Using a tiller

[Lance-allott]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this site and also new to allotments. I set off to dig my one over today and after two hours of toil one of the guys said I could save myself days of work by hiring a tiller. He showed me what it looked like and said he was returning his to the hire shop (£30.00/weekend).

What he had achieved in a weekend was amazing but the machine looked pretty scary to me. My question is, what are the safety precautions to take before tilling and also does it matter weather wise as heavy rain is due here (Plymouth) tomorrow?
I took this week off work to get started and am in a bit of a panic as I have got nothing sown at all.  Any advice will be appreciated.

[Lance-allott]

[teresa]

Hi and welcome ,
You say tiller lots of chaps have rotavators on our site and they do turn the ground over.  If you ask around you may find someone who has one and will turn your plot over for a small fee there is a chap on our lottie that does that helps pay for his petrol.
I just use my fork and saves me going to a gym ha ha.
I start lots of plants off in the greenhouse or window ledge because of the mice/pidgons and magpies down on the lottie. I like to see them but not feed them?

[Svea]

no idea about the tilling, but just wanted to say - dont worry about the not having started anything yet

there is loads of time for that.
good for you for taking the week off to make a good start on the lottie - i bet tomorrow you will feel all the muscles in your back you forgot you had! i know i felt mine today after yesterday's excercise.

have fun, and no stress :)

svea

[tim]

Is it wheel driven, or tine driven??

[chrispea27]

Hi

It seems a massive task at first but the satisfaction is enormous when you see and eat your own veg. A s for being late it is much better than sarting too early and losing  your first sown to cold and wet. What are you planning on growing? ;D

[Granny_Smith]

Lance-Allott,

Go with the tiller/rotavator idea if you can. Safety wise - make sure your feet and eyes are well protected and keep a good grip on the handles. Keep children and less agile folks away from the area, and off you go. Well worth the money if that's what you want. It will save you a lot of hard work initially but the weeds will still keep on coming !! There's no quick solution to that.
If you do this, you will find it easier to hand cultivate when you get around to planting which you've got plenty of time to do.

Me? - I cheat. I sprayed my new plot with Roundup (trying to knock back some of the couch grass), had it deep ploughed for the winter and will be getting the tractor and rotavator run over it this week ready for planting. Each to their own method!

Good luck - whatever you choose, you'll really appreciate eating all the fresh produce later this year.

[Lance-allott]

Thanks for all your advice-I am planning on starting simple. Potatoes and salad crops to start with. Worse luck I have woken up with a really heavy cold-I can feel every muscle and I have barely started. It's reassuring that I have still got plenty of time though.

Thanks again.

[tim]

Wheels or tines??

[kenkew]

If time's the issue, get a rotavator in. Just bare in mind that forking is a better way to catch the deep roots without chopping them up.
First pic below is yesterday at 11.00. Second is at 12.00 after using a small Mantis tiller and the third is a spud trench done in about 1min.

[kenkew]

[Roy Bham UK]

I can only see the middle pic Ken :'(

[kenkew]

Seems 99% of my pics go cross-eyed these days. Pity, 'cos there's usually some decent info in there......!

[Lance-allott]

It was a tine tiller I think. Any machine that will help me get a fine rakeable/hoeable tilth would do me.

At the moment I have big clods of earth all over the shop-Kenkew's photos are inspiring!They made me wonder what the difference between the two machines (tiller vs rotavator)-is-is it a depth thing or the "fineness" of the tilth. The council rotavated the plot before we took possesion. I am glad they did but I think they must have just redistributed weeds throughout the allotment. The smallest clods are fist-sized.

 
Also how deep should you go-I'd like to get some parsnips, carrots, beetroot and swede in as well. This is a wonderful site-thanks for your advice

:)

[kenkew]

My initial dig was pretty deep, but the council m'c's will have done that for you. Not always a good thing 'cos they not only chop up all the deep rooted weeds, but sometimes bring subsoil to the surface.
Tiller-v-rotavator. Rotavators are the monsters usually, quite heavy and are not generally needed on a plot. A 'domestic' tiller/cultivator is normally all you need. It doesn't need the weight because depth of cut doesn't need to be more than a spit deep. (Spade depth.)
My plot is starting to look a bit like a plot now and I turn it after walking round removing docks and other weeds that are starting to show at this time of year.
I turn it in one direction, then the other, then leave it for about a week. This helps dry it out for me to level and spot anyother weed growth.

[Roy Bham UK]

Tiller-v-rotavator. Rotavators are the monsters usually, quite heavy and are not generally needed on a plot. A 'domestic' tiller/cultivator is normally all you need. It doesn't need the weight because depth of cut doesn't need to be more than a spit deep. (Spade depth.)

Wow I didn't know that Ken, so if a Tiller digs a spade depth, how deep does a Rotavator dig? ???

[Derek]

I used my new Mantis at the weekend for the first time.

It was 'the Governors' idea to ease the workload (sensible lady) I am suffering at the moment bigtime as my left hip has worn out, needless to say I managed the Mantis on a couple of beds and was impressed with its performance and result.

Apparently the trick is to leave slightly larger gaps between rows so that the tiller can be used whilstbthe crops are growing

Derek

[tim]

So right!!

[Jesse]

I have been looking at buying a tiller, the thought of digging my plot by hand over every year is not appealing! Can anyone tell me if this one is a good deal, the third one down at £235:

http://www.classic-lawns.co.uk/acatalog/tillers.html

[kenkew]

When I was at school, (yonks ago) the woodwork teacher said, 'If you're going to buy a tenon saw, got for one with a brass back. No-one puts brass on a rubbish saw'. The same applies to you're choice, Jess'...No-one puts a Briggs&Stratton engine into a rubbish machine.
It's a good buy...just check you can buy additional blades for different jobs. You might not need them, but if you ever do.....!

[gavin]

And wheels!  These come as "extra" on some machines ???

All best - Gavin