tilling depth

[Ralph Mowery]

How can a DR tiller with 13 inch tines till 11 inches when a Yardsman with the same 13 inch tines can only till 6 1/2 inches as per their advertisements ? They both seem to be almost identical tillers.

[Ed P]

You have to look at the setup for the tines and how they pivot.

What is the HP of each? If the DR is more powerful it can potentially handle more too.

[Ralph Mowery]

I said Yardman and should have said Yardmax.

They both seem to have the same engine. I did not look at the tines very close but they seem to be the same. They are the same diameter of

13 inches. That would mean if going to yhe exal it woyld give 6 1/2 iches.

[hubops]

Do they both have backward rotating ? .. it might make a difference ? Is it possible that the tine configuration ie : spacing and angles -

- allows the one machine to dig deeper - by clearing soil beneath the differential / axel more effectively ? And / or the axel housing and bushings are more robust and able to handle being submerged in soil. John T.

[Ralph Mowery]

Both have the same engine and they both can rotate the tines in either direction while the wheels are going forward.

It is hard to tell from the pictures what the tines actually look like. They do not have either one in a store near me so I can not look at them. I have to order them on line.

[hubops]

There's a video at this link - shows it digging deeper than 6 1/2 but maybe not 11 inches .. dunno.

John T.

[Ralph Mowery]

I watched the video but it is not digging anywhere near 11 inches.

[Dean Hoffman]

Does it make any practical difference for what you're doing? The moldboard plows of the old days used by farmers went only about 6" deep or so.

[hubops]

• 1 There might well be other differences that matter more - - I don't own a tiller but for my riding mowers - I sure appreciated having grease fittings and a hydro transmission with a drain & fill possibility .. John T.

[Ed P]

I'm not a farmer and I've never been able to plow deeper than about 6 inches.

[Ralph Mowery]

I do not know. I am not much of a farmer. I just grow some tomatos, squash, and maybe a few other things. Only till about 20 by 30 feet. I mainly thought it was interisting that two almost identical units would be rated where one was almost twice as deep as the other.

For the last 20 years I have been using a front tine tiller. I have no idea how deep it goes. Just getting old enough that the tiller was wearing me out. I use a post hole digger to dig deep holes to put the tomato plants in. Makes for easy work for me.

I guess that the tilling is mainly to get rid of grass, but do not know for sure.

[Clare Snyder]

Some tillers can only till to the "axle" and others can bury the tines completely. My dad's old 3Hp "combo tiller" could bury itself to the point the dirt sheild was at ground level if you put the ground spike in the lowest position. His replacement Craftsman with multi speed transmission would only go about 7 inches deep - both were front tine. Rear tine tillers are completely different

[Clare Snyder]

So these are wheel drive rear tine tillers - different than Dad's old Combo and Craftsman

[rbowman]

One of the funnier things I saw during the back to the earth movement was a skinny little guy attacking some well established sod with a Troy-Bilt rototiller.

[Ralph Mowery]

The front wheels are driven and the rear tines can rotate in either direction on these two tillers. One way the soil is worked deep and rough and the other way not so deep but smoother. Like going deep for new ground or lightly just to knock down the grass and weeds. Some tillers only rotate the ties one way. The wheels are driven all the time. The wheels can all so be set to turn with the tines not turning to get the tiller from the shed to the garden without messing up the yard on the way. Some tillers will not do this.

[micky]

This sounds woke to me. I'm surpised you're willing to write about it so placidly. Wnen Ron D is president, he'll put an end to this.

Darn right.