|
Busted: This is all I can dig up on it. THE YELLOWBIRD TILLER CULTIVATOR The little Yellowbird (sold by Precision Valley Manufacturing Co., Dept. TMEN, Springfield, Vermont 05156) is—as far as we know—the smallest reartined tiller on the market. Weighing a scant 75 pounds without its blades in place and sporting a 3-HP Briggs & Stratton engine, the Bird is a fine tool for gardeners who have small plots and/or often need to till in confined areas. Of course, the machine's light weight and limited horsepower may be disadvantages when one has a large garden or needs to cultivate unbroken sod. However, we found that even the latter task can be accomplished with the small tiller. In our tests the Bird was able to work a previously unbroken pasture to a depth of 4-1/2 inches, although eight passes with the machine were necessary to do so. Our gardeners/ testers also noted that they often wished the Yellowbird had handlebar- mounted speed and throttle adjustments (the wheels and tines turn at set speeds, while the throttle is controlled at the engine) ... the ability to operate in reverse (which can be important when reworking difficult patches of ground) ... and the option of disengaging the tines while keeping the wheels turning for transport. (The little tiller's single forward speed also left something to be desired when traveling from garden to barn, garage, or basement.) On the other hand, our evaluators praised the narrow (14") tines, which in conjunction with the tiller's light weight made working in between established rows of plants (without accidentally wiping out crops) a breeze. The gardeners found the folding handle to be convenient, too allowing for easy storage and auto trunk or station wagon transport and appreciated the reversible depth-adjustment bar ... which can either ride smoothly in the tilled soil or, when attached backwards, hook itself into the earth and force the tines to dig in. The Yellowbird, all in all, is especially designed for people with smaller "back- yard" gardens and for such folks represents a good swap of power for agility and convenience.
Yellowbird Tiller Cultivator Precision Valley Manufacturing Co., Woodstock, VT 3-hp Briggs & Stratton Engine
| 
