Poor Rotavator

[mentallot]

Advice please

The plot I got this year is one that has been cultivated for a number of years, has decent soil although maybe a bit compacted.

I tried to do the digging myself using a Handy Tiller 3 (3 hp I think) and it was taking ages (hours) to do a poor job and was really tiring. To do the whole plot I would guess it would take 2-3 full days. Another kind soul on the allotments then did it with his (bigger I assume) machine in about an hour to to a far higher standard.

Is it likely to be that the machine just isn't up to anything other than a small patch in the garden, or that I'm just rubbish at using it ?

Thanks !

[mentallot]

[RenishawPhil]

Yes definately underpowered . Ok for small jobs and light soil.

[lincsyokel2]

To make a job of it you need a MINIMUM of 5 HP, i use a Merry Tiller  with a 6.5 HP Honda Engine on. This is the 4th engine ive tried. i started off with a 2.5 HP (pathetic) then a 4 HP (better but still overheated) then  5 HP, (almost there) then the 6.5 HP. It takes me about 5 hours now to till a 17 pole allotment.

Ive now built a toolbar for my 30 HP petrol 4 stroke quad bike, that cuts through it like a Vindaloo through a Nun.

[RenishawPhil]

To make a job of it you need a MINIMUM of 5 HP, i use a Merry Tiller  with a 6.5 HP Honda Engine on. This is the 4th engine ive tried. i started off with a 2.5 HP (pathetic) then a 4 HP (better but still overheated) then  5 HP, (almost there) then the 6.5 HP. It takes me about 5 hours now to till a 17 pole allotment.

Ive now built a toolbar for by 30 HP quad bike, that cuts through it like a Vindaloo through a Nun.

Sounds Like my cup of tea!!

[goodlife]

Code Select Expand

Ive now built a toolbar for my 30 HP petrol 4 stroke quad bike, that cuts through it like a Vindaloo through a Nun...;D..any photo's of your monster machine?

[hippydave]

get on ebay and buy a howard 350 its big but it does everything, i have tool bar, plough, furrower and trailer for mine and i would not be without it, i do a lot of other peoples plots with it and its never let me down.

this is a video of my mate using it on his plot.
http://youtu.be/T9kzJmVyFB8

[chriscross1966]

The bigger Howards will always do the job fast, generally one pass, two if it's breaking in new ground... problem is that these days I spend more time fixing the 50 year old engine on my Howard 400 than I do rotavating with it, hopefully next year it will have grown a Honda engine to replace the JAP... or I'll have saved up enough to get a specialist to rebuild the thing properly... rebore, new carb kit, new magneto innards, new bearings, new valves......

[mentallot]

Thanks for the advice - I'm so liking the howard  :) do they (350) go in the back of an estate, and if so does it need a load of strong blokes or can the tines be disengaged and drive it up a coupld of scaffold planks ?

But a quad bike that sounds even more fun and I could drive to the allotment with it ...  need pics of it in action please !

[mentallot]

Oh - what about the Howard Bantam, any opinions ?

Or even this beaut http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HOWARD-GEM-ROTAVATOR-/251032120262?pt=UK_Home_Garden_GardenPowerTools_CA&hash=item3a72ae2bc6

Thanks

[hippydave]

i had a bantam
good wee machine but not heavy enough for clay soil but light enough to put in the back of the car and take to the plot

[hippydave]

that is a beast of a machine i would have that one any day over a bantam

[jimtheworzel]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDj8ykO9II4

Its only 25cc but great for getting ready to plant

[chriscross1966]

Thanks for the advice - I'm so liking the howard  :) do they (350) go in the back of an estate, and if so does it need a load of strong blokes or can the tines be disengaged and drive it up a coupld of scaffold planks ?

But a quad bike that sounds even more fun and I could drive to the allotment with it ...  need pics of it in action please !

All the bigger Howards have separate drive selection for wheels and tines... only the H200 series (Bulldog, Bullfinch, Demon, 200 and 220) don't IIRC...

