Hey all, novice here so this might be a stupid question. I rented this merry tiller from Home Depot and it is NOT penetrating the ground when I move, even if I put a ton of weight. The tines are moving fine, it rained a couple of days ago and the soil is decently damp, what am I doing wrong here?
by Ok-Piano-282
23 Comments
You need to rip the turf so the tiller tines can get a bite into the soil. Farmers plow before they till, and so should you.
Lower the tines maybe? They look to be adjustable.
Figure out how to adjust it so the rear lowers more
The back adjustment bar is to high. Lower it until the back flap is almost laying on the ground. It will dig deeper. You will have to make several passes to completely till the soil
That black notched metal bar in the back should be lowered. It sticks in the ground and helps you control the tillers and plow deeper. I’ve used one three times so I am NOT an authority on the matter!
You should have rented the sod cutter first.
Why are you tilling?
My man, you gotta tear up the ground some before tilling…. plus, that’s still a hell of a lot of grass there. Why are you tilling it? Ideally, you want to kill this off or scalp it down more before tilling grass.
Also, adjust the height of the tines. They look pretty high up.
You’re trying to till turf grass?
You need to remove the grass. A tiller is there to break up dirt to be soft, it doesn’t remove your grass.
Its pretty hard to till ground with established grass like this. I would go through and hack the whole garden with a pick axe or a spade. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but as long as there are regular entry point for the blades of the tiller it should work.
Tillers can tear up some vegetation like weeds easily. What you have looks like a decently healthy grass lawn possibly bermuda. The whole point of which is to protect the soil. What is your actual goal. Vegetables? Different grass? Some kind of native garden thing?
Bermuda will come back everywhere unless you really get it deep so some plan to remove or kill it would have been better to start with. If you must till I like to wet the earth just enough that its softer but not muddy.
Possibly you should have rented a sod cutter if you’re removing a large area of grass
If you have a truck next time get the hydraulic one. It will save a lot of time and energy.
Have done this multiple times. I normally rent a sod cutter to remove the sod first. And then fill in some additional compost if I need to. But the tiller should also had a depth adjustment. The rental shop will have it sent to zero depth to not damage the tines for storage.
Did you rent a “tiller” thinking it would dethatch your lawn? Or scarify (scrape open) your lawn? Because if you did plan to do that on actual grass/sod like that, it’s the wrong tool to use. It will rip open and completely ruin your lawn like a farm machine, not a lawn machine.
You need a much simpler machine, a dethatcher-scarifier that scrapes the soil to remove thatch buildup or can be adjusted to cut open the soil a little (scarifying) to help with new grass seed planting. I would not use this or you’re going to ruin your lawn.
In winter the ground is moist and can be tilled easier. Summer or spring the ground is harder.
You ain’t tilling that grass patch you need to turn it over with a plow first
Wow there are some uninformed (stupid) people here. Of course a tiller like this will till right through this grass! As others have pointed out Op needs to just lower the tines so they drop into the soil.
Raise the depth thingy in the middle of the rear flap/guard. If it has reverse rotation, use that first. If not, low gear and use the throttle to keep a comfortable pace. Easy peasy
Too high but also water the land a day in advance.. please read how to use you machine or watch a YouTube
i have a rear tiller. rears arent good for ground breaking. i have to put down a layer of dirt/compost/manure first then it will till into grassy soil. if i dont it jumps all over and races across doing nothing. or you need the big kind that go on lawnmowers and tractors. your gonna break your back trying. you could take it back. tell them it dont work. call a guy to bring his big tiller and do for you. put down all your soil amendments before. worm castings, compost, id get some bails of promix to help soften the soil. you tube has some great soil mixes. DO NOT PUT DOWN ANY MIRCLE GROW. or any other cheap garbage. then till. then sift out all the grass. all the amendments will get mixed in really good this way. the dryer the soil, the better the tiller works.
I would take a weedeater and scalp it to the ground and then I would soak it with a hose. I think you will find tilling it to be much easier.