Pull behind tiller

falconew

falconew

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Looking at expanding my garden for next year. Really hard ground so I want to start on it soon and keep tilling it up and adding mulch l/compost whatever I can to make it better.

I have a huskvarna rear tone tiller but that would be a lot of work. Thinking of a pull behind with a motor on top of it. Looked at a few different ones. Don’t know if anyone has one on here. Likes/dislikes options.
 
SINNER said:
I have a PTO one on my tractor. I love it. It stays in the back 1/3 of the year I use it so much plus it’s so dang heavy it’s a good forklift counterweight. Never seen or used one with a motor on it.View attachment 625825
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I wish I could have a pto driven on. That means I would need a tractor and that’s not happening.
 
How much of an area are you expanding? I’d wait until a good soaking rain and start tilling after that. Once you get it initially done it should be fairly easy after that
 
Crankbait said:
How much of an area are you expanding? I’d wait until a good soaking rain and start tilling after that. Once you get it initially done it should be fairly easy after that
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I want at least 30x80. Plenty of rows of corn and start canning a bunch of food as well
 
rdinatal said:
Pay someone with a tractor/tiller for the initial tilling. Then maintain after with what you have.
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This, or have someone come out and turn plow it for you in the fall. The winter will freeze up the clots and it will be easy to till in the spring for a garden.
 
papa_smurf said:
This, or have someone come out and turn plow it for you in the fall. The winter will freeze up the clots and it will be easy to till in the spring for a garden.
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This was going to be my suggestion. Tillers aren’t really good for digging and you’ll want the initial soil turning to be good and deeper than a couple of inches.
 
Most non 1 series John Deeres there was a tiller available for them. This is my 235 my dad bought from my grandfather's estate and gave to me for Christmas. I bought the tiller used off fb marketplace for $300. It runs off the pto from the deck (belt driven) newer JD mowers with hydrostatic (3 series and up I think) have hydraulic lift and belt driven or just straight up hydraulic tillers. I was able to break virgin soil about 3" deep into clay with this setup. But it's really slow. These tillers are basically the same since the 90s so it's easy to find them. The only difference is how to lift the tiller. JD does not sell the adapter kits anymore for these non hydraulic mowers. As you can see my orange strap to lift it up while I'm sitting on the seat. I think they still sell adapter kits for the nicer hydraulic mowers.

If you don't have a John Deere there was an aftermarket company who made something similar that bolts to the rear transaxle. Difficult to find but they do exist. I can find the brand if you are interested

Post a picture of your soil. If you have mostly clay do not till in the rain or after a heavy rain. The loose clay will compact and make your non - aerated soil worse.

Harbor freight is having a parking lot sale this weekend. Go buy a big tarp and lay it out on the area of your garden and kill the vegetation in that area. You can add compost or dirt under the tarp as you can afford it or have the time to mess with it.

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I think the best course of action has been mentioned above. Hire someone to get it done the first time. Then maintain with your tiller. If you are like me and you live playing with tractors and stuff. Rent the equipment and do it yourself, then maintain with the tiller. But hiring or renting will be cheaper and better in the long run.
 
Hiring someone is definitely the best bet I was quoted $150/hr with a 2 hour minimum when I was looking at options. I do everything the hard way so I bought the lawn mower tiller attachment.

If you are not set on buying a piece of equipment maybe posting in members area asking if you can pay for someone's time to till one Saturday would be a better solution.
 
Squanchy said:
Most non 1 series John Deeres there was a tiller available for them. This is my 235 my dad bought from my grandfather's estate and gave to me for Christmas. I bought the tiller used off fb marketplace for $300. It runs off the pto from the deck (belt driven) newer JD mowers with hydrostatic (3 series and up I think) have hydraulic lift and belt driven or just straight up hydraulic tillers. I was able to break virgin soil about 3" deep into clay with this setup. But it's really slow. These tillers are basically the same since the 90s so it's easy to find them. The only difference is how to lift the tiller. JD does not sell the adapter kits anymore for these non hydraulic mowers. As you can see my orange strap to lift it up while I'm sitting on the seat. I think they still sell adapter kits for the nicer hydraulic mowers.

If you don't have a John Deere there was an aftermarket company who made something similar that bolts to the rear transaxle. Difficult to find but they do exist. I can find the brand if you are interested

Post a picture of your soil. If you have mostly clay do not till in the rain or after a heavy rain. The loose clay will compact and make your non - aerated soil worse.

Harbor freight is having a parking lot sale this weekend. Go buy a big tarp and lay it out on the area of your garden and kill the vegetation in that area. You can add compost or dirt under the tarp as you can afford it or have the time to mess with it.

View attachment 625877
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I have a few year old x580 jd. Already called and asked about a tiller for them. 2018 is when them made them last for the 580. Mine is a 2019. The reason they said was it was too much tiller for that model. He suggested the pull behinds as well.

