WH 36" Tiller

[persof 14]

This spring I started a garden in my back yard. I borrowed a neighbor's walk behind rear tine tiller and it about killed me. A quick trip to Tractor Supply and I was able to "plow" it up using my Kubota sub compact tractor. I then borrowed another neighbors Troy Built walk behind rear tine tiller and had a GREAT deal of difficulity as my plow left ridges and valleys with long heavy strips of sod.

Question -- If I can get my hands on a WH 36" tiller for my 312-8 could it handle these rough conditions?

Or should I save up some money for next spring and put something on my Kubota?

Thanks

Francis

Hope to see you in Arentsville PA this June!

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[persof 14]

This is the plow in question

Thanks

Francis

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[mavfreak 11]

A tiller on either tractor would work better than any walk behind tiller. You need to disk the soil to help break up sod and ditches. You could rent one for your tractor I'm sure...well not sure but maybe

[persof 14]

A used WH tiller will be substantially less than a new one for the Kubota, and if I go ahead and get a disk assy for the Kubota I might as well put those $$$ towards a full size Land Pride tiller.

Thanks

Francis

[mavfreak 11]

I would call a rental place first and see if you could rent a set of disks. And yes wh tillers are a lot cheaper

[Confused99 2]

I started a garden this year. I let the tiller cut right into the sod the first tilling I did. A few weeks later I hit it again and did it again last weekend. Looks great and you can't even tell there was grass there a couple weeks ago. I think you would have no problems at all using a WH tiller to finish your garden.

Jason

[rickv1957 72]

Now that you have your soil broke,the WH tiller will work fine,Rick

[wh500special 2,170]

:omg:

If you can swing it, I'd get one for the 'bota instead. It will be easier to mount/dismount and will provide better results faster.

I've used both the WH tiller and a LandPride model sized for your BX and there really is no comparison. The WH tiller will work, but the larger tiller will work faster, dig deeper, and grind up just about anything underneath it. The WH tiller is much lighter weight and if you have hard soil - like I do - you'll find it just bounces around.

Not that it can't do the work, it will just take longer getting there. If you have really hard soil, it will take a lot longer getting there.

The plow you used is really not meant to till up a garden. It's a middle buster which has pretty specialized use. It might be handy for making rows once you have a garden, but it isn't really a general tillage implement.

Performance of walk behind tillers is all over the place. A good, heavy duty Troy Bilt Horse or BCS will outperform most garden tractors...but they take multiple passes too in hard ground. Lightweight rear tine tillers (pretty much everything but the largest TB, BCS, Hondas, etc.) and front tine tillers are more of a chore to use and are at the bottom of the pecking order.

If you didn't have the Kubota at your disposal I'd tell you the WH tiller is a great machine (and it is). But since you have it available I think you'll be much more satisfied with the results you'll get from a 3pt tiller.

Steve

[DMK855 15]

Ditto with Steve above!! I would put one behind the Kubota!! Now if you anly had the WH, yes a 36" tiller for it would be the hot ticket!!

As for the Disc, my step dad just bought a new disc from Tractor Supply for his Kubota and was able to get them down quite a bit on the price for the faded paint, chips, scratches, and for some minor surface rust spots!! Just a thought!!

[can whlvr 993]

im not going to say the wheelhorse tiller is near the machine the kobota is(im a huge kobota fan)but my tiller works great in decent soil,ive even tilled up lots of area that has never been mowed,unalone tilled and it worked great,i also have some pure red clay areas and the tiller only could till about an inch if that,so soil conditions would be a large consideration,but either will be way better than walk behinds.

[kpinnc 12,007]

I gotta go with the WH tiller here.

The soil here is red clay. Over the winter it becomes concrete, even where it was previously tilled. I use a moldboard plow to break the ground, and my tiller directly afterward. While I have tilled on the first pass at full depth, I prefer to break those sod chunks with the tiller down just enough to catch the clods. Then I lower the tiller full down and let it do it's job. I've also found that if you don't use the "spring assist" on the tiller, it won't bounce any. It's not a heavy implement like a snowblower, so it's not really hard to lift anyway.

I'm sure the larger tillers are enormously powerful machines, but don't be too quick to dismiss a Wheel Horse tiller. They are quite capable for their size. A compact tractor is built for larger tasks, and a Wheel Horse is a garden tractor. Using a compact tractor for a small garden is like clearing a clogged sink drain with dynamite- Sure it will do it, but it's a bit more than needed for the task at hand. I'll say this for certain: I can run circles around a rear-tine tiller, and not even spill my Mt. Dew. My tiller does all I need it to.

Kevin

[persof 14]

All,

If I see a WH tiller at Arentsville PA this June or on craigslist I will snag it and try it. A used WH tiller is far less than the $1700.00 or so bucks for a Land Pride product.

Thanks for your input

Francis

[HankB 16]

$1700.00 or so bucks for a Land Pride product....

Well... After pricing tires for my son's Cub Cadet compact, I shouldn't be surprised.

