Well I am not sure about the electric but I have sure done my share of tilling this year. How much area do you have to do? and has it been tilled before or is it going to be the first time for the particular area?

Dale

I can't answer about an electric tiller but let me say this...unless you have a huge garden that you just can't maintain without tilling, then I say don't till...My beds are boxes but before that just rows of dirt raked to make them raised. I do not walk on them or step in them and I will tell you this, If the beds were damp, I could lean my weight on my hand and sink 5 inches...The tilth of my beds is really nice...and I do eveything by hand...I work in compost and goodies with a little had held tool and a hand held pick...and all my little garden worms appreciate it...

As a general rule, electric power tools don't have enough torque for "serious" work, and I would think that if you really need to till (heavy clay, hard pan etc.) you'd be best to go with a gas model.

But I've never used an electric one, so I'm just speculating. I do know that trying to cut an overgrown lawn with an electric mower is impossible while a gas mower makes easy work of it. And the same principles apply to drills, chain saws, etc.

As much as I prefer the environmentally friendly solution, the reality is that if an electric model will do, you should probably just do it by hand. But if you really need a power tool, then you should probably go for gas.

Cheers,

Tim

I definitely agree that it's better to err on the side of more power. Bigger is better for tillers.

{{gwi:24457}}

well, I have a fairly large area maybe 10X15........its never been done before.

so maybe electic isnt the way to go then. I dont want something that is too small and cant do the job.

Do you have a rental center where you could rent a tiller? 10x15 isn't that large an area. Also, while some people like to till each year, if you make the first tilling really thorough and once the soil is worked up till again to work in a ton of organic matter (compost, manure, leaves, peat whatever) AND you make growing areas with pathways so you never step on the growing area I think you will find the soil remains workable enough from year to year that you can work it with hand tools.

I started a ground garden and purchased a gas tiller and was glad I did, but once the garden was done I found getting out the tiller and cleaning it up before putting it away more work than just working up the soil with a shovel and adding a little more OM each spring.

If you need a tiller DON'T BUY ONE. Go down and rent one. Once you have gone over the area two or three or five times to break it up well you will be able to do it by hand with ease

Just my 2 cents worth

1eyedJack and the Dawg

I agree with the others..rent one..till it really good and then stay off of the rows and it won't ever have to be tilled again.

Thank you everyone for y our opinions......it was very helpful.

For a smallish area, you don't even have to rent. Ask a neighbor if they would be willing to do it, and how much they would want for it. Some will trade for cookies or a cheesecake. Seniors with all the toys love to be needed (and love to justify their toys).

Otherwise, if you have one of those local Nifty Nickel type classified papers, there are people who will do it for you for a reasonable fee.

If you have a reasonable amount of organic matter growing or already in the topsoil, all you need really tilled is the top seven inches or so. Some guys (sorry, Guys, but it's always guys) are depth-crazy. They insist on tilling a foot deep, and you lose a lot of organic material by tilling it that deep. Soil microbes (who break down the organic matter (OM) only work to a depth of 6.5" or so. Any organic matter that is churned deeper than that is really being wasted.

Note: I had a neighbor once in OR who had a touch of brilliance. She had a half-acre field that she wanted to plant to crops, that was currently in grass (real lawn grass, not wild pasture grass). She hired a guy to rototill, and asked him to till a series of 3-ft wide beds, separated by 3-ft wide strips of grass. She practically had to stand over the guy with a club in her hand, but she did get him to do it her way. It was WONDERFUL! Mud-free walkways of grass!

Sue

if your soil is like mine, you will forever need a tiller. my rows have not been walked on at all, but they were just as hard packed as the pathways this weekend. we have high clay content here, and after it soaked all winter it formed a nice layer of cement!

if your soil is like this, you will want to amend it with sand for long term benifits. you can use compost/organic materials, but they must be replaced every year. adding sand at a 50% mix will give long term benefits for soil with LOTS of clay. the local Master Gardeners here tell everyone to till up 6" deep, then add 6" of sand on top and till the full 12". then add your organics to teh top and till that in if necessary. by doing it this way you turn the clay into a sandy loam and it is much easier to work from then on out. if you just till in the organics you have to do it pretty all over much every year, instead of just adding some back in to get the nutrients up. i would do mine, but it is cost prohibitive for me right now, the garden is 100x100 so i deal with what i have.

