Hello all!
I am in need of an advice especially from those gardeners who live on acreage or have a large garden. I am moving into a house with nearly 2 acres of land in Princeton TX. About an acre of it will be taken up by a garden (yay!!). Of course the land as it is now - weeds, no sod, no trees. There is some sod by the house but that's it (which is perfect for me).
On top of all the expenses incurred after moving into that house I also would like to buy a tiller to start my flowerbeds and veggie garden. I have a lot of plants at the current house which I will dig up and move to the new one. So I need to prepare my beds quickly - it's almost April and I will not be able to keep my plants bareroot for long - many of them are large so they won't fit into pots. There is no way I can work the soil by hand, which I did in my current garden but it is really small - 4-5 flowerbeds only. But I do have lots of plants packed in there simply because I just could not stop buying plants and starting seeds last year...
I did my research about tillers and understand that I need one that goes at least 8 inches deep to cultivate the soil - lift the weeds and amend the existing soil with compost. I looked at Lowes and HomeDepot and they have $199 tillers which look okay to me. But from what I read - people say that for property this size I may need a larger/more powerful tiller and those go for $400 and up... I have been gardening for a few years now but have not been very familiar with power equipment simply because I did not know I could use it for my small garden...Now things are changing...I am moving in the beginning of April. Have many expenses to get that house to the livable condition, like new fencing, appliances, paint, some furniture to sit on or sleep on - at least.
I was thinking of ordering compost to be delivered by HomeDepot Landscaper's Supply if it's not too expensive... or loading up my car and dragging it bag by bag onto the property myself (that would be a funny sight for my new neigbours..he-hee) - but I still need the tiller to mix everything up...But which one? What's better - an electric or gas powered? Is it worth spending the money on a brand name or a cheaper one will also do the job? I tried searching for used ones but they are also expensive..And I only have $200 to spend, comfortably. Is it worth renting one from HomeDepot or should I not bother and just buy one?
If anyone could help me with a suggestion - I would really appreciate it! Anything I need to know about tillers and working bare soil on a large property will be very helpful!
Thank you all very much,
Lenka.
Need advice on tillers, which ones are good for clay soil...
I would recommend the self propelled Troybuilt tiller with the rear tines, it does a wonderful job, but it may be more expensive than you want right now, maybe you could finance it, I am sure it is more than $200, but with the large space you plant to garden it would be worth it.
We had one years ago, but I sold it when we switched to raised beds and intensive planting.
I think Lowes sells them.
Josephine.
Thank you! I will check the Lowes nearby - maybe I get approved for their credit then I'll be able to finance it :). Would you say the tiller with rear tines is more powerful than the one with front tines?
I don't know about being more powerful, they may be equal, but the big advantage is that it doesn't get away from you and the wheels don't roll over the tilled soil and compact it again.
It does a great job.
I bought a Troy built self powered one . It was 650.00 but I can handle and I am 65. We start with the tractor first tilling...then, I use mine to make the soil ready for planting...then I use it in between rows for weeding.
Nothing but the Troy built used in these beds. Look what I did yesterday with it....just the top 3 or 4".....now I will go back and get deeper and deeper as I amend the soil. I bought mine locally at the John Deere dealership.....
this is the machine....
I have moved out here in the last year.....have just been gardening down in the veggie garden, but am ready to start around the house now....2 more beds.....me and my Troy built!!!
Well, that is a wonderful report on Troybuilt!!! Congratulations.
We have the 10 horsepower shredder and we love it too.
Lenka ~ the rear tine tillers are definitely more managealbe. I have a TB 5 HP, it is small by most of these gardeners standards but I can easily start and use it. Regardless of size, make it a rear tine. I would love the roto tiller that would fit behind our tractor but the price is hard to justify.
Thank you all for wonderful feedback! At least now I have some understanding of things to look for. I heard about Troybuilt brand and it being great, but the price killed me on the spot. I was also concerned about the tiller being manageable, since I am on smaller scale :) - I am 5'3" and kind of skinny so imagine me with a monster machine trying to get it going and work the soil - would probably be hillarious - my new neighbours are sure to get a good laugh as we all have see-through fences!
