Tried to post a link to my tractor forum, then go to sears/craftsman club, then do a search for Bercomac. Good info, sorry grden web won't allow the post.

Ev

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"

Thank you guys.

I have the opportunity to buy one that has never been used, for less than 1/2 price. I may also upgrade my mower to a GX255 that has the differential lock.

Larso 1,

You mention you can put a little down pressure on this Bercomac tiller?

How is this done? Is this an advantage over the JD 30inch mechanical tiller?

Thanks,
Chris

Actually, I just quoted what another forum member had written. I think he meant if your tractor has the rear mount hydraulic or electric actuator to lift and lower the tiller, you can put down pressure on it. With a gas engine driven pull behind tiller, even if you have raise and lower capability (i.e., Class 0 3-pt hitch or electric actuator) you really can't give down pressure. In that case you're pretty much dependent on the weight of the tiller to get any depth and reduce bouncing around on the top of the ground. Someone else correct me if I'm wrong.

Looking at the Bercomac web site, looks like the tiller mounts to the rear transaxle on tractors not equipped with a rear lift. Looks like it pivots down from the mounting bracket and uses a manual lever to adjust the depth. In that case the weight of the tractor maintains the downforce..... limits the tiller from bouncing around on hard ground.