Tiller Operation

[P3x 55]

Plan to till up a section of my yard to plant new grass with a 520H. Did foundation regrading/landscaping in the spring and found lots of roots along the foundation about 3" below the surface. They must belong to several fairly large Maple trees growing around the edge of the lawn where it meets the road - approx. 60' away. The section I plan to work is a lot closer to one of the trees than the foundation and figure I'm bound to run into lots of them.

Looked through the threads for similar topics and found none so looking for advice/recommendations from the board members to prevent tiller damage and/or launching me into the back yard!

Any and all advice appreciated.

p3x

[DoctorHfuhruhurr 136]

One of these would probably break up the roots nicely.....

[rockbuilt 7]

the rule of thumb for tree roots is "the scale of the roots are equal to the canopy" with few exceptions i.e. weeping willow so if you are not under the tree digging won't hurt it.

before you till new soil you should use a spike harrow or cultivator to break up the soil and expose roots and rocks remove the debris than sink your tiller in to grind the soil. For a lawn you only need to be about 3" deep. now have fun get-er done :thumbs2:

[can whlvr 991]

when i tryed the brinly plough it would only break roots to about 2 inches,even some 2 inchers would stop me,the tiller seems to skip over them,it doesnt seem to launch you but push a little and jump up out of the ground a little,but thats only my dealings with the tiller and plough

[jtmoyer 1]

i broke some tines off tilling over some roots. the tiller bounced and skipped over most of them. found the tines on the second pass.

[P3x 55]

Got the tiller attached to the tractor and found I'm missing the clevis that holds the cable to the lift lever. Ordered one this morning and hope to see it delivered by next week. Unless I recieve the dreaded Part on Back order email.

Wow, going to start with shallow passes. Don't want to start chucking tines!

I'll let you know how it goes when I start digging.

Thanks for the input.

[jachady 130]

I use my tiller for a small side business. I have done between 20 - 40 gardens the last two seasons. Plus I use my tiller to create paths, trenches in 10 acres of woods I own.

I have yet to break a tine. Here's my advice. When knowing you are tilling in rooty soil, prepare your tiller by sharpening all the tines. Almost put a knife edge on them, they'll dull quickly but it will help a ton. I use a 8 speed and ride the clutch so I am going even slower than 1st gear low range will allow. I keep one hand on the lift lever at all times. As you come to a root the tiller will start to jump, push in the clutch to stop forward movement and slightly take pressure off the tiller with the lift lever. Slowly let out the clutch to let the tiller cut across the root. The tiller will cut pieces off the root or start shredding it. If the root is really thick (2-4 inches) it may take a couple of passes to get through it.

Sometimes you need to take a break with the tractor and resort to manual labor and pull, break the roots by hand to get them out of the way. It's hard work, even when you're on the tractor as you have to lift the tiller more, but usually you can get through it.

p.s. If you encounter a root thats really thick, mark it with a flag and avoid it. The Wheel Horse is incredible but it can't do everything. Somtimes nature wins.

John

[mnWHfan 47]

Hi John,

Did you paint your Wheel Horse to look like a White Field Boss? I'm just curious because that is the first tractor that I drove. (2-105)

Dennis

[jachady 130]

I painted it to match the truck I use to haul it to my tilling jobs. I try to come off as professional as possible.