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rototiller tines


Simpleton7016

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I am pretty sure I know the answer to this question, but I want to run it by the experts before I do the work. Are these tines on the right way? I have used this rototiller for the last 5 or 6 years and it works OK, but not great. Kind of bouncy. However, she works GREAT in reverse! Now, I have never used any other rototiller for purposes of comparison, but I was talking with another club member and mentioned that my tiller was kind of bouncy. He said he had that problem once and the tines were on backwards. Given the fact that she works so great going backwards, I'll bet these are backwards too!! Someone please confirm and any tips for removal and re-installation will be most apprciated.

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They are on the correct way. Mine does the same thing in reverse as well. Try to decrease your ground speed that should help with the bouncing.
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Looks right to me, hard ground will cause this the first and second time over, third time over it will work great and deep.
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Thanks guys....you saved me some work!! Have y'all ever tried to add weight to the tiller? Power is not the issue. It never bogs down. I just cant seem to get her deep enough. Why does it work so well in reverse? Seems odd to me. I mean gosh, if I could get to work as good in forward as it does in reverse, my soil would be as fine as sand. But thanks for the help already!
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It will take several passes to get down to its maximum depth in soil that hasn`t been tilled or you will have to go real slow to get it there in one pass.
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To a degree, what your getting in reverse is the effect of a counter rotating tine tiller. Have never had one myself, my brother swears by his. It makes sence to me because instead of chopping into the hard dirt your breaking it loose from underneith. I may take one of the rather ratty looking ones I picked up last summer and see if it's possible to make it turn backward. someday....
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That seems to make good sense. Maybe I will try to figure out how to download a movie clip. It does infinitely better in reverse. The only trouble is that the tractor can't push it backwards. Can't you just turn the tines around Marty? Plus, I can't believe the ground ever dethaws enough up there to use a tiller! [:0]
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"Can't you just turn the tines around " No you can't, they need to rotate the oposite directtion. Not sure the bolo style tine would even work on a counter rotating setup. haven't put that much time into trying it yet. "I can't believe the ground ever dethaws enough up there to use a tiller" Haven't you heard the news lately, the perma frost is all melting and the ice cap is gonna flood New Orleans again.
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If your ground speed is too fast, especially combined with hard ground, the tiller will just walk on top rather than dig in. Like RayS suggests above try decreasing your ground speed. If you are pushing it backwards you are forcing it into the ground, and if you hit something hard like a large rock or tree root, something is going to break. (The tiller is pushing one way and the tractor another.) Going forward in the same case, your tiller will walk over the obsticle, and mearly push your tractor forward until it gets clear of it. The same as pushing a rear blade backwards. The way they are designed, if hitting something that refuses to give they will lift up rather than dig in. When going backwards that is not the case. Something usually bends or breaks.
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Have had the same problem with mine and have gone in reverse with great results ONLY after the ground has been cut by two or three forward passes. I've regulated it by hand with the lift lever and slipping the clutch. Wears out the left arm and twists the neck but does the trick for smoothing it out as well. It's actually one of my few disappointments with the engineering-- but... still better than walking behind one!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I have used my tiller on hard ground for 20 years, Ido a light pass at a partial depth to break up the surface then I drop in full go 3 feet or so and go in revers to the starting point, this lets it drop in further and I repeat this every three feet or so, In the garden I also till across(90 degrees) the tilled area, two passes north and south then two east and west. Adding weight to the tiller will strengthen your arms very nicely, but I doubt it will help the tiller.
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Just saw a commercial for a Mantis Tiller on the tube while watching Nascar. If you get a chance to see this commercial note that they always show the operator "pulling" it, just like tilling in REVERSE. Makes you say Hmmmmm. Then when someone buys one and cant figure out why it doesn't dig like on TV, although they are pushing it instead of pulling it;)
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I just drop my tiller to the float position and let it grind its way down. After that I just inch forward and let it grind/pulverise. I can't do a partial lower as I have a lift rod and if I hook something that will make tractor jump, I'll bend the lift rod, guaranteed. It could bend the hydraulic ram, also, in therory but so far it's just been the lift rod. Also Mike,(Mantis ad) when tiller is out front, it always pulls you and you let it dig down and then you can pull it back. I had a similar Murray for ten years and used it at least 50 hours each year, and then the worm gears stripped out. For tilling in between the rows Mantis is "A-1" plus. They also get a price for their performance. At front tiller for garden tractors would be nice, but how would you cover up tire tracks?
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Are some of the tines, especially in the center 2 gangs of tines, bent so that they are more straight than they should be? It looks like they are bent so that they aren't spread out as much as the outer two gangs of tines. Maybe it is just an optical illusion.
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my tiller is older than yours and it does just fine when you put it in the ground. i think it has somthing to do with the pullys on the tractor other than on the tiller it self. it looks like the tines on your tiller are spaced further apart than mine. also when mine goes, it makes a ratcheting noise when it first starts. i have put weights on mine before but not a lot like 20lbs just enough to keep it in the ground.
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i think what simpleton7016 meant by turning the tines around was taking the left set and putting em on the right side and vice versa
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I just lower my tiller and let it push me along. It really chews up the earth almost to dust if I let it.
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Actually, I hadn't thought it out real well. I just know that when I put the tractor in reverse (Hyrdostatic Trans) the tiller digs right down and really 'tills the soil 10 times better than when I pull it going in the forward direction. I guess it will entail more than just flipping the tines.... :(
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Ok, Ok, Ok, maybe I need to take some medication that allows me to be more patient. Patience is a virtue and if I had more, then perhaps I might have saved more money while gobbling up all of my new Simplicity toys. But alas, I have none. It just seems counterintuitive that the tiller works so gosh darn good in reverse and just "ok" in forward. I will slow it down this year and see if that helps. Anyone got any good ideas for a beer cup holder for my rig? I might as well bend the elbow a few times if I am going to let the tiller puch me along slowly. [:0]^
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My experience with my walk behind tiller in hard rocky New England soil is similar to all the above. The tiller bounces above the surface going forward. It digs in and tills when I pull it backward. Spring tilling is thus excellent exercise as I am pulling the tiller "against the grain" the entire time. I only go forward after the ground is broken to full depth. Otherwise it is too frightening to watch the 100 pound tiller fly through the air up, down, left and right, 5 hp engine running, tines spinning, with me holding on for dear life and having no control over where the tiller bounces.
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