Mini Tillers Buying Guide

 

Overview

Mini tiller is an important agricultural tool for farming on a small scale or home gardening. It uses metal blades to dig the ground and prepare it for farming. For the same purpose cultivator also comes into picture as both tools have quite similar functionality. Choosing between a cultivator and a tiller can come with a choice of option you want to dig in. A cultivator is useful for slackening the dirt in a current planting zone, weeding the territory and blending manure into the soil. Cultivators are in lesser demand in comparison to tillers. A tiller is a fuel drive machine with a greater working width than that of a cultivator. Tillers are more powerful than cultivators and have larger, heavy-duty tines that work the soil.

 

Variants of different tillers available in the market

 

There are many types of tillers available in the market for varying uses:

1. Front-line tillers

These can be used for garden maintenance and related tasks as soil preparation, weeding and composting in small-to-medium-sized gardens. These mini tillers help move the machine while digging into the soil. Some have the option to engage the tines in forward or reverse direction. Front line tiller typically has a forward rotating blade situated on the front end of the machine with the engine mounted above it. Rear-wheel makes it easier to push the machine forward.

When operating, manual power is required to tip the blades into the soil to operate the machine and to hold back on the machine to control tilling depth. The untilled ground is more difficult to till with a front tine model as blades tend to slip over the ground instead of penetrating it. It’s also difficult to handle rocky soil because of hard obstacles that jerk the machine making total strength important to handle.

2) Rear-tine tillers

These machines are best for larger plantation areas due to the engine-driven wheels. They can have forward-rotating blades that perform well in existing beds for cultivating, weeding and working in compost or, at the end of the season, old vegetation. Rear-tine tillers can also have counter-rotating blades that turn in the reverse direction of the wheels. Counter-rotating tines have more torque for breaking up new ground and can dig deeper into the soil.

Rear-line Tillers have a large engine and are generally a bit complicated for the starters and also cost more than their counterparts. Drive wheels only allow the machine to be propelled forward at a set speed, regardless of the forward action of the rear tines. The drive wheels of the Rear-tine Tillers has the ability to actually hold the machine for the lines to dig the soil to the desired depth, which makes it easier to control the tilling depth and making the machine fairly easy to steer.

The break in the forward motion does not hamper the tilling procedure; you can start, stop, speed up and slow down all independent of the tilling action. 

The rear tined tiller requires large storage space and is the heaviest and most powerful tiller, and consequently the most expensive among all. They are easier to use, especially with rocks or large roots involved, but they are not quite as maneuverable as the front tine tiller and may be difficult to get into some tight corners. It gives you better control in general over the tilling depth as well as allow for straighter lines. This type of tiller is a must-have for hard rocky soils, and also for large garden plots.

 

Apart from the type of tiller there is need to focus on some factors before buying a tiller.

 

1 )Type of Soil is one of the main criteria to look while buying a tiller. If soil is rocky or extremely hard, the bigger tiller will be more suited even if a garden is small. Mini-tillers won’t be able to work the soil properly as it will often skip the surface instead of digging it. Ploughing is recommended before using a mini-tiller in case of hard or rocky soil.

 

2) Farm size – Another important criterion you should consider is the size of the farm or garden. For a small garden (less than 1500 square feet), you can buy a mini-tiller. For the medium-sized garden, a tiller with 5 or 6 HP. Tiller above 6HP is recommended for the large garden of more than 5000 square feet. 

 

3) Engine type – 2-stroke engines, typically available on cultivators, operate on a petrol/oil mixture whereas 4-cycle engines eliminate the need for mixing oil and gas.

 

4) Maximum tilling depth and width help you match the capabilities of the machine to your planting needs also improving the efficiency.