I've managed to wrestle my 400 into a van by myself, but I did use a handwinch to do it and it took a while... I doubt the 400 would go into a car but the 350 is a chunk shorter (the 400 is pretty much the same length as a Gem, it's just narrower....)

[hippydave]

yes it can be driven without the blades going they are separate to the drive train, i have driven it into an estate car but they are large and heavy so it needs to be flat to get it in and out, i have a wee trailer for it that 2 of us can just about life it into if i need to take it anywhere.

[Aden Roller]

The Howard 350 is the bees knees. I like the easy stop and start - has a reverse too doesn't it?

I have a nearly 50 year old Howard 200 that starts up every year and works solidly for hours without a hiccup. I love it. Engine serviced just once in all the years we've had it (It was my dads).

It wont fit into my bicycle trailer but its worth the annual push to the plot just to get the whole thing ready for planting up in the Spring. One visit and we're done.  ;)

[lincsyokel2]

While we are on this subject.....................

I dont know much about the Howards. Which ones have the drive supplied to the train by belt (and therefore can have a different replacement engine fitted) and which have some sort of of Howard Specific direct drive fitted (and therefore  cant accommodate a different engine).

Theres a several on ebay with knackered engines, and I know where i can get brand new Korean Honda copy 6.5 HP engines with a 20mm output shaft for £70, which means if i can pick up the rotavators for £100 or less gives room for a few quid profit .  Plus ofc if i can get the old engine running again for just parts is another few quid back.

[Aden Roller]

While we are on this subject.....................

I dont know much about the Howards. Which ones have the drive supplied to the train by belt (and therefore can have a different replacement engine fitted) and which have some sort of of Howard Specific direct drive fitted (and therefore  cant accommodate a different engine).

Theres a several on ebay with knackered engines, and I know where i can get brand new Korean Honda copy 6.5 HP engines with a 20mm output shaft for £70, which means if i can pick up the rotavators for £100 or less gives room for a few quid profit .  Plus ofc if i can get the old engine running again for just parts is another few quid back.

Are you thinking of buy and reselling or is it for your own use?

[lincsyokel2]

While we are on this subject.....................

I dont know much about the Howards. Which ones have the drive supplied to the train by belt (and therefore can have a different replacement engine fitted) and which have some sort of of Howard Specific direct drive fitted (and therefore  cant accommodate a different engine).

Theres a several on ebay with knackered engines, and I know where i can get brand new Korean Honda copy 6.5 HP engines with a 20mm output shaft for £70, which means if i can pick up the rotavators for £100 or less gives room for a few quid profit .  Plus ofc if i can get the old engine running again for just parts is another few quid back.

Are you thinking of buy and reselling or is it for your own use?

and how would my reply affect your reply?   :P

[chriscross1966]

Even the non-belt Howards (the 400, 700 and Gem) can have alternative engines fitted, the mounting patterns of most engines is the same no matter what brand... THe obvious issue with the big ones is the space they need to turn in at the end of a row.... I have to plant my spuds up/down a plot rather than crossways... the 6m wide plot would only have 2m of row on it... by going up down I use the road as one headland and then tidy up the other one with the smaller machine afterwards ....

[Aden Roller]

Even the non-belt Howards (the 400, 700 and Gem) can have alternative engines fitted, the mounting patterns of most engines is the same no matter what brand... THe obvious issue with the big ones is the space they need to turn in at the end of a row.... I have to plant my spuds up/down a plot rather than crossways... the 6m wide plot would only have 2m of row on it... by going up down I use the road as one headland and then tidy up the other one with the smaller machine afterwards ....

Sounds very complicated Chris. With my Howard 200 I just let it wander off and follow... after that it's either a nifty swing round and back again or a wide sweeping arc and keeping going on any stretch that hasn't been rotovated.  ::)

Thank heavens for the rake.  ;)