Well as I have said in previous post's on both this forum and other The 3oinch can do the Job but you may have to go over the new ground more than once. The Hydraulic tiller may even take more than one pass the first time. The mechanical tiller is like having a walk behind but it is mounted. The hydraullic tiller weights 265lbs for the GX300 or X500 series The 30inch weights 145lbs. Here is what Deere says about the 42inch tiller " It is wider than the 30inch Mechanical tiller More compact and less costly than the 647 Tiller" and he is what Deere also says "The 42inch reversible-tine tiller includes self-contained hydraulic reservoir,pump and motor to run tine shaft. it offers the distinct advantage of being much quieter than conventional chain- driven tillers,plus housing mounting points can be reversed for back tilling(tines rotate in opposite direction of tractor wheels and tires)Back tilling is generally used for breaking new ground and cultivating harder,compacted soil" Now if you reverse the housing around remeber to go slow as slow as you can when back tilling. To tell you the truth The Hydraulic tiller is more versitible than the 30inch mechanical tiller because you can back till with it. Which is another reason I bought mine for my X485 and I didn't want a 48inch wide(647) tiller mostly for storage space. I had a JD 425 with a 450 tiller which took up alot of room. Go with the 42inch Hydraulic tiller You will not regret it Except maybe when your mounting it. I have a 3point so it pretty easy. Where yours will be a frame mount. all I have done to my Hydraulic tiller is change the filter and Hydraulic fluid every two years and had to replace on cotter pin I have had it since spring 2004. The 30inch tiller can do it but it will take longer and several passes in that New York soil Which is what it took me with the soil conditions around Fort Drum and around Watertown New York which was alot of Clay and rocky soil it was a 30inch mounted on a JD240. The Hydraulic tiller for the most part will till throught ground like it's butter. I till over 3acres twice a year with my Hydraulic tiller and do other tilling projects for neigbors. I Actually have two Hydraulic tillers the other is a 30inch Hydraulic tiller mounted on a 2002 Cub Cadet 2206 which the wife uses for her Flower garden plots. Just saying in the past I made do with the 30inch mechanical tiller and it can do the job. But now that I have the Hydraulic driven tillers I would never go back to the Mechanical driven tillers. So I hope this helps I vote for the 42inch Hydraulic driven Tiller and good luck with this years Garden plots and projects. Here is a link that might be useful: 42inch tiller

flatopfred, To my knowledge, for the past 60 years, all Troy-Bilt machines were factory painted in red - from the original heavy duty Gardenway units to the current lightweight MTD models. It also seems that your serial number doesn't correspond to numbers listed in other sources. Perhaps it's a tiller made by another manufacturer?

I used Slime. A while later I had to remove the tire. What a mess and the time I had to take to refinish and repaint the rim was far longer and more work than a proper repair would have been. I'll never use Slime again. If you need a tubeless repair in the tread area use a cheap and easy plug or there's the option of installing a tube or for more $$$ have the tire foam filled.

jdfanatic, i've decided to go with the bx1850 for a couple of reasons: the tilling will be done in sections/determined by the infrequent amounts of time that i get to do anything outside/a dispensation granted only by the queen and/or my two girls (ages 8&7). another major reason is the 2k price point difference between the bx1850 and bx2350. i am honestly stretching to get into the little kubota. again my property is only an acre and a half. were it to be larger, and dollars not a true limiting factor . . . i'd probably be looking at/driving a deere 2305. about the tiller. . . i have yet to do my homework. i will have to reconcile the differences between kubota, befco and king kutter. thank you all for your input. robert a. aloha