Tillers

My vote goes with the Howard crowd. In my mind it's the best tiller made, and one of the few that won't turn to junk because you hit something. AND, you WILL hit some thing!! Like was said before, in moist soil, you need lots of HP, and i don't think 15 at the PTO is enough for a 48" tiller in all conditions. I have a 42" Howard i run with 13PTO hp, and i wouldn't want any more width when in tough conditions. I always buy a tiller rated one size bigger pto HP than i have tractor, WITHOUT going to the bigger width!! With a Howard you can do this, because they offer several widths in each HP class. If you are worried about the extra cost to get a Howard, then just take on a little custom tilling to make up the difference! At least with a Howard, you won't have a piece of junk when your done! Hope this helps, Robert

I think your hp requirements may vary depending on your soil type and moisture.

I have to do my spring tilling with a lot of soil moisture due to our climate. In those conditions a 60" Howard will make my MF 165 (55hp) work pretty hard on the initial passes. I also have my tine speed set pretty high which eats hp.

(The Howard has quick change gear-sets that let you adjust tine speed.)

Of course, you can always take your time and make multiple passes too.

-- bb

Can't speak to any of the brand names you've mentioned, but I love my Howard.