sjmorgan Posted June 11, 2007 Share Posted June 11, 2007 I've got my B112 running good and decided to throw on the 32" tiller to go sod busting. Put the wheel weights on, set the quad pin, made a starting trench with a shovel, hopped on, lined-up, engaged the tiller, dropped it down, rode the brake, moved two feet, started feeling good about man and his machine...then the next thing I know is I'm bouncing up and down as the tiller is "walking" the tractor down the yard for about 100 ft before I got control and stopped. OO Wife is laughing and calling me "city boy." :( I tried adjusting the depth up and same result. I made a retreat back to the shed. Wife is still laughing and saying she can out do me with the old 1970 3 hp Simplicity tiller. Need advice on good tractor/tiller technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenK Posted June 11, 2007 Share Posted June 11, 2007 Been there done that,all most ran over the neighbors garage:O.You have to let it float the first few passes.If you have a manual lift,put a pin in the lower hole of the quaderant.That way the lift lever won't lock.If you have hydro lift,put it on float position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toad270 Posted June 11, 2007 Share Posted June 11, 2007 Did almost the same thing this weekend only it got worse I wound up with half of the toller tines in the back of my truck after it busted the tubing so I guess I will be staying late at work for some government work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HubbardRA Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Sounds like the soil was very hard. I would say that it needed a moldboard plowing, before it got hit with the tiller. That usually solves the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomSchmit Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 It is just amazing how tough ordinary turfgrass is! It can be broken by floating the tiller tiller (as above), but you and the machine will still take a pounding! If you can, turn it over with a plow and give it 2 weeks to rot the grass fibers. Otherwise, spray with glyphosate (Roundup)to kill the grass a week or two before tilling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisdm8 Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 I ran into the same problem. I was surprised how tough sod can be. Tried the plow but couldn't get it though it. The tiller on float would bog down the tractor to much so I ended up skimming the surface (one hand on the lift lever at all times) then letting it sit for a bit. Came back in a week and did another 4 passes to break it up and mix in some compost and manure. It eventually worked but it was a lot of tractor time. In retrospect, killing the grass first or working harder to get the plow (as was recommended) to work would have been much more effective but I don't have that much patience. Honestly, once it was working well... it was the most enjoyable thing I've done with the tractor yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdmre Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 I made myself a sod cutter for the tractor. It is a very simple device. It cuts a few inches deep and slices off the grassy layer very well. After removing the top layer, tilling the ground works a lot easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bud119195 Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 Got any pics of your sod cutter?quote:Originally posted by mdmre I made myself a sod cutter for the tractor. It is a very simple device. It cuts a few inches deep and slices off the grassy layer very well. After removing the top layer, tilling the ground works a lot easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdmre Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 I made it out of some angle iron and a few pieces of flat iron and ground a cutting edge on the front side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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