Posted: 2/10/2011 12:16:08 PM EDT
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Since my new place has a 3 acre level “yard” I thought I would try my hand at growing a garden this year but quickly realized that the last time I fooled with dirt was 15 years ago and all my siblings and I used was hand tools….needless to say that isn’t a memory I would like to recreate from childhood.
My question is what kind of tiller should I be looking at? After 30 minutes on the wed I realized that I could spend a week doing research on brands and horse power…or just ask you guys. My first thought was to just go with a tractor that I could use to mow and till with but I’m pretty sure that is out of my price range this year. I’ve seen the tillers with both front and rear tines...which is better? Any brands given great service in the past? Thanks for your help. |
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Personally, with a garden of that size, I'd consider paying a neighbor to plow and disc it. Especially if this is undisturbed soil. I have an old 7 hp rear tine Ariens and it just about beat me to death the first year I put the garden out. Following years were easier because the ground wasn't packed anymore.
Just a thought... 
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Oh yeah...sorry about that.
I don't think ill be tilling up more than 1/4 acre max at this point. I think I have a buddy that can break the new ground for me first time around. While I would love to have a tractor and 5foot deck I'm not sure I can afford it this year. Pretty much just looking to start getting my feet wet on garden care and whatnot. Looking up the Toros now |
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Just pay someone to come do it with a tractor. See how fluffy and well mixed that dirt in the tractor pic is. Especially if the ground has not been tilled in awhile, you'll gets lots of clumps and poor mixing with the hand tiller. After a good tractor tilling it will be easier if you want to go the walk behind way. |
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Quoted:
Just pay someone to come do it with a tractor. See how fluffy and well mixed that dirt in the tractor pic is. Especially if the ground has not been tilled in awhile, you'll gets lots of clumps and poor mixing with the hand tiller. After a good tractor tilling it will be easier if you want to go the walk behind way. Listen to him. he speaks the truth. local papers always have ads. might cost you a hundred bucks, but will save you aches and pains. then find a small walk behind used or end of season clearance to till after that. I picked up a used troy bilt for $200 that still had paint on the tines. |
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We have a one acre garden and use equipment from the farm to prep it. We also have a front tine tiller we use for close work, but if you plan to use a tiller for an acre garden, much less a 3 acre garden, you would have to be crazy to go front tine. It will beat you to death and wear you out before you get close to finishing. A rear tine would be a better choice if you must go with a walk behind tiller, but for your garden, I would either pay someone to tear it up, rent a tractor and tiller attachment, or bite the bullet and buy a compact tractor and tiller.
If you don't believe me about the front tine tiller, just borrow or rent one for a day. |
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I have a Snapper with rear tines.
It's just like the commercials, first pass, even on hard soil, I can hold it with one hand and walk along side of it. Once the soil is loosened up and I set it for maximum depth, it just chugs along 'like a Willy's in four wheel drive.' The front wheels pull and the tines kind of push. Great Machine. |
I'm with the other guys: for this year, hire out the ground breaking and major tillage. Then go out and buy a mini-tiller, such as the Mantis or Honda. You'll never till your whole garden with a mini-tiller but you will get a lot of work out of it. You might even decide that it makes sense to continue to hire out the one major tillage of the year and not sink the money into a big tiller. (I did not go this route––have about $5K wrapped up in tillage tools. )
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| Our garden is around 5,000 square feet. The first till every year is done by my dad with his tractor which breaks the ground up like the photo above... Then I do the rest of the year with a rear tine snapper. I wouldn't even attempt to break ground the first year with a hand tiller unless you have VERY sandy soil. We have hard clay here and I tried to till up part of the yard for a strawberry patch and it was NOT happening. My dad hauls his tractor around our area and does gardens in the spring, and I think most of the ones he does is less than $50 and he tills them DEEP.... So I'm thinking finding someone in your area to do it once a year would be money well spent. |
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Lots of good info guys!
