DIY Tillers
Contents
Overview
Tillers (aka: Rototillers) are a great tool for turning over soil. A few reasons for turning over soil include:
- Preparing for a new lawn
- Preparing for a garden
- Loosening up the ground so it can be excavated by hand easier
- Keep the weeds down
Tiller Options
We carry five different tiller options: (availability varies by location)
The Stihl Yard Boss is a light duty cultivator for existing garden beds. It is not suitable for extremely hard soils. It is really light and designed to turn the soil to get ready for planting your garden.
Our most popular tiller is the 5hp "mid tine" tiller. This tiller is small enough for most people to handle yet heavy duty enough to take on hard ground. But why work so hard…if you water the area you want to till really well a couple of days before it will make the job a lot easier and the ground will till into a much finer consistency. It takes two to unload from a vehicle. A pick up or SUV is best.
Honda FR800 8 HP Tiller. For many, this tiller is "just right." You get the advantages of the rear tine tiller with the smaller size of our mid tine tiller. Great for many applications…lawns, gardens and more. Although if your ground is super hard, we recommend the Barreto. This unit requires a pick-up truck or trailer to get home.
The Barreto "rear tine" tiller is a great machine for many applications. Any area that is 20’ x 20’ or larger is suitable for the Barreto. Having a box over the tines traps bigger clogs of dirt and helps pulverize them into a finer consistency. This is an excellent option when preparing for a lawn. You will need a trailer hitch to haul it home – our trailer or yours. Or we can deliver.
The largest tiller option is the Kubota Tractor with the tiller attachment. This is for much larger areas. Do not expect it to till under weeds taller than about 2’…we have a mower attachment for this tractor for getting the weeds down first. You will need a large truck with a frame mounted hitch to tow this one home…or we can deliver it to your job!
Tips & Tricks
- You do not want the ground to be very hard when you till. If you cannot sink a shovel into the ground with relative ease you should soak the area real good in the evening a couple of day before the job. You also do not want it muddy so avoid doing it right before.
- Tillers are not intended to get rid of weeds. Weeds taller than 12" will really wrap up around the tines and make the tiller less effective. We carry weedeaters or weed mowers for that job.
- If there is an existing (but dead) lawn where you intend to till and prepare for a new lawn you should remove the dead lawn with a sod cutter prior to tilling. If you just till under the old lawn you will end up with clumps everywhere…plus you will still have all the weeds from the old lawn which will grow right back up through the new lawn.
- Wear gloves!
- Clean off any excess dirt, mud or debris wrapped around the tines before returning.
Rental Information & Instructions
Click below to access the available rental options for your nearest location in our equipment catalog. You can find equipment instruction sheets under each product’s detailed listing or click HERE for an alphabetical listing of all instruction sheets.
