PTO Rototiller: who's got one and tips on using. . .

MotoSook · 08:10 PM

Just ordered a king Kutter 48" for my tractor. I wanted the 60" one but I only have a 19 HP tractor

Never used one. Never use a PTO attachment. You guys have any tips?

turbo6bar · 03-27-2011, 06:07 PM

Ain't much to it. Cut the PTO shaft to length. Fill the gearbox with oil. Hook her up and go tilling.

Depending on the soil, you may want to hit with a breaking plow. However, you may not have the power or traction to pull a plow. It's not big deal, as you can still get the same end result using the tiller only by taking more passes. If you soil has the right moisture content, your tiller will leave nothing but loose dirt in powder form.

Tip: After you've connected the tiller to your arms and top-link, lift the tiller AND then connect the PTO shaft. If you lift the tiller, you can then rotate the PTO shaft (along with gearbox and tines) for easy connection. If you're tilling virgin ground, take shallow passes. Otherwise, the tiller will bounce and fight you.

A PTO-powered tiller is a great tool. If you haven't seen one in action, you'll be amazed at how quickly you can till compared to a typical small-engine tiller.

Is the tiller wider than your rear tires?
jurgen

944Larry · 944Larry's Garage

I had an old Howard Rotavator on a 100 horse John Deere. Found out quick that if you need to stop, knock the PTO out of gear before mashing the clutch. The thing will speed up due to the digging action. I ran into the side of my buddies house before I figured the deal out. We were about half drunk tilling his yard up. You might watch out for that too!!!

MT930 · 03-27-2011, 06:17 PM

Keep anything you like away from it when it's running.

Check the oil in the gear box.

3pt cultivators are the ticket, also much safer.

john70t · 03-27-2011, 06:32 PM

1.) If the ground suface is varied and hardened, use a plow first, then the tiller.

2). Before anything, check and change the fluid if unknown or a bad color(silvered)
Get the specs and proceedures from the mfr online.

3). Start with a small test patch, using the minimal depth first.
Stop and check before continuing with the plat.

pete3799 · pete3799's Garage

A 19 horse tractor will have it's work cut out to turn a 48" tiller.

Don't wear loose clothing ( untucked shirt etc.) around a PTO driven piece of equip.
The plastic cover on the drive shaft is there for safety. Don't remove it.
A good fiend of mine will be in a wheel chair for the rest of his life.

He was blowing a load of grass into the silo and reached across to grab a pitch fork when his shirt got caught in the PTO. The only one with him at the time was his youngest kid (6 yrs. old at the time) who was smart enough to shut the tractor off and get help.

john70t · 03-27-2011, 06:58 PM

Good advice pete3799.

MotoSook · 07:50 PM

All safety precautions will be observed.

The rear track is as wide if not slightly wider than the rototiller.

The soil was farmed 20+ years ago and currently has grass and weeds growing on it. I'll dig up and saplings or trees in the area before I till it, bu is it necessary to do anything with the grass and weed?

Evans, Marv · 03-27-2011, 07:54 PM

Good info already given. I've got a 17 hp. Kubota that I use a 48 in. tiller behind. It does a great job. I broke up the ground before I first used it around my house with my box scraper's ripper teeth using my bigger tractor. It's sometimes a challenge to keep the depth uniform, especially if the ground isn't the same hardness everywhere. You can buy wheel accessories for tillers that can be used to adjust the depth and keep it uniform. I'm thinking of rigging up something like that for mine. I put my tractor in low range but using a higher gear to get the best speed. You will learn how fast you are able to go after a short time using it.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

You need a bigger tractor....

MotoSook · 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porsche4life

You need a bigger tractor....

Not an option this time. The tractor is a diesel 19 HP Mitsu engine. The tiller is for up to 25 HP. I figure it 's underpowered, it should be doable slow and low.

Lots of good advice guys.

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soukus

The soil was farmed 20+ years ago and currently has grass and weeds growing on it. I'll dig up and saplings or trees in the area before I till it, bu is it necessary to do anything with the grass and weed?

Hire someone turn it over with a moldboard plow, then use the tiller to form the seedbed - don't go more than about 2" deep and till the minimum possible to make a good seedbed. If you really work the ground with it, the tiller turns the soil to powder & destroys all the worm holes and other aeration modes in the soil. Tillers are fantastic for seedbed prep but they aren't a substitute for a plow.