for a 10x15 area i would rent/borrow a tiller and bust it up good. it will take several passes over it from different angles, but you should be able to do it in a couple hours max. if your soil drains good, just add in teh organics and till one final time. then form up your rows and get busy enjoying the garden! you can work a small garden WITH LOOSE SOIL with an electric tiller, but the initial busting up will take soemthing bigger and may be required at the start of each year.

i think that a garden tiller is a very important item to have in your gardening collection i myself have a BCS 732 with a 26" tiller box attached to it i bought this new and i am very happy that i had now anytime i want to till i can , plus i have been tilling peoples gardens for them at 25 bucks a garden so it is starting to put some money back into my pocket will it pay for its self ? doubtful but i would not have a garden and have to rent one to till my garden heck around here it is 75 dollars a day to rent one so i just bought me a good one and wont have to worry about renting one or anything else i love my tiller.. just my 2 cents

If you do decide to purchase a tiller. Make sure you compare models. I borrowed my neighbors Troy-Built standard rotation. You had tpo be really physical with that thing. The standard rotation tines would hit a root or rock and literially throw the tiller and you forward. Im 6-5 250 lbs and it pulled me over several times. Then I helped a friend of mine with some beds and used a counter rotating tiller. What a dream. The worst that happend is the wheels loose grip and the tiller digs a little deeper. Lift up on the handle and away it would go.

Needless to say I bought a counter rotating tine tiller this winter. It is really a pleasure to use compared to a standard rotation. But this is all applicable to walk behind models.

I rented a tiller at the hardware store for $60 for a 24 hour period, a few of my friends needed it too, so we split the time and split the cost. After hours and hours of tilling with a shovel in the years past, we will be renting or purchasing our own tiller in the future. It worked great and was so much faster. Just don't let the sales people at the hardware store tell you you need a big tiller, the smallest one did the trick for us.

Here is a link that might be useful: backyard farming

for 4 years i have worked a 100x100 garden with a 14" tiller. the previous owner of my house worked a FULL 2 ACRES with a similar sized one. i now have a 24" lawn tractor mounted one.

for a small 10x15 you won't need a large tiller. a 14" is plenty big enough. base your purchase on how long you want to spend tilling AND how easy it is to operate and turn. i use my 14" tiller in my wife's flower beds each spring, and we have a hard time in some areas due to manueverability! i am going to get the tiller attachment for my weedeater to work the beds with from now on, beds are roughly 4'x 75' total with several shrubs as well as flowers.

For a 10' x 15' area, tilling isn't worth it. In fact, Tilling is very bad for the soil structure. I would just do raised bed and use the lasagna method. Pile on the cardboard, newspaper, and clippings, the purchase a potting mix to fill in the bed, do not use regualr soil.

The outcome will be worth it. It is what I did last year and the results were astounding. I also used composite decking for the sides. No signs of warping and I will never have to repalce them, they don't rot.

Good luck!

Thank you everyone for your opinions and advice....it was all very helpful to us.

I have two tillers and I wouldn't want to be without either of them!!! I have a 22" 9hp rear tine craftsman for a 30x60 garden and a Mantis tiller for raised bed veggie plots and other odds and ends. I find each one invaluable for breaking up the soil after a long winter, loosening up rocks to remove them and for digging in compost and organic matter before planting for the year. With the larger tiller, I use it to loosen the soil between potato beds for hilling them up as they grow--it makes growing spuds a lot easier than it used to be. I can also say that my potato garden soil is soo loose and friable from the tilling and the addition of organic matters that I can gently dig my hand into the soil by mid august and harvest some early potatoes without having to pull the entire stalk. The mantis tillerloosens the soil so well in the raised beds that I get beautiful big, straight carrots. Nothing tastes better than your own home grown fresh produce and these two machines make the job a whole lot easier!

I bought a small 4-blade Honda brand gas tiller and my garden is 25'x25' more or less. It's small, easy to handle and was under $400. I've used it extensively and for long periods of time and I love it. Me being a women the easy handling of it is great!

I agree with the others about electric tillers, don't think they would hold up in heavy ground or long periods of use.