# What do you cats till with?



## peckerwood (Jun 9, 2012)

I started with a 7 1/2 hp rear tine tiller,but now have a John Deere 400 garden tractor with a 4ft tiller.It is old,80 model I think,but tills like a champ.I still use the rear tine cultivating between the rows.What took 2 weekends to do now takes 30 minutes and is tilled much deeper and without the center part where the stinger is on a rear tine that doesn't get busted up.My garden is no better,but sure is easier on my 61 year old chassis.


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## Rubberback (Sep 9, 2008)

Troy built pony & a small Mantis.


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## SwampRat (Jul 30, 2004)

Shoot....I do all of my acreage with a shovel....back breaking I tell ya. All 120sqft of it.


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## UnclePoPo (Jun 4, 2013)

I currently use a 10 month old black Lab pup. He can till more dirt than any tiller I've seen.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

LOL at the lab!! I use my small Kubota tractor for the heavy disking/tilling. It makes life so much easier. My go to tool for cultivation is the hoe and Troy Built pony.


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## txjustin (Jun 3, 2009)

Shovel


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## highpockets (Nov 20, 2005)

1972 front tine tiller, used to be my Dad's everytime I use it I think of him.


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## G-O-T-B (Jan 15, 2010)

I use a heavy tined garden pitch fork and a hoe. But all my garden is in raised boxes 5 of them 8 ft by 16 ft.


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## monkeyman1 (Dec 30, 2007)

Craftsman rear tine tiller. Need a disc for my Kubota!


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## WilliamH (May 21, 2004)

Till with that and mow with this.

Tiller is a 1980's Craftsman front tine with a 7 hp Tecumseh motor.


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## pshay4 (Aug 18, 2005)

I have a 50 hp Kubota with a Landpride 6', an 8 hp Troy-bilt, and a Mantis. I have a bed-former from Buckeye I use to make the raised beds.


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## Ready.Fire.Aim (Sep 22, 2009)

Started 25 years ago with 8HP Kohler Troybilt Horse, made in Troy NY, still runs like new

Progressed to using my 1975 60 HP JD diesel tractor, plows, PTO Landpride tiller, bedder, cultivator, etc

Went back to Troy tiller 

Three years ago Converted to ten raised box beds, 4' x 16' each, 16" high. Use a Mantis tiller on the boxes, shovel, and digging fork. Beds are combination of sand dredged from Port of Bay City ( freshwater) and mushroom compost. Trace minerals were added. This is a very productive and enjoyable garden. Pleasant to look at, no weeds, ground never too wet, easy to prep and maintain. Wife loves it. It was costly to establish, that's the drawback. 

When I retire I plan to take over the church community garden and go back to JD tractor and Troy tiller to work and maintain that 2 acre garden

All work and do the job they are designed for.

Have fun
RFA


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## B-1 83 (Sep 22, 2009)

Tillage = "killage". I know what your parents and grandparents taught you - "You have to till up a garden every year". The soils we "farm" evolved under grassland/forrest conditions, and were never tilled. They had higher organic matter contents than we see today because of that reason. Did you know a Blackland Range Site could produce nearly 8000# of air dry forage every year in native condition? That's what A&M would recommend over 200# of nitrogen and 80# of phosphorus for if you were cutting coastal hay! Let your microbes do a chunk of your work for you! Use cover crops during the off seasons, DON'T TILL, and use fertilizer sparingly and on the spot - not broadcast. Make use of all those leaves the neighbors bag up - I call them "mulch".

There's no solid agronomic reason to till a whole garden anymore. Just disturb those areas where you put in a transplant or put in a row of seed. It will save energy and labor as well as improver your soil structure to the point that no rain will run off.

Trust me, I'm and agronomist, Certified Crop Advisor, Nutrient Managtement Specialist, and Pest Management Specialist.


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## cva34 (Dec 22, 2008)

Gota old Troybuilt horse model came with 8 HP now It"s got a 10hp Thats 3rd engine..Its almost as old as me...We both just keep on going Like the Energizer Bunny


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