Merry tillers

[Grumpy Git]

Does anyone rate Merry Tillers or any of their rivals ???  If so which one does a good job.

Cheers

[Grumpy Git]

[growmore]

I have a wolsey wizard similar to mery tiller and a husqvana...Which ever you gets make sure there is a reverse on it .Makes usuing a rotavator a lot easier asin manouvering it about ..wouldnt be without mine I does 3 lotties ,coldnt manage em if i was only using spade ...cheers Jim

[Merry Tiller]

Guess what I have????????

I rate it very highly, it's not just a worm chopper, I have a range of tools to fit

[tim]

Point taken!!

I also have a Wolesley (Major). Great. No reverse ( much more expensive).  But yes - nice. But I have always coped without.

[weedin project]

Any rotovator will save years of backache........ 8)  
BUT, you do need to dig the bindweed and other pernicious weeds out first or else you will chop the roots into bite-sized cuttings ready to cover the whole plot! :'(

If you can possibly face doing it, hand dig the plot first, then forever after you should be OK.

[osprey480]

I have a honda FG200. I have had this for 4 years now and it has saved me so much work. It is a bit heavier than the tiller but can be picked up no problem. I always dig over then plant wide enough to get honda between rows, I run between every now and then to get rid of weeds and to loosen soil. It breaks down dug ground a treat. Several people on allotment have tried it and now brought same one.

[growmore]

As I have said before I found the best way to clear a new overgrown lottie  especially one with plenty of growth on is to give it a good spraying with a glyphosphate herbicide(I use round up) leave it till it has done its job ,then rotovate the plot .. I hate carpets for weed supression they are a real pain to get rid of once they start rotting ,weigh a ton when wet .As to rotavators being worm  choppers if used correctly they turn soil over. Its the full rev's merchants who chop the worms up and finish up with soil like flour
The husqvana is a biggish machine which will take 8 tines but the reason i suggested reverse is that if it is running with just 2 tines on and plant guards it will work up and down a foot wide row  without the need to turn it round at the  other end of the row..Making weeding betwen crops  a breeze... Cheers jim...

[Merry Tiller]

Its the full rev's merchants who chop the worms up and finish up with soil like flour

You don't have a clay soil I take it, soil like flour indeed, ha :D

I find inter row cultivating a bad idea, too much root damage.

[growmore]

I take it then you dont have plant guards on your merry tiller which keep tines 6 inch away from crops ..Chers Jim...

[Roy Bham UK]

Its the full rev's merchants who chop the worms up and finish up with soil like flour

My Honda Tiller as Tim pointed out and is quoted in the manual should be run at full throttle, if not, it may damage the motor and make void the guarantee :o should this not apply to all tillers? or are they being over protective?

[telboy]

Read, with interest the above comments.
I have a particular interest in rotavators as I restore Merry Tillers(the Brummy sort).

They(tillers) do a great job for all soils on cleared ground. My particular soil is 'concrete', and this year has been a b*****d.
Yeah! loads of compost/rotted muck etc. & for 27 yrs. it's still a b*****d!!

I have six machines, I will recommend one in due course!

[Merry Tiller]

I take it then you dont have plant guards on your merry tiller which keep tines 6 inch away from crops

I take it your roots only grow out 6 inches ???

[growmore]

Hi Roy ,
what model is it and what horse power is it ?,,If I ran mine at full power and it hit a hard bit etc it would try to pull my arms off.. :)cheers jim

[growmore]

Lets wait and see how my roots grow in show on here in August..
I sets my depth gauge to just get weeds out  and I do it often so they are not in very deep .. Jim

[Roy Bham UK]

Hi Roy ,
what model is it and what horse power is it ?,,If I ran mine at full power and it hit a hard bit etc it would try to pull my arms off.. :)cheers jim

:)Hi Jim, Tis the FG201 1.9HP light weight and very pleased with it, my soil is hard clay but once broken the tiller will keep it in check. ;D and yes this one jumps over the hard bits but I try to avoid that if I can. ;D

[tim]

Surely it's only the 2 strokes that have to run flat out to get the power?

And the hard bits ?  Remember to dig the depth gauge (somewhat ineffectual on the 201?) in to check the bounce.

[Roy Bham UK]

Tim your confusing me ::) ???

Surely it's only the 2 strokes that have to run flat out to get the power?

'Half' throttle? I think that you may find in the book that that can cause damage??