Bought a tiller

[Mickey]

Had been giving thought to buying a tiller for the Yan and recently Ernie got a new shipment in. When I called he said he had a very nice one he had set aside for me. Went over to take a look and it was indeed and very nice tiller. Had a few bangs on the sheet metal but the mechanics looked and operated like new. A lot of these used tillers imported have seen a lot of use and the tines are pretty well worn. To my surprise the tines have most of the paint still on them and the cross shaft that supports the tines as well still had it's original paint on it.

Ernie needed to service it so I needed to give him a week to get it done. On Friday I took possession. Sure filled up the bed of my Nissan pick-up.

Man, these things are a lot more complicated than the tiller I've been using on my old Bolens for MANY yrs. It's going to take me some time to figure out the proper way to set this thing up and adj for depth.

Got it all mounted last night shortly before dinner and made a couple passes in the garden. Talk about smooth, can't even hear it running. We've gotten a lot of rain lately so was expecting the soil to be clumpy but to my surprise it came out very powdery.

Come next yr it's going to be good-bye to the old Bolens.

[Mickey]

Got a chance to get the tiller adj'd and went over about half of the garden today. Was really surprised how well the tiller worked. Was able to go about 6" deep on one pass.

The area where I did the tilling was covered with G.beans, cukes, squash & mellons. Hard to believe the tiller turned under all the vegetation so well.

Getting the garden ready for planting next yr is going to be a lot easier and quicker than it has in the past.

[bontai Joe]

Nothing sweeter than having the right tool for the job! I can almost duplicate your garden's appearance with my old Troy-Bilt Horse tiller, but it will take me 6 to 8 passes or more, not one :00000060:

[wanna_be_farmer]

That does some nice work!

[mark777]

[QUOTE...Getting the garden ready for planting next yr is going to be a lot easier and quicker than it has in the past.[/QUOTE]

Man, that is an awesome tiller.

I have a Yanmar RS1300 48" 2 point AND I love the darn thing. I tilled two areas, 50' x 80' of wet clay, lime and finally crushed concrete for elevated sites for slabs for the shop last year and the mobile home this year. It had to be 40" above the 100 year flood plane. I had dump trucks running for two days straight and the drivers would often get out and watch that little YM1401D with tiller in amazement as it bounced, shook and fluffed the mix.

I am so intune with the machine that I run it without the training wheels!

A few weeks ago I actually worked the soil with it. Purrs like a kitten, and after several passes on the top soil (which hasn't been turned in 15 years) you can bump it up to 2nd gear pto (720 rpm @2400) and the dirt will fly out from under the deflector. I do not recommend tilling in reverse with the shield deflector down...don't ask me why :tsk: . Hammer, dolly, slapper and 4-5 hours later good as new...OH yeah, it's gray now.

Regards, Mark

[Argee]

That's a nice looking job on the tillage. How does it do on sod?

[Mickey]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

Mark, that a nice set-up you have. These little Yans are sure built tuff. I posted a Q over on TBN asking if anyone had a source of info on these tillers. I would like to know what models were for what tractor and exactly how to set them up correctly. Never did receive a response. One of the decals on the tiller listed tractor models but the newest was the xx20 series.

I would like to know more about the "training wheels" as I can see in some situations they would be desireable. As I'm getting a little more familiar with mine I see where I have a lever on the tiller where I can decouple the wheels where they just float and don't support the tiller at all. Not sure yet if I'll leave them on or just take them off.

One area where the wheels could be of help is where you are just skimming the surface of the ground a little and really want to control the depth. This just might be the thing if workng up sod to replant and wanted to work the bumps out and level out.

Since today was the first time I really tried to use the tiller, I can't say how it would do on sod but if today's experience with the garden, with crops mentioned still in place and for the most part not being able to see them after a single deep pass, it might do a great job on sod.

It's been many yrs since I've worked up my yard and with all the gophers, it is in need of working up, leveling out and replanting. Got to get the go-ahead from the boss first. :)

[mark777]

Mickey,

I'm sure the wheels were designed to assist in some specific task, but not sure just what that is. Although they have clearance to swing 360* and don't interfere with the tilling operation, they tend to anchor when tilling in reverse. I have noticed that they are great when parking the equipment, detaching the tiller (with wheels fully extended), and blocking under the front spline. Makes it allot easier to reconnect on your future project.

Almost everyone I've talked with removes the wheels. I can adjust the digging height using the hydraulic implement lock or just feather the draft control depending of the conditions at hand. I know tilling in reverse is as effective as forward but has a tendency to suck the tiller down...with or without the wheels.

Maybe as you suggested, it's good for first passes on hard soil-sod conditions on unbroken ground.

Sorry, I have no source for matching tillers to tractor models (numbers). Not sure if there is any, as Japanese farmers may select a particular tiller for their needs, and not necessarily match a specific tractor. That is my best guess.

Mark

BTW: Your garden spot looks as though professional landscapers spent days preparing :).

[Mickey]

Mark, you're sure right about the wheels helping in supporting the tiller and the ease of mounting and dismounting the tiller. This tiller doesn't need any blocking to keep in sitting upright but I might put a block under the chain cover and support to keep everything off the ground during the winter. I have a couple heavy duty plastic covers (tight fit over a pallet of pellets) that came with wood pellets I bought and with the wheel frame tucked in, one of these covers covers up the tiller completly.

My Yan has the UFO and I almost wish I had one of the tillers with the electronics to make use of the setup.

As clean as the tiller was I suspected it was a newer model but when looking at the decal and the tractor models mentioned it appears this tiller is getting close to 20 yrs old.

Oh, thanks for the comment on the garden. No real effort used was just trying out the tiller and seeing what it would do. With the depth I was tilling it did put a load on the tractor but no where near over loading. When working, the tractor would drop about 300 rpm. I don't know much about how well the gov works on these tractors.

[Mickey]

That's a nice looking job on the tillage. How does it do on sod?
Worked up some old pasture ground over the last couple days. First pass went about 2-3" deep just to get the grass worked up. Today I went over the ground again (3rd time) and is now about 7-8" deep.

The ground is worked up pretty fine except for the clumps of grass/roots. Will let this sit over the winter and come spring it will be covered in new native grass. This piece of ground hasn't been worked for more than 30 yrs and had cattle on it for a number of yrs and in recent yrs, mice and gophers have done their thing and it wasn't very smooth and we use it during the summer for games when we have big family get-togethers.

[Greg]

Mickey,

Looks great! Looks like that tiller was a super investment, and is going to pay for itself soon with all the work you are getting done with it.

Uncle Greg