But it seems they are more manageable than I expected. Bettygail - the land at my new property looks just like in your picture! It's good to know I could just till it along with weeds and not having to pull them or anything like that. This is definitely worth the money as I am not even going to start to talk about how long it took me last summer to work clay soil by hand with a smalll shovel, thrower and hand cultivator to mix it up with compost... My arthritis kicked in - I actually had to put the heat medication on my hands at night . I did have problems with my bones since I was a teen and now it starts making it's presence known more and more, especially after a day in the garden.
I would take out large chunks of clay which were hard as a rock and I would just throw them away since I had no means of breaking them up.
Went to Home Depot over the weekend and saw Yard Machines with a Honda engine, front tines and another one by YM with back tines ($500). But the tines seem so large and the distance between them is large so I am thinking it will leave large chuncks behind. I am not expecting that a tiller would break up clay into fine sand, of course, but something that would leave manageable chuncks of soil behind. There is Ryobi that you have to add Sand to and it's priced reasonably at $199. But I read the reviews on it and people say it's a toy to play with for a little while but if you want a good tiller to not go with it....
Whew! This is so much more that I thought it would be....This is what happens when you have so many choices..
Lenka I am a smaller person and can operate the rear tine Troybilt one handed. Mine is the Tuffy model ~ 3 hp. So it is smaller too. The key to it is not to let it dig too deeply. Make many shallow passes setting the depth level lower as you go. You also do not want to turn the soil when it is too wet as it will chunk up and is almost impossible to break the clay chunks up.
I have never used a front tine tiller but DH (who isn't physically able to do much along these lines) said absolutely not. He would not hear of me buying a front tine because they are physically demanding to use. I was fortunate to have found mine used in good condition at a bargain. If and when you get yours, run it out of gas when you are finished or use a fuel stabilizer to keep the fuel from gunking up the fuel system. That is the only problem I have encountered. Even after if sits for a season, it is easy for me to crank. I think Lowes was running the model at a reasonable price a year or two ago. It is hard to justify paying a lot for a tiller but get what you can use. If you buy the wrong one, you will only spend more... pod
Lenka,
I saw that TroyBilt at Tractor Supply in Greenville, Tx. for $599. I think they also have some type of deferred payment and if you have "farm-exempt", then you don't have to pay tax on it.
I bought mine 2 years ago at Lowe's for $799. You can also check Tractor Supply's website or call the store and ask for price check on that item. Hope this helps.
I have an electric mantis. It did what I needed when I first moved here. Now it just sits in the shed. *giggle
Thanks podster! Very useful tips. I have been gardening for a while but have never turned to tillers! Where have I been all this time? And I've been complaining of how much work it takes to prep a flowerbed - take the sod out and amend clay soil by hand...It would take me a few days or entire weekend, depending on size of the flowerbed. A lady from work who lives in Westminster TX and has 11 acres of land suggested why don't I just get a tiller when we started talk gardening and I can work up some muscles as well so I will combine two activities at a time...
sitabrothers, thanks for a tip - someone at work suggested that place as well. I am about 40 min away from Grapevine but will check the store website and if there is one closer to me - I'll stop by there. And if I can't find what I need - I can take a drive to Grapevine store. I am used to driving for 30 min somewhere :).
renatelynn, I am actually thinking of getting a front tine tiller if I won't find affordable rear tine. And I saw Mantis ad in a magazine. It seems like a very fragile machine comparing to other tillers I saw at Lowes and HomeDepot. What's the catch there? They advertise it as if it's also paying your bills for you and etc.... LOL. But I am thinking $299 seems acceptable, but if I have to buy all the different attachments to get what I need done, then it can climb up to 400 if not more - which is the price of ok front tine tiller or a [very] cheap rear tine. What kind of work were you doing with Mantis? Did it work on clay soil? What about the size of flowerbeds - can it handle larger spaces, not an acre at a time of course, but just a large or average size bed?
And I saw some electric tillers too but for some reason I hesitate to drag a cord all the way through my garden and it feels it won't be as powerful, even though it's probably more environment-friendly... It's just a tiller it seems...but such a headache.
This is what happens to people who have too many choices ...:)
I got a big tiller from Home Lowes with counter rotating tines and rear tyne so it propells itself instead of you. WePaid $700 something for the troybuilt one but it is the bomb for caleche soil as I have it too . I have 5/8 of an acre and it gets down, it even chewd onto a brick and some other crap and it still works great.