tow behind rototiller

Was looking on Craigslist and came across a tow behind tiller with 5 hp engine 36"width. What we have been using is a OLD (1975) tiller that you have to push by hand thru the garden. Now that I'm getting older, a tow behind seems to be the way to go for spring and fall tilling of our garden.For during the growing season I can hoe between the plants and corn for weed control,so getting in between the rows is not a problem.We have a Craftsman Lawn & Garden mower (20 hp) gear trans,Low and High range for such a task.
So, now the question is have you used this type of tiller,and what are any of the problems with them? Do they work as described, or what? Just thinking ahead for Spring, as winter will be over soon,I hope.
Thanks,
LOU

I'm sure it will work, but you might have to make more than one pass- if so, the size of the front tires on your lawn tractor will be a factor. I have a zero turn, with little wobble wheels on the front, and I'm sure it would just bury the front end on a second pass.

I bought one of those two years ago from Tractor Supply. It works good, but you have to go slow for it to work properly. We plant food plots for deer so where we use it has a lot of vines and roots so about every 5 minutes we're stopping it and unwinding the roots and vines. Other wise it works good.

I've used bigger trailer-tillers that worked great, as long as you've got room to get around with them. I used a 42" tiller with a twin-cylinder Wisconsin engine on it for years.

5 horse isn't much power though for a 3 foot tiller. Good tilling (proper depth and speed) takes 4-6 horse per foot. Unless you've got very light soil, it's going to be slow going.

For tight garden work, if you don't want a walk-behind, - a decent garden tractor with a tiller on the back that is NOT on a trailer is the most handy. I've got a old 60s 12 horse Bolens with a 3 foot PTO-drive tiller on the back that works beautifully in tough soil. Having the weight of the tractor as an "anchor" is a big asset. No bouncing around.

I also still have several 8 horse Troy Built walk-behinds, and a few monster Rototiller-brand two-stroke B-16s. But they all throw me all over the place if tilling new, hard soil.

My favorite now is my 5 foot King Kutter that I use on the back of my Ferguson TO-35, Deere 1020, or IH B-275. But, that's kind of big for small garden work.

I suspect that if you ever got a chance to use a good heavy garden tractor with a PTO driven tiller on the back, you'd love it. Old Deere, Allis Chalmers, Wheelhorse, Cub Cadet, Bolens, etc. The Bolens is one of the few that does not use a big belt to run the tiller.

they do ok as the others have said,I dont like the wheel tracks they leave as opposed to a troybilt or a 3pt hitch style. bill m.

I don't see how a 5 horse engine can do much for a 3 foot tiller. I've got a 1968 wheel horse (14 hsp) tractor and 3 foot mounted tiller that does a real nice job. Think I got less than $400. in this and have had it since about 1985. Find an old cub or wheel horse with a tiller and just leave it on year round, comes in handy now and then.

Lou, I've never seen a tow behind tiller, but can't imagine that they wouldn't work as well as a walk behind, except letting a garden tractor do that part of the work for you.

Gab has a picture there of a Wheel Horse that has a rear mounted tiller on the closest garden tractor in the photo. They worked well too on the garden tractors that came equipped for them.

I can understand where you're coming from. Knees, elbows, and shoulders get achy dealing with roto tillers. 5HP seems a little under powered for 36" though, but who knows. I think you're looking at the right technology though in your case. Everyone's case. Let the equipment do the work as you envision it.

Good luck.

Mark

Lou, I've never seen a tow behind tiller, but can't imagine that they wouldn't work as well as a walk behind, except letting a garden tractor do that part of the work for you.

Gab has a picture there of a Wheel Horse that has a rear mounted tiller on the closest garden tractor in the photo. They worked well too on the garden tractors that came equipped for them.

I can understand where you're coming from. Knees, elbows, and shoulders get achy dealing with roto tillers. 5HP seems a little under powered for 36" though, but who knows. I think you're looking at the right technology though in your case. Everyone's case. Let the equipment do the work as you envision it.

Good luck.

Mark

Thanks Mike,
Our (lawnmower) is a GT model,definately not a zero turn,but I can see what you mean.I wouldn't want to try it with a zero turn,especially trying to get it unstuck by myself.Thanks for the reply.
Victor

Thanks kkaddatz,
I figure if I can get it used,maybe save a little.So thats the reason for Craigslist. Our garden is mostly sand, and has been tilled every year for about 24 years,so no roots or vines(except pickles)lol. I know our GT tractor has a low on the transmission,and it just creeps along, so that wouldn't be a problem. I really appreciate your reply, gives me some information on how they work for you.Thanks again.
Victor

Thanks JDE,
Our garden is pure sugar sand,no heavy clay,(as you seen in the pictures of our dozing of the hill)The garden is not very big, maybe 25 X 60.For me, a tiller that doesn't need to be man handled like our old one,either tow behind or self propelled, is definatley on the list.Trying to find one at a decent price is a job up here,Seems most people think the prices of tillers increase the older they get,and for me a secondary small tractor is out.Not that it wouldn't work,but no room.Since our 706 has no 3 pt and trying to find a cheap tiller for that is out.LOL.Just looking for now,but will definately keep what you say in mind. THanks again JD,
Reguards,
Victor

Thanks Mark, I'll try to get a pix on here to show what I'm looking at,hopefully it works.
For me an extra small garden tractor is out, figure use what we have as long as it doesn't harm it.So the extra engine on the tiller was a plus.
Our old tiller is getting hard on the hands and back,even though it's just 3-1/2hp.but feels like I'm pushing a 350 GM motor thru the mud.LOL.
So far can't even get in touch with the owner of the tow behind so that is out.Our search continues.Seems like the best time of the year to look for one, not too much gardening being done here.LOL.
Thanks for the reply,
Victor

Lou,

That looks nice but you may want to look carefully at that. I can't tell if those wheels/tires are just for moving it or are on the ground while its tilling. Like field discs have tires on them to get them out to the field, but come up when in use, those wheels may need to come up when in use, which means that your garden tractors will need to be able to support and handle the tiller when in use. Old Wheel Horses, Sears, Case, Bolens and other "old old old" garden tractors had one and two point hitches that actually lifted tillers off of the ground, and dropped them for use. Allis Chalmers even made a couple of huge garden tractors, 620 and 720 in their latter years with two or three point hitches on them.

Then again, maybe those wheels/tires support this roto-tiller and your tractor will just tow it.

I can't think of what Sears called there garden tractors back in the '70's and '60's, but they had a name for them. Were yellow with white hoods. They even made an identical version of all of them but were red instead of yellow, still with white hoods...and had a million different attachments/impliments for them because Sears intended them to be used for big gardening. I'll see if I can find the website that showed all of the stuff. Someone showed it to me once. If I can find it, I'll post it.

Mark

Lou,

Find you one of these old bad boys. Click on attachments. Sears really made these guys to work as "little tractors".

The red ones were called "Roper" instead of Sears, I think.
Sears Garden Tractors