Tiller attachment worth it for small garden?

[rwmastel 47]

The house we are moving into next month has about a 1/2 acre lawn (just a bit much for a push mower).  Never had a large lawn so I never had a riding mower or garden tractor before.  I bought a 1999 314-8 w/ 48" SD mowing deck from a co-worker for the lawn.  The wife wants to try gardening, which is another new thing for us.  Is it worth getting a 79370 tiller attachment for a small vegetable garden?  Small is defined as 10' x 10' to start with this year.  If the garden is successful and she maintains the enthusiasm, I'm assume the area could double or triple next year.  Advice?

[lynnmor 7,557]

10 x 10 is very small.  If you use the tractor tiller to work the ground between rows, you would have little productive space.

 

A small, cheap walk behind is what you want.  They usually can be narrowed by removing the outboard tines, allowing them to be used as a worker between rows.

 

If the hobby grows or you want to do major ground work, then the WH tiller might be in order.

[Digger 66 3,488]

24 minutes ago, rwmastel said:

I bought a 1999 314-8 w/ 48" SD mowing deck from a co-worker for the lawn.

 

For a 1/2 acre lawn ????

 

THAT'S

 

A W E S O M E     

 

[Jerry77 1,218]

48 minutes ago, rwmastel said:

Small is defined as 10' x 10' to start with this year

I maintained a 1/4 acre garden for years with a walk behind 5 hp tiller --handy because you could do almost all of the cultivating with it..would have been nice to turn it with a big tiller, but it worked ok....when I moved to a smaller garden such as the one you are going to have I bought a Mantis tiller - makes a lettuce bed out of the soil, but wouldn't be good for an area much over 20 feet by 10 feet because it turns a very narrow path - great for cultivating tho....have fun 

[Ed Kennell 40,464]

May be a Mad Max with some of the tines removed?

[pfrederi 18,324]

I have a WH tiller on a C81 and also a 1970s vintage Troybilt rear tine tiller. The Troybilt does a much better job and is more than enough for a small garden.  Also if you have to fence in your garden (as I do) the WH is too ungainly and requires too much space to maneuver.  After a couple of years the garden may grow...or it may shrink (they are a lot of work).   I would just rent a tiller for a day each year.

[Sarge 3,464]

I had a 50'x110' garden for several years and finally had to give it up - just took too much of my time . A large tiller would have helped but if you plan to do potatoes or something like that they can turn the soil a bit too fine . My Mantis was by far the best investment - nice to just go down around plants and chew up any weeds starting and they do an amazing job . Wife says if we ever do it again it will be a raised bed small plot and I agree - avoids all the weeds started from blowing grass and seeds when mowing .

A good heavy tiller though is seat time and if there are neighbors doing gardens can turn into a few bucks to help pay for the tiller....just saying .

Sarge

[rwmastel 47]

Great advice everyone!  I guess I need to get me and the wife signed up for some gardening forums.

 

Fence!  I forgot about needing a fence.  We have lots of woods to our north and a corn field to our south, so we have deer, wild turkey, rabbits, and lord knows what else.  So, yes, we will probably need a fence.  That alone means I should get a hand-operated tiller.

 

Renting!  I did mention that the wife might lose interest, so it make sense to rent (or borrow!) a tiller this spring to create the garden area.

 

Operating!  I assumed I would be tilling the whole garden area twice a year.  In early spring to make planting easy and in early winter to add in some compost.  Why till between plant rows during the summer?

 

Sarge - We thought about raised beds, but have heard they demand LOTS of water.

 

Digger 66 - Below are some pics of it in it's old home (in my introduction to the forum).  I figured if 1/2 acre was too much for a push mower, so might as well get a riding mower / garden tractor that will get the job done fast.  Also, I plan to  use it for other things:

- a spreader for grass health (seed, fertilizer, herbicide)

- a leaf sweeper or broom (?) that flips the leaves up into a large bag

- a trailer to haul things

 

We have a 1/2 acre lawn and 1 acre of woods.  Nice relaxing property to enjoy, but wanted one piece of equipment to help me do that!

 

Edited December 2, 2016 by rwmastel

[Sarge 3,464]

Yes , raised beds take a huge amount of water unless you mix in peat and other materials to hold moisture , it's still a good idea to build in some sort of irrigation lines to feed it occasionally . I have heard of some lining the bottom with plastic or pond liner to help keep the drainage limited , maybe an option .

Critters and weeds are your two biggest issues , it also is very dependent upon what you want to grow so everything must be considered . Forums are a great resource to learn about obstacles and ways to solve them .

 

I miss my garden ,but don't miss keeping the weeds at bay and tending 36+ tomato plants nor the 380lbs of potatoes from that last season ....

 

Sarge