Building Tow-Behind Tiller

16 years ago

Hello all!

Well, I've decided to build me a tow-behind tiller. I will have it self-contained so that I can pull it with my quad.

Does anyone out there own such an animal? If so, can you tell me some things about your tow-behind?

- what type of gears drive it?

- does it have wheels? If so, are they adjustable? (ie. do they drop down for travel)

- how wide is it?

- how big is the engine?

- are you willing to email me a pic?

- any other info that you think will help

I am considering the possibility of taking the handles off of my Sears Roto-Spader (if the local place ever finds me some cylinder head bolts), adding some extra tines, and building a tow hitch. Does anyone see anything wrong with this idea?

Thanks!

Chris

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Comments (7)

rrcrossing
16 years ago
Following is an article I got out of Farmshow.

Tiller Trailer" Takes The Work Out Of Rototilling

"I'm 72 years old and find that it's much easier to ride a garden Tractor than it is to wrestle with a front tine rototiller," says Virlyn Burie, Wallace, Mich., who built a "tiller trailer" for his 30-year-old Deere rototiller. It allows him to pull the rototiller behind his Sears garden tractor, instead of having to operate it manually.
The 2-wheeled trailer is made from 2 by 2 steel tubing and pins to the sides of the rototiller. A sprocket-type lever welded on front of the trailer attaches to a hinged bracket he mounted on front of the tiller. He uses the trailer-mounted lever to control the depth of the tiller. The trailer is painted Deere green to match the tiller.
"I use it on my 30 by 60-ft. garden. If works great," says Burie. "The rototiller has a forward motion of its own so the garden tractor is just guiding it, not pulling it. It takes only about 30 seconds to remove the Rototiller from the trailer if I ever need to operate it manually.

"To operate the rototiller. I roll it into the trailer frame and pin it on. After rope starting the tiller and revving up the throttle. I adjust the lever to the depth I want. Then I jump on the tractor and go. Usually I operate the rototiller at its maximum depth.
"I spent $5 apiece for the wheels, which I bought new. The rest of the trailer was built from scrap material. Commercial Rototillers designed to be pulled behind a garden tractor arc available, but they can sell for as muchas $1.000.

"The key in building it is to locate the pivot points so the rototiller always operates at the proper depth. Before building the brackets, I put both the trailer and rototiller on a level floor and put wood blocks under the trailer until I had the rototiller at the depth I wanted it. Then I marked the spots for the pins."

He used 1/4-in. steel plate to make the cog-type lever. The lever handle pivots from the center of the sprocket. To make the teeth, he placed a chain sprocket on the metal and then traced around it. Then he drilled around an old no. 60 chain sprocket.

Homemade brackets attach permanently to the rototiller. A 3/4-in. pipe welded to a piece of 2 by 4 rectangular tubing mounts across the rear with a 1/2-in. bolt. On front of the tiller is a yoke that mounts across the front and sides of the tiller frame that pins to the depth lever.
"At first I tried mounting a length of angle iron across the front of the rototiller and hooked it onto the lever. However, whenever the rototiller would hit a stone it would lurch upward and bend the tiller frame. Plating the sides of the tiller frame to the angle iron with 4 by 3/16-in. plate solved the problem," notes Burie.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Virlyn Burie, N5199R1 Lane, Wallace, Mich. 49893 (ph 906 788-4279; email: joanburie@ alphacomm.net).
maineman
16 years ago
Chris,

There are several commercial tillers that attach to garden or lawn tractors. For example, the Bercomac Rotary Tiller.

However, for a Quad ATV you might be interested in something like the Agri-Fab Rototiller.

