. The thing is huge and heavy. Nothing today is built like it. It will break new ground easily.
If you just want to cultivate rows for weeds a cheap front tine tiller will work. If you plan on sod busting with it or reopening ground every year get a rear tine. Most of the new stuff is pretty flimsy but if you use it once a week to cultivate weeds can be worth buying. My brother in law has a 1970's Snapper RT-8 rear tine i keep running. Probably has well over a couple thousand hard hours on it. If you can find an older TroyBilt Horse or BCS tiller they are worth putting some money in to and will last forever.

 

[upupandaway]

I've owned both the front and rear tine. My observations are as follows:
Rear tine + is cool being self propelled, if u hit a hard spot, it doesn't yank it out of your hands +great for long runs -becuase of big size, pain to turn around thus more of a pain for small gardens with fence\wall. I sold mine because the other one was easier to use.

Front tine(see pic) ~good for general tilling +more compact, easier to navigate for frequent turns\smaller garden. +tills as deep as rear tine(depending on what u get)

You can find some decent used tillers in craigslist - actually someone in my area is selling a Merry Tiller for $20.. Because I don't till for a living, and only till in spring and fall, even spending the 200$ for a mini tiller is not worth it(i got mine for free- both just needed carb work).