I might see it anyone local has one just to disc it.

And yes lots of clay. And sandy clay as well. Thinking long ago old creek bed. Lots of river rock around too.
 
falconew said:
I might see it anyone local has one just to disc it.
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Back when I was a kid, my family had fairly big gardens - on the order of an acre or more and planted a lot of corn as well as other crops. When it came time to prepare the soil, they would use a tractor (Farmall Cub) first with a turn plow and then go over it with a disc to break the plow rows up. Lastly, they would use, what I would call a dirt dragger, that was a metal pan with tines that they placed rocks on to weigh it down and make it all nice fine dirt.

The combination of plow followed by disc was very effective. I would be surprised if there isn't someone locally with a tractor and these implements that could knock this out for you in a morning or afternoon.
 
falconew said:
The reason they said was it was too much tiller for that model
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Jeez 24hp is considerably more than my 235 has.

falconew said:
Lots of river rock around too
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That would be rough on a small tiller. Or at least it is on mine. The tine grabs a rock and pushes the whole machine forward. After a single pass I have to go back and gather the rocks. I assume a DR tow behind would be the same way. There's no weight pushing down on a tow behind or mower tiller like you can with a 3pt. And the tiller itself is considerably lighter so single pass work is much less.

Depending on how large the rocks are you'll be going over it quite a bit. My mower tiller does about the same amount of work as the nice Honda gear driven rear tine tillers that home Depot rents. Takes about 4 or so passes to get to where I like it. Some spots more if its really dense
 
falconew said:
I have a few year old x580 jd. Already called and asked about a tiller for them. 2018 is when them made them last for the 580. Mine is a 2019. The reason they said was it was too much tiller for that model. He suggested the pull behinds as well.

I might see it anyone local has one just to disc it.

And yes lots of clay. And sandy clay as well. Thinking long ago old creek bed. Lots of river rock around too.
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With the soil you are describing, get someone with a tractor to do it first. Those pull behind implements are ok in good soil, but in hard clay you are asking for more trouble than it’s worth.
 
noway2 said:
they would use a tractor (Farmall Cub)
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If you are feeling nostalgic cubs are really cheap. I see them used under 2k quite often. My dad and grandfather had a cub. Those little tractors could do some serious work if you had some patience. My dad's 51 still runs he has it in his garage right now doing some much needed maintenance.

@Average Joe you're right on it being a lot of trouble. I'm young and stupid. I think a wise man would pay someone to break ground and just do maintenance with the rear tine walk behind.
 
Squanchy said:
@Average Joe you're right on it being a lot of trouble. I'm young and stupid. I think a wise man would pay someone to break ground and just do maintenance with the rear tine walk behind.
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I think we must have been typing at the same time. We are both on the same page here. Doesn’t sound like you are young and stupid.
 
Average Joe said:
Doesn’t sound like you are young and stupid.
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I paid $300 for the tiller instead of hiring someone 😂 im definitely stupid and after seeing me struggle wife said "I really would prefer raised beds it was so hard working in the clay at the last house when it was in the ground and we would have to buy so much soil to amend our crap clay might as well build it up"

I cannot argue she is right
 
Squanchy said:
I paid $300 for the tiller instead of hiring someone 😂 im definitely stupid and after seeing me struggle wife said "I really would prefer raised beds it was so hard working in the clay at the last house when it was in the ground and we would have to buy so much soil to amend our crap clay might as well build it up"

I cannot argue she is right
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Just don’t tell her she is right. 😂😂
 
If you like older machinery and are a little handy an old Gravely walk behind L model tractor can do loads of work. The rotary plow does a great job on breaking new ground. These can usually be picked up for under $500. You can get different implements for it too.

BTW, those trendy and expensive BCS walking tractors copied the original Gravely rotary plow for there plow.

 
rdinatal said:
Pay someone with a tractor/tiller for the initial tilling. Then maintain after with what you have.
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This. Right. Here. X1000!!!
Save your back, legs, ankles…..
The dragger tillers are nice, but a large fresh area will be a challenge, especially if it’s hard soil

You can rent a small tractor with a tiller for a weekend for probably less than 300 bucks. After that, you should be able to manage it well with a dragger
 
Pick up an old garden tractor with a sleeve hitch and get a brinly 10inch plow. It will dig about 5” deep. Then you can till with your tiller. I have an old jd318 with a hydraulic tiller and it is a beast. I can not pick it up by myself or hardly budge it because of the weight. Nice thing about the hydraulic ones is you can turn them around to reverse till. Leaves rocks on top and will breakup old tree roots. I use mine for small deer plots. Tons of them still out there from simplicity, craftsman, etc.
 
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LeeMajors said:
Let me know when. I assume in the fall.
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I was actually thinking soon and was going to keep turning it over and adding manure and compost to it. Then that way a pull behind tiller would be perfect after that.
 
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