Using tractor driven tillers (was Re: [AT] Allis Chalmers B-1lawn tractor

Mike Sloane msloane at att.net
Wed Jul 14 02:56:00 PDT 2004


Cecil - I wouldn't worry too much about the problem. If you hit a rock 
or root, the tiller just jumps up in the air. Pretty much like doing it 
with a walk-behind tiller, except the tractor will keep you from moving 
forward (unlike the troybuilt, which tends to leap forward - at least 
mine did). But someone else was right when they wrote that the tractor 
mounted tillers are not intended for breaking rough ground or digging up 
rocks. If that is your conditions, you will not be happy with the 
tiller, no matter what kind of clutches you have. I would say that you 
will damage the tiller (break/bend a tine or snap the drive chain) 
before you will do any damage to the tractor, as there is a fair amount 
of gear reduction in the system, so not much power goes back to the 
tractor. If it can work with my Farmall Cub, your D-12 should have no 
problem (as long as you can select a gear that is slow enough to do a 
proper job - you need a very low ground speed for rototilling, as you 
know).

By the way, unless the tiller is wider than the tractor's rear wheels, 
you need to offset the tiller to one side so that you don't leave tire 
paths. This limits your ability to work back and forth - you have to 
work the garden as you would with a 2 or 3 bottom plow or a side 
delivery rake. :-)

Mike

Cecil E Monson wrote:
>> Cecil,  remember that your D-12 III has (or probably has) a wet clutch in
>> the PTO housing.  The clutch plates are mounted in an aluminum hub.  
>> Ask me
>> how I know.
>>
>> I think part of the problem with roto-tillers is that people don't use 
>> them
>> correctly.  They are intended to prepare a seed bed in good soil.  They
>> aren't meant to be scarifiers for digging up rocks, stumps, asphalt and
>> concrete.
>>
>> I wonder if there is room to put a friction clutch in front of your
>> roto-tiller?  You know, the kind that you see on the drive shaft of some
>> brush cutters.
>>
>> Charlie
> 
> 
> 
>     I didn't know it was a wet clutch but I sure like the way it
> works. Using the bush hog, you don't have to stop or clutch or anything
> to engage or disengage the bush hog. Works great and a pleasure to use.
> 
>     The way I am going to use this thing is to eliminate once and
> for all walking behind that TroyBilt rototiller. Tilling by hand lost
> it's charm a few years back and I have been looking for one of these.
> I don't intend to stop my spring plowing and don't mind discing because
> I can sit on the tractor and let it do the work. So my intent is to just
> use this as the final leveling step before planting. Doesn't have to go
> deep and I just want the surface level and easy to mark for planting.
> 
>     There could be a place to put a friction clutch. The farmer where
> I bought this got home too late tonight to load it on my truck so we made
> arrangements to do it tomorrow afternoon and I don't have it home yet to
> measure. I doubt I would need a friction clutch but by the same token, it
> could very well have one already on it. This appears to be a pretty well
> made tiller.
> 
>     We shall see.
> 
> Cecil

-- 
Mike Sloane
Allamuchy NJ
Email: (msloane at att.net)
Website: <http://www.geocities.com/mikesloane>
Tractor images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>
Work: none - retired

If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed,
given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom.
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th president (1890-1969)




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