Tiller lifts up tractor rear wheels

[JorisFRST]

Quite inexperienced with this mind you...

Just bought a Kubota B1600DT with a Yanmar RS1303 tiller.

Have some hard pack grassland I want to till, I mowed it quite short, but when trying to till it, the tiller lifts up the tractor and rides the tractor forward.

Putting it in 1st gear low, it stalls the tractor motor. (all this in 540 pto)

I'm sure i'm doing something wrong, or is it just too hard for this small tractor to till a very old grassland?

 

[JorisFRST]

Before I wreck the tractor, would it be a good idea to try this with the "crawl" speed ? Or would that actually be worse ?

 

[rtgt]

It sounds like you need to break up the soil enough that the tiller can get a bite.

Perhaps if you broke some of the ground with a ripper or subsoiler first?

Maybe just try the rippers on a box blade for a few passes and then try the tiller?

 

[thedevilyoulove]

I don't think tillers are meant to break up solid ground, the ground should be plowed and disc first, at least that's how I have always seen it done.

 

[aeronutt]

If the tiller is the only tool you've got for beating up dirt, try taking smaller bites. Set it to only dig an inch for the first pass and gradually go deeper with each pass. You might need to go over the whole thing 5 or 6 times. A little bit of water can help too if the soil is really dry, but don't overdo it.

 

[skeets]

INdee DO NOT JUST SUMP THAT BABY IN!!!!!
First thing is to just drop the tiller on the ground,, and then run over it it will miss some and hit some but it is working like it should,, Then sit in one spot and SLOWLY drop the tiller about an inch or so,, stop it there and run all over the area again,,,
When you get back to your starting point,, do the same thing,,
What happend when you try to gouge up hard pack the tillers will bite and push and when they do it will lift the back of the tractor and drive you forward,,,
So remember it is like eating an elephant,, one bite at a time,, keep dropping it a litlle bit at a time until your all the way down!!! After that it will be smooth sailing,,,
OHHHHHH and when your doing this keep an eye out for roots and BIG ROCKS

And your good to go, and enjoy your play time,,,,, ERRRR I meant work safely

 

[JorisFRST]

Thanks guys,

tiller is the only tool I got for now for this kinda work. Looking for a plow, but they're overly expensive new over here and impossible to find 2nd hand.

With all your suggestions I inspected the patch I tried yesterday, and where it bit, it went almost 3 inches down before/when it lifted the tractor up. I think I understood and will go slowly bit by bit with the tiller.

Safety is on my mind, but it's so much more fun having your own toys than having someone come in and do it for you

 

[Grouse Feathers]

I tilled up some lawn for a garden with a hydrostatic garden tractor. When the tiller dug in I would push the reverse pedal down, the rear wheels would spin backwards and the tiller would continue to drive the tractor forward. I don't think you should put your gear drive tractor in reverse, but you might try putting the tractor in neutral, apply the brakes, engage the PTO, and slowly lower the 3 point. The tiller will probably drive the tractor forward and you might be able to regulate the speed by how hard you apply the brakes. To stop I would raise the 3 point before stopping the PTO.

 

[Diydave]

With tough grass sod, it helps to kill it, first, with roundup. I would then use a subsoiler, then go to the tiller. Small subsoilers are around $125, I read somewhere, that TSC has them on sale, now. You might also try weights on the rear wheels, too. And what the other posters have said about an inch at a time, and definitely use the creeper gear, as less forward motion means you are taking smaller bites, with the tiller blades.

 

[D2Cat]

Belgium may not have TSC. May have to borrow or improvise.

 

[skeets]

OH and one other thing I forgot,,, check your tines on the tiller, they need to have a fair edge on them. If they are well worn and really blunt then they will not cut through the dirt but rather try to push through the dirt and then they act as cleats on a track. Yes I have been there and I found out the hard way about the tines

 

[Tx Jim]

Welcome to OTT
Tillers are designed to be operated at a very slow ground speed. I don't understand how tiller can raise rear wheels off the ground since on most tractors the 3 pt hitch has no down pressure.

 

[Grouse Feathers]

Welcome to OTT
Tillers are designed to be operated at a very slow ground speed. I don't understand how tiller can raise rear wheels off the ground since on most tractors the 3 pt hitch has no down pressure.

It's not so much that it lifts the rear end, the tiller tines just have way more traction than the tractor tires on unbroken ground. You end up being driven ahead at speed of the tiller regardless of what you do with driving the tractor wheels. After two or three passes you usually have the soil loosened up enough to actually start tilling.

 

[JorisFRST]

Managed to do three runs in crawl, every one a bit deeper and it's breaking up nicely. Thanks for all the support. Think it needs another two runs now.

 

[Tooljunkie]

I recall my buddy's father in law removing his tiller tines to sharpen them. Walk behind tiller. He re installed them backwards. My buddy tried to tell him, but the old guy would have no part of it. For years he beat himself sensless with that cantankerous tiller. One weekend i borrowed it and flipped tines around. I still have it,he didnt want it back even after i told him tines were on backwards.

Im not implying your tines are on backwards, i just thought it would be fun to throw this in.

As nice as this old guy is, he has a funny way of getting things done,refuses to ask for help no matter how much he needs it. We usually catch him in the act and intervene. He's finally starting to come around, after 72 years.

 

[Tx Jim]

It's not so much that it lifts the rear end, the tiller tines just have way more traction than the tractor tires on unbroken ground. You end up being driven ahead at speed of the tiller regardless of what you do with driving the tractor wheels.

Having owned/used a tiller for over 10 yrs I'm aware of how a tiller can move a tractor especially a smaller tractor BUT I was responding to thread title"""Tiller lifts up tractor rear wheels""". Some tractor owners have the misconception that tractors have down-pressure on the 3 pt which is what I thought OP was implying. Granted there are a very few models that have down pressure on the 3 pt but that is an exception to the rule.

 

[Kurtee]

Are you tilling in 4 wheel drive? My Honda manual says to till with 4 wheel drive engaged.

 

[Diydave]

Are you tilling in 4 wheel drive? My Honda manual says to till with 4 wheel drive engaged.

4WD does affect the gripping ability some, but since I don't have it on either of my Botas, slow and steady, and adequate soil moisture has a lot more to do with the quality of the job. Experience will show the OP that...

 

[JorisFRST]

Going slow in 4WD,

weather is crap here at the moment, so will do the next passes in a few weeks.

Learning as we go

 

[gillis.jim]

Welcome to OTT

Tillers are designed to be operated at a very slow ground speed. I don't understand how tiller can raise rear wheels off the ground since on most tractors the 3 pt hitch has no down pressure.

My Ariens S-16 has down pressure on the three point therefor the lift arm has a slotted hole on the tiller end to allow it to bounce if it needs. Pretty cool setup. Also nice having down pressure! When I have my tree winch on I can lift up the rear tires with the bottom edge of the attachment and it will dig into the ground as I'm winching out a tree. Makes changing the rear wheels a piece of cake as well.