Some also has to do with your soil and what it needs. My sister is in the process of buying a farm with muck soil. She wants to put a couple acres into garden and I suggested a plow and disk rather than a tiller because I believe you can cover more ground with that combo. She told me that her research indicated she should be tilling the much rather than plowing and disking it.

Another thing to consider is what season you work the soil. If I turn our clay loam over in the fall, freeze/thaw cycles will tend to pulverize it over the winter. If I were to turn a big patch of sod into garden, I'd probably want to plow and disk it in the fall and till the following spring. I think you could buy a decent used tiller, single bottom plow (with coulter, if that's important) and disk for less than the cost of the tiller for the Kubota.

-hank

[bitten 134]

I would go with the Wheel Horse tiller for your garden. Once you have an established garden it works up real good. I have a 36" that I used for a new plot and it took some work to began with but after the first time it was a piece of cake. Now I have a 48" tiller for our D200 and it works great but if I would have had to pay $1700 for it or anything close to that cost the 36" would do just fine.

[persof 14]

Hank,

@ Tractor Supply a moldboard plow for my Kubota costs $499.00 and a disk costs $629.00 = $1128.00.

How much might a used WH tiller cost?

If I can get one for a couple of hundred bucks then I WILL try it first. I am searching craigs list all the time and have yet to find anything at any price.

Thanks

Francis

[HankB 16]

Hank,

@ Tractor Supply a moldboard plow for my Kubota costs $499.00 and a disk costs $629.00 = $1128.00.

I'm not sure if WH ever made that kind of plow. I have heard of Brinly attachments. Home Depot sells them. Go to their site and search for brinly. I see a disk for $189 and 10" plow for $249. I think either of these would also require a clevis hitch (or sleeve hitch?) Just search CL for Brinly or Brinley or any other way you can think that someone would misspell it. (Using http://www.searchtempest.com/ I see a plow listed in Paradise.)

How much might a used WH tiller cost?

If I can get one for a couple of hundred bucks then I WILL try it first. I am searching craigs list all the time and have yet to find anything at any price.

I paid $250 for a tiller and wound up spending about another $100 for belts and an adapter kit (to use an older tiller with a newer tractor.) For that much I could have got a newer tiller with all of that stuff that I passed on ebay.

[can whlvr 993]

i paid around 300 bucks for mine and they are rare in my neck of the woods,so keep looking u will find one.

[WheelHorse_of_course 99]

I think either would be acceptable. The real question is how big you might make that plot a few years down the road. If you were to say quadruple the size of that plot you would start wishing you had the bigger tiller.

Good Luck and keep us posted!

:omg:

[sawhorse 0]

I think I would go with the land pride tiller on the kubota. Then I would use the wheel horse and brinly cultivator to cultivate row crops. You just drive the horse in the tilled soil to mark your rows. Then plant your crop in the center between the tire marks. When the corn (or whatever you grow) comes up, just drive down the same tire marks with the horse and cultivator over the crop. This will prevent lots of hand weeding.

[persof 14]

I am new to this stuff, what's a coulter?

Thanks

Francis

[HankB 16]

I am new to this stuff, what's a coulter?

I learned a new word so I never pass up a chance to use it!

According to http://www.brinly.com/gardening-equipment/plows/PP-51BH.html

"A rolling Coulter Blade cuts through the sod; the Plow digs the furrow; while the moldboard gently turns under old vegetation to make way for new planting."

(There's a picture at that link.)

[persof 14]

A Wheel Horse 36" tiller is now available and I want to know how much does this thing weigh?

If it is 36" wide then how long is it front to back?

I looked at the tiller owner's guide and it seems to say that you have to remove the draw bar to install the tiller. The rod that attaches the draw bar assy to the transmission case seems rusted in place. Is this a show stopper?

Thanks

Francis

any pictures you have will be greatly appreciated

[HankB 16]

A Wheel Horse 36" tiller is now available and I want to know how much does this thing weigh?

I have a 7-1252 tiller.

I can handle mine alone and I'm not Mr. Atlas. It is easy to handle with two people.

If it is 36" wide then how long is it front to back?

It measures about 35" front to back. It just fit in the back of my Matrix (Toyota Corolla hatchback) when I picked it up.

I looked at the tiller owner's guide and it seems to say that you have to remove the draw bar to install the tiller. The rod that attaches the draw bar assy to the transmission case seems rusted in place. Is this a show stopper?

I didn't try to attach the tiller with the draw bar in place, but I cannot imagine Wheel Horse saying that if it wasn't required. I understand that a seized draw bar hitch is not all that uncommon. I've seen threads on this and you do need to be careful to avoid breaking the transmission casting when you free it.

any pictures you have will be greatly appreciated

Try to see if it has all of the bits you need to make it work. There is the tensioner/idler that attaches under the engine an of course the belt. Depending on the tractor, you may require additional parts. I had to buy an adapter kit for the tiller that included a plate that mounts on the tiller as well as a rock she that goes under the seat. In addition, I needed a guide tube that goes between that rock shaft and the lever driven by the hydraulic cylinder. And the lift cable that goes in the guide tube. And a spring for the tensioner. And the rear axle bracket that can be shared with a dozer blade. So I spent more than an additional $120US or so to get it all working.