Is a tiller a good investment??

[seedcorn]

Went many years w/used, borrowed, rented. Finally said this stupid, saving money gardening, love it as hobby; so went and bought a new one. Best decision I've made. Cost a little more money but...

1) It does what I want.
2) No repairs as it was new. Change oil, rest is piece of cake.
3) w/used...after a few times, I found out why previous owner got rid of it.
4) If you keep it, what's it costing you? $40/year at most.

When you buy new, buy quality.

 

[Sylvie]

I've drawn out a total of 15 beds I want to put in that WON'T be raised beds. I'm thinking its a 3 year project.... and I'm convincing hubby its worth buying a tiller for this reason.

After looking at prices I'm thinking if I'm going to get one, I'll get one off of Craigslist used for around $250 and that should make it worth it. But how old is too old...?

And the big kicker... I have to figure out horsepower. We tilled my mom's front yard and started fresh with seeding it about 5 years ago. We rented a crappy little tiller for $75 for the day! It barely broke ground, and it broke my back to do all that work. The horse power was WAY to small for cutting through clay. The next size up tiller they wanted $130 for the day?! With prices like those, I don't think I can rationalize renting.

I guess all this tiller talk is personal preference!

High rental prices there!
I want to take a small engine course so I can fix all my stuff, maintain it and if I bought used know what I was buying. I'm tired of not understanding these gadgets!

 

[Blue Ridge Hillbilly]

I will tell you a bit of my experience last year regarding a tiller. Being from NC, I placed an ad in the NC Agricultural Review for a troy built "horse" tiller. These tillers are heavy duty and were made several years back by a company in NY who made a real quality machine. They still make these tillers under a new company but they are still called Troy Built. These older machines are not toys but will last a life time with good maintenance and service. I was able to buy two really good 7 hp Troy Built tillers for a fraction of the cost of a new one. I had a local mechanic put a carburator kit in each tiller and they are good as new. My wife and I garden about 2 acres with those two tillers. I would recommend to you that you don't buy a toy that you will never be happy with. You can find a good used Troy Built "Horse Model" for about $600 dollars if you look around.

 

[homesteadmom]

We bought a Troy Bilt "Pony" that has a 5hp motor in 95 after the tiller attachment on my dads garden tractor broke. We bought a new motor for it this yr but got upgraded to a 5.5hp one in the process. Only reason dh bought the new one is he plans to rebuild the old one(piston trouble he said) to put on the old garden tractor(dads) we aquired, that froze up(it's a 1967 Bolens). It has the rear tines which are great as they run a lot smoother & don't beat you to death. Haven't actually measured the garden yet but it is a fairly big sized one. Dh usually tills manure in to it in the fall(soil is really bad here) & in the spring we add compost & make our raised bed rows(we have to irrigate here). So for us a tiller is a big must & makes the job so much easier. He has even rented himself out with it to make a few extra bucks in the past too. He is thinking of doing it again this year too. We bought ours new, but you can get them used too. Just be careful buying used.

 

[beak]

When we first moved here I rented a Honda front tine tiller. It just bounced on the dirt and didn't do a thing. I took it back and drove 50 miles to Home Depot and rented a hydraulic powered Barrow I think it was called. Had to rent for 24 hours and had to rent a trailer too because I didn't have a trailer yet. Cost 178.00 with tax and damage insurance which was required. It tore the clay up real well. Our soil is mostly clay hardened by wind. No topsoil cause it all blew away. Each year it hardens too much for a regular tiller and I've had to rent the beast for 179.00. This year I saw a counter rotating 8.5hp on closeout at Sears and I bought it. I was worried it wouldn't break the soil but the clerk said if it didn't I could bring it back for the 1st 30 days. Tried it out last week and it took it down to 6.5 inches. Our garden is 60 x 80 and it is finally getting to be dirt. I would like to try the hay cover method but it takes too much hay. Even moldy hay goes for 3.00 a bale here. I don't know where Ruth got her hay but it wasn't here. We use soaker hoses to keep the water on the plants and put hay around the plants but we still get a lot of weeds in the rows. We have a mantis, but it has those ridges between where the tines hit and it is underpowered. Bounces around a lot too. My wife likes it cause she can control it, but this new tiller is easier to control just much heavier. It it last for 4 years it will pay for itself and I don't have to worry about going back and forth and getting it then being sure it's clean enough to turn back in. They're a good investment for a larger garden.

 

[Texan]

Tiller is a good investment. Get a counter rotating rear tine model. Also, we use a tiller attachment that goes on the weedeater for going in the middle of the rows while the garden is planted so that we can deal with grass and weeds.

 

[pepperwolfe]

I have TWO tillers that are old. A large one and a smaller one. When Dad was alive and still somewhat able to get to the garden he was able to at least get one of them started but now... They sit in a corner of the garden completly useless. My uncle brought down an old electric soil blender and I've been using that since last year's garden. It takes longer than the tillers but at least it WORKS!! And lucky for me I have a lot of sand so I don't have to fight clay or rocks.

 

[Reinbeau]

I have TWO tillers that are old. A large one and a smaller one. When Dad was alive and still somewhat able to get to the garden he was able to at least get one of them started but now... They sit in a corner of the garden completly useless. My uncle brought down an old electric soil blender and I've been using that since last year's garden. It takes longer than the tillers but at least it WORKS!! And lucky for me I have a lot of sand so I don't have to fight clay or rocks.

I have never understood why people leave tillers out in the elements, unprotected.....what a waste of valuable machinery! I'm happy you have something that does work for you.

 

[rockytopsis]

Just wondering what is a "electric soil blender"????

 

[momofdrew]

When we first moved here I rented a Honda front tine tiller. It just bounced on the dirt and didn't do a thing. I took it back and drove 50 miles to Home Depot and rented a hydraulic powered Barrow I think it was called. Had to rent for 24 hours and had to rent a trailer too because I didn't have a trailer yet. Cost 178.00 with tax and damage insurance which was required. It tore the clay up real well. Our soil is mostly clay hardened by wind. No topsoil cause it all blew away. Each year it hardens too much for a regular tiller and I've had to rent the beast for 179.00. This year I saw a counter rotating 8.5hp on closeout at Sears and I bought it. I was worried it wouldn't break the soil but the clerk said if it didn't I could bring it back for the 1st 30 days. Tried it out last week and it took it down to 6.5 inches. Our garden is 60 x 80 and it is finally getting to be dirt. I would like to try the hay cover method but it takes too much hay. Even moldy hay goes for 3.00 a bale here. I don't know where Ruth got her hay but it wasn't here. We use soaker hoses to keep the water on the plants and put hay around the plants but we still get a lot of weeds in the rows. We have a mantis, but it has those ridges between where the tines hit and it is underpowered. Bounces around a lot too. My wife likes it cause she can control it, but this new tiller is easier to control just much heavier. It it last for 4 years it will pay for itself and I don't have to worry about going back and forth and getting it then being sure it's clean enough to turn back in. They're a good investment for a larger garden.

Have you ever tried planting winter wheat or rye or oats or buckwheat as a cover crops in the fall...it help break up the soil mulches it when it dies back and adds organic matter to your soil to prevent it from hardening...I mulch in summer with newpapers or brown paper grocery bags and buckwheat hulls or straw...
hay has tons of weed seeds in it and each of those tiny seeds are viable for 7 years and every time you turn the soil you expose them to the light they will sprout...
I lift the soil with a fork to loosen it but rarely turn it over... trying to out last the weed seeds... my soil is very friable now...I have been adding organic material to it for 16 years at this present home...