I think my neighbor right down the road has a tractor and tiller so Ill offer to pay him for the first sod busting and pick up a smaller tiller for later use. I can tell right now that this whole grow your own food thing is going to be a learning experience for sure. I started pruning my 8 fruit trees the other day and what I though would be an hour job turned into a five hour job....I'll either have better yields or dead trees this spring. Thanks again for the Intel. |
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How far down will it go? How easy are they to control? How well do they work in unbusted dirt. You have to work 'em a bit, but they'll till down to 4-6 inches. They're very easy to use. Not gonna work well on unbroken, compacted soil. They just don't have enough mass. |
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How far down will it go? How easy are they to control? How well do they work in unbusted dirt. You have to work 'em a bit, but they'll till down to 4-6 inches. They're very easy to use. Not gonna work well on unbroken, compacted soil. They just don't have enough mass. +1 I have a mantis. If you can break up the unbusted dirt with a shovel or something, the mantis will help break it down further. Next to my shovel, it's one of my heavier used tools in the garden. |
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Quoted:
Since my new place has a 3 acre level “yard” I thought I would try my hand at growing a garden this year but quickly realized that the last time I fooled with dirt was 15 years ago and all my siblings and I used was hand tools….needless to say that isn’t a memory I would like to recreate from childhood. My question is what kind of tiller should I be looking at? After 30 minutes on the wed I realized that I could spend a week doing research on brands and horse power…or just ask you guys. My first thought was to just go with a tractor that I could use to mow and till with but I’m pretty sure that is out of my price range this year. I’ve seen the tillers with both front and rear tines...which is better? Any brands given great service in the past? Thanks for your help. Hire someone to break and disk, or break and till, the soil the first year. If you want a tiller, get a rear-tine. Front tines beat the hell out of you. I would buy a tiller ONLY if I planned to do a lot of gardening and landscaping. Otherwise I would garden in such a way that after the first year I didn't have to till at all. People here get tired of me talking about close-cropping and square foot gardening, but it's a good plan, and you don't need equipment for it. Installation cost on the front end is a little higher, but it's worth it IMO. If you are going to need to till ground regularly, get a rear tine. Tractors are great. I love tractors. But as lawnmowers they're really not all that good. They cut the grass short and that's all. Bad for your lawn moving all that weight across it constantly though. A good zero turn will serve you well for a level yard. Or if you're set on the lawn tractor style, get a large one––large enough to accept ground-engaging equipment like a wagon/cart snow blade, dethatcher, bagger, etc. But with a rear-tine tiller and a zero-turn mower, plus a good-size garden cart I can pull myself (pneumatic wheels) I can care for a really big yard and a LOT of ongoing landscaping projects by myself. Without the landscaping happening, I'd nix the tiller. Or rent one. I rent a tiller once a year to dig up new project areas. |
| Good advice on the primary tillage, tractor and tiller for the win. We have a 20 yr old rear tined Troy built that has never let us down. last bit of advice is to spray the area to be tilled with Round-up a few days before tilling to make your weeding a lot easier. YMMV |
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Have the neighbor with the tractor and PTO tiller break the ground for you. I just used my uncle's Massey and 5 ft PTO tiller to break mine. I'll probably till it at least once more with the tractor, and from then on I'll be using my TroyBilt Horse(actually have 2). Watch craigslist and your local classifieds like a hawk. You can find excellent deals on good used equipment. Sometimes "it doesn't run" or needs some minor repair and the owner hasn't got a clue what the problem is. Example: I picked up a near new condition Troy bilt riding mower for $300 that wouldn't start or run. Turned out that squirrels had chewed the ignition wire in half.  I have an electric start TroyBilt Horse that I have under $120 in, and it's ready to go. I paid more for the other one, not knowing the extent of the work it needed. Those tillers are probably $2k new now.If you do buy a tiller, skip front tine altogether. I haven't used one since I was a kid, but they suck and will beat you to death. Not all rear tines are the same. Some work better in certain soil types than others. If you have really "hard" soil, you'll probably want counter-rotating tines. If the soil is easy to work, then standard rotation is fine. Some tillers combine both types into one unit. There are downsides to each type, but they're not really worth worrying about if you actually need one versus the other. Mostly, just look for a good heavy built tiller and you'll be fine. |