Tillers Buying Guide
Whenever spring 
is on its way, that means it's prime time to buy a garden tiller. The best tool for preparing soil for planting and cultivating the ground once your garden is growing in full swing, tillers are essential tools for any green thumb. But before you go crazy surfing online or running through your local garden supercentre, read up on some of the basics. This guide will help you determine what kind of tiller is best suited for your needs, whether your tending to a humble garden patch or a stately hedge maze.
Types of Tillers
(Say that three times fast!) Tillers come in three main varieties: front tine, rear tine, and mini-cultivator. And for the non-tiller savvy, tines are the metal blades that project from the tiller and dig into the earth. The basic difference among the types is that front and rear tine tillers have depth stakes to adjust the level of earth you sift through, while mini-cultivators do not. See below to check out some of the other features:
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Front Tine Tillers - Forward-rotating tines located in the front of the machine under the motor.
- Rear-mounted wheels that make it easy to push the machine to different areas.
- In the tilling process, the tines pull the machine forward.
- Untilled ground or particularly hard soil is more difficult to till with a front tine model because the tines can skip over the ground, rather than dig into it.
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Rear Tine Tillers - Tines located at the rear of the machine.
- The motor powers the wheels in front, which then pull the tiller forward.
- The tines are either:
Standard Rotating Tines (SRT or forward-rotating): They rotate in the same direction as the wheels.
Counter Rotating Tines (CRT): They rotate towards the rear of the machine. The counter rotation combined with the forward pulling of the wheels makes tilling tough soil much easier. Thus, these tillers are especially suitable for breaking new ground. |
Mini-Cultivators - Smaller versions of front tine tillers.
- Lightweight.
- Portable.
- Best suited for working in small areas of larger gardens, or small patches of yard landscaping.
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Some Words to the Wise
- If you're an amateur or seasonal gardener, it may not be wise or necessary to buy a tiller. Many can be leased or rented instead, so you only have to pay a small amount of money to use it for a small amount of time.
- Garden tillers are available in various sizes and shapes, so assess your garden area before buying.
- Most tillers available on the market can quickly soften top soil and create rows for seeds to be planted for some more efficient farming. But if you live in an area with particularly hard soil, you may need to opt for a more expensive, complicated model. Read the manual of any tiller before committing to purchase.
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