Seahawk · 03-28-2011, 04:49 AM

Perfect advice below.

How much acreage are you planning on tilling? What are you going to plant? I ask because depending on what you are planting, spraying and no-till planting may work as well.

I have found with all the PTO stuff I use that energy management is key...keep the RPM's up on the tractor and the tiller. Be very patient the first time, slow and steady at a pace that doesn't bog the tiller down. If it takes two passes, so be it. Lastly, can you lock your PTO controls? That really helps.

Best of luck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Hire someone turn it over with a moldboard plow, then use the tiller to form the seedbed - don't go more than about 2" deep and till the minimum possible to make a good seedbed. If you really work the ground with it, the tiller turns the soil to powder & destroys all the worm holes and other aeration modes in the soil. Tillers are fantastic for seedbed prep but they aren't a substitute for a plow.

MotoSook · 03-28-2011, 01:30 PM

I'll see if the farmer across the road will do me a favor and turn the area over for me. I'm thinking of doing about 1/2 acre for a vegetable garden. My wife and parents should be able to fill up that much area with all the stuff they want to grow.

I might do more later...maybe rent out garden plots for organic gardeners. Thanks for all the tips guys. I've never gardened with machinery before...this should be a fun excercise.

vonsmog · 03-28-2011, 02:43 PM

I have a 50" tiller behind my 27hp Kubota. if you can cut the grass and weeds down that will help. Then just till it a few times, letting it dry up between runs. After the first tilling pull out any larger rocks that you can find. I do the same garden every year and pull rocks out every time I till it, the frost pushes them up. Keep the RPM's up and go very slow, you will love how easy it works after the first cut is made. Good luck with your new toy.

Evans, Marv · 03-28-2011, 02:57 PM

Wow, half an acre should be enough to feed everybody within a 50 mile radius. It's going to take a lot of hand work to keep up with that, even if you have the tractor to till it. Maybe you can borrow some more implements or find some used to help out.

turbo6bar · 03-28-2011, 05:43 PM

1/2 acre is a lot of square feet. You'll need some dedicated labor, for sure.

I think wd is right. The tiller is great for making loose soil to plant seed, but tillers do disturb the soil immensely. You won't have earthworms. The hot setup is if you can do no till. Assuming you have mediocre soil, introduce tremendous amounts of organic matter to the soil. Find manure locally or make compost. Obviously, you have to break the ground, and a tiller will do the job well.

That said, a lot of folks have great gardens that have been tilled. If your soil has enough organic matter, you plants will grow and thrive despite the lack of earthworms.

re: the grass and weeds. If there are seeds, get rid of the stuff. If no seeds, the worst is the weeds will get tangled up in the tiller shaft. Depending on your timetable, you can hit with round-up and till in a couple weeks.

MotoSook · 05-16-2011, 10:02 AM

We got a dry spell, long enough to dry the soil for tilling. The little rototiller worked like a charm! I'll never do this without the rototiller again. It cost me $1100, but I'll be using it for years...just being able to get this done in a hour or two was worth it.

I busted up the soil a bit with a single blade plow and let it dry a couple of days before I went in with the tiller. It actually made it tough due to having to drive over the turned over stuff. I rototilled outside of the turned over area and the tiller had no problems at all. So I really didnt need to plow it. I made 2 passes and we have a nice 6 inch deep bed....

We were going to do a larger area, but decided to start small and expand if needed. The wife is very happy with the results. Have to put up fencing to keep the deer out....more work for the little tractor (auger fence post holes).

I'm probably going to till the area where grapevines are going in to kill the weeds and make pulling weeds easier as they grow. Bought the 3-point auger for the trellis posts (and fence) over the weekend, but it rained to much to get to the area without making a muddy mess.

willtel · 05-16-2011, 10:16 AM

That makes me want a tractor. Every man should have a tractor.

MotoSook · 05-16-2011, 10:44 AM

Right! Tractors and attachments for the tractor...tough to get along without them if you got any serious work to do.

I actually bought a 6' blade also to scrape with and if needed used to move snow. I plan to build a road along the back of the property so I'll be using the tractor and blade a bit.