A couple of folks mentioned using a hiller plow on a different thread. I've been raking up beds by hand, but due to my health I can't do much at a time. After the discussion of how great hillers/furrowers work, I figured that would be a fantastic way to help me get the gardening work done more easily. I ordered one from E-Bay and it just arrived.
So, now, the question. I would like to make hilled rows about 48" on center with raised rows that are about 18-24" wide. The wings on the plow are adjustable from about 25" to 22" if left flat. If tilted up (for furrowing?) the width goes down to about 19". The plow, without wings, is 10" wide. How should I set the wings and how far apart should I plow to get the rows I want? I'm sure that I will have to make some trial and effort adjustments, but it would be great to start with the benefit of others' experience. Are there any other tips to using a hiller that you can share?
Edited for an extra question: Does the hiller work better if the soil is freshly tilled, or can it be used on soil that is well-tilled, but has been rained on a time or two, with a bit of crust?
Thanks in advance!
David
This message was edited Mar 5, 2012 11:48 AM
Using Hiller/Furrower
Fresh tilled is best but it's ok to run through crusty stuff.
David, I am not exactly clear on this "I would like to make hilled rows about 48" on center with raised rows that are about 18-24" wide."
I am a first time user of this tool myself, so I am not the person to give advice. I will say however the distance between the center of the rows is determined by the distance between the center of your furrows, if that makes sense. Also because the tool uses a small plow point the furrow is not very wide. The furrows I made were deeper and narrower than the ones I used to make with a sq pt shovel. This is a small price to pay for no back pain. These narrow furrows will be good for flooding when it comes time to water.
TRock,
Thanks. Even if it's your first year using it, you've already used it infinitely more than I have.
What I had hoped is that the furrower wings would push dirt off to the side in a mound like I get when I rake. The way I make rows now is to first measure the distance between the desired center of a row. Then I rake all the loose soil toward the center from one side of the row, then rake the soil from the other side to the center. That leaves a fairly tall mound which I rake flat into a raised row that is 12"-18" wide on the top, depending on what I'm planting. Maybe if I adjust the wings to be angled like the plow point they will push the dirt the way I want them to.
I still have to do some work with the mount for my tiller. There is a hole in the bracket in front of the drag stake, but I am going to have to drill it out to make the hole large enough for the pin. Hopefully it's in the right place! It absolutely didn't work when I tried to hang the hiller from the drag stake.
David
Once I got the hole enlarged for the pin I had pretty good luck with the hiller. I'm still not sure how to get rows as far apart as I'd like, but I did figure out how to get the wider hills I wanted. I set the wings with the same angle as the plow point. By running the plow back along the ridge thrown up on the first pass I created the hills that I'm used to using. I pulled a rake down the top one time to level and smooth. That creates raised rows like the one in the first picture below.
To make the wider row, I just moved over about 8 inches from the first ridge. That pushed up a second ridge with a foot or so from the first. When I raked that down a little, I had a relatively smooth raised row about 18" wide. That row is visible in the second image below.
The third picture is a shot of the rows I did this morning, in less than 30 minutes, with the hiller. I wouldn't have been able to do more than half of that without being completely exhausted. It was necessary to push the tiller a little, because the wheels didn't have enough traction to pull the full weight of the plow and dirt. I might be able to add chains to the tires, or add weight to the front of the tiller to improve the traction. It wasn't too hard to keep the rows fairly straight, either. Since I had to push a little, the tiller didn't go anywhere that I didn't steer it.
Finally, the fourth picture is the hiller.trencher itself. I have the wings "up", which seemed to do a good job making hills. I think that to make the rows further apart, without making the hills wider, I would have to have longer wings. I may explore that, since the wider hills I made today are only about 36 inches apart. That is closer than I like for my tomato plants.
David
That is very interesting as I also hill by hand. I don't mind but my back sure does, so it would be cool to pick up that attachment if I see one. So please forgive my ignorance. It looks as if this attaches to you tiller. Am I correct?
I don't mean to butt in, this just looks like a cool thing to know about.
Terri,
Feel free to jump in at any time. Yes, it attaches to the back of my rear-tine tiller. Apparently, they can be had for Troy-Bilt, MTD, and possibly other tillers. The key to using the one I have is that there is a hole for a bolt/pin forward of the drag stake on the frame. I had to remove the drag stake on my tiller (and drill the hole out a little) to fit the hiller/furrower. I ordered mine last week from an E-Bay seller. The work that it has already done is worth the $70 price (incl shipping) that I paid. Search on E-Bay for "Hiller" and you'll get several different possibilities
The picture below is part of a manual page from online. It shows how the plow connects to the tiller. Also, Texasrockgarden was able to make a modification somehow that allows him to use one of these on a different brand tiller. He may post of picture of his adapter.
After only using it one day, I already love it!
David
Why thank you very much for the prompt post! That does look very cool!
Are either one of you "for hire"?
Lisa,
Do you have a rear-tine tiller? Does it have a hole in the plate in front of the drag stake? I'd be happy to loan the hiller to you for a few days. I can barely do my own gardening, though, so I doubt that I could do any for hire. : ) Maybe TRock has a stronger constitution than I do! : )
David
I was joking but Thank you so much. I do lasagna gardening so I very rarely till anything, but the turned soil is beautiful. I was given 6 bags of cotton burr compost tho, and Im wondering if I should till that in or if I can lay a thin layer on top.
Yes, I do have a tiller...but thats all I know about it oh its red. lol