MM
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Here's what Sergeant (moderator at that other forum) had to say about it: "Bercomac tiller: I tested one out, it was mounted on a JD LT180 at a Deere dealer. It's as good as a 30-inch Belt driven tiller on the Deere X500 series. If the area you plan on tilling has never been tilled before it will take at least two passes just like the Deere 30-inch PTO tiller will. Bercomac is you're only real option with Craftsman products unless you have a current Craftsman PRO GT which is based on the Cub Cadet GT1054. Then you can take a 30-inch Hydraulic driven tiller or with the top of the line Pro GT you can take a 36-inch PTO driven tiller because the tractor is based on the Simplicity Prestige. With the exception of hydraulic driven tillers most belt driven tillers take about two passes to get a grassed over yard to the right consistency for planting. The nice thing about a tractor mounted tiller over the tow behind tillers is you don't need alot of turning space and you don't have to worry about a 2nd engine either, and you don't have to worry about the tiller jumping. And with the Bercomac you can put a little down pressure on the tiller where you really can't with that 5-hp tow behind tiller. Up until 2005 they did make a 8-hp sleeve hitch mounted tiller for the Craftsman tractors. Now the Bercomac will not mount to you're sleeve hitch. Most tillers with some exception by most manufacturers have had their own frame or they mounted to the same place as the sleeve hitch. The only exception now are Cub Cadet & Ingersoll. In the past the other MTD brands when they still had Garden tractors under those other labels did mount to the electric lift sleeve hitch as well. But you will find the Bercomac is very easy to mount & unmount once the brackets are installed. For the most part it is a universal mount, meaning you can take the bracket off of the Craftsman and put them on a Deere, Cub Cadet,Husqvarna and many other brands, even some shaft driven tractors as long as those tractors run a mule drive off the front. In most cases the only thing you might have to buy is a different drive belt if you run the tiller on a different brand, and in some cases if the tractor has a manually engaged PTO you would have to buy a $14 or $15 kit to use the manual PTO. Hope this Helps"
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I think that you are missing the point here. WALK BEHIND vs GT, sub-CUT or CUT That's one issue and it's a decision only you can make because we don't know what you are growing or how you are growing it. If you need a tiller to prepare 10,000 square feet of garden after the frost is gone and then to till in soil amendments in fall as you put the garden to bed for the winter, then you are probably better served by a tractor with a 3 pt hitch and tiller attachment. If you are growing different crops in close proximity to one another and you intend to cultivate/weed control with a mechanical device, then a walk behind might be the hot ticket. You might want to look at a tiller brand called BCS. They are expensive compared to the box store stuff but since you are not the average homeowner that puts 4 hours on a tiller each year, the BCS price point will work out cheaper in the long run. There are also some Italian made machines that provide a lot of versatility when it comes to available attachments that will help cut down the number of hours spent on weed control. Tractors are nice but you cannot turn a tractor around in the same amount of space that you can spin a walk behind and that sir, is exactly what you should be thinking about first. Chain drive vs gear drive -- Irrelevant, if you ask me. Both are strong. Both are proven designs. Both will break under the right conditions and both will wear out. If you buy a high quality machine, then you have to trust the manufacturer's decision on his drive system Gas vs diesel - There are high quality gas engines such as Kawasski, Honda GX, Vanguard, Kohler Command Pro and Generac that normally provide three to four thousand hours of service or more before needing to be rebuilt but that's based on proper and timely maintenance taking place. Diesels cost more, use less fuel per hour and last up to three times longer. Take your pick. New or used - Low hours is the key if you are buying used. Let someone else take the big hit on depreciation is often a good move but only when the unit has not seen much use and it has been looked after during that time.
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Just walked out to the barn, needed to take the dogs out anyway. I lied to you, I have a 624 in the barn. Here's the dimensions on the drag stake anyway. The stake is rounded on top then the portion that goes into the soil has a point on the leading edge. Length from the top to the point is 14 1/2", from the top to the "trailing edge" is 13 1/2". Thickness is 3/8", width is 1 1/2", adjustment holes are 3/8", CL dimension of holes is 1/2" from leading edge, obviously 1" from trailing edge. Dunno if Javert is still on this forum, he knew a lot about the JD tillers. Good luck,
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cjcocn
Original Author
16 years ago
rrcrossing

Thanks for the article! I also found another write up on a different forum where the guy built new shafts and mounting plates for his tines. He adapted an old tiller by taking off the handles, building a draw bar, and rigging up an engagement lever.

I managed to get a few pics of that, plus some other home made tow-behind tillers and once I can find some extra tines I will have a go at it.

maineman

I like building, plus we have only been here for two years so have more projects than money! I have read some good reviews on the Agri-Fab and if I could afford to I would buy one in a heartbeat, but our finances dictate that I save where I can.

Thanks for the responses fellas!

Chris
steveharr
15 years ago
Did you ever start this? I would also love that information and pictures of others you have found. If you did do yours have you got pics etc of that too, I'd love to see it.

Steve.
steveharr
15 years ago
Can anyone else point me in the right direction with this?
diviner
14 years ago
Does anyone have a drawing or pattern to the to cut and bend tiller tines, from plate.
I have a small fabrication business, and can order thes plates Laser cut, and bend them heat treat them myself if necessary. I can do all the rest at my shop. I would like to make a 36 inch tow behind, Electric "Gearmotor" driven tiller, that I can pull behind my pickup truck. Any plans would be helpful too. Thanks
Conrad
maintairick_yahoo_com
13 years ago
does anyone have pictures i could follow to build one.id gladly pay for the directions thanks

Building Tow-Behind Tiller

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rrcrossing

maineman

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Building Tow-Behind Tiller

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rrcrossing

maineman

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