RTR tiller

[Kubota_Man]

So I'm thinking I want (yes more want than need) a tiller. I called my local Kubota dealer and asked about a LandPride RTR 05 42" tiller. The salesman told me that my BX24 will handle the RTR 05 50" tiller all day and all night long.

So my question for my fine feathered Orange Friends is...Will a 50" tiller be to big for my lil workhorse?

 

[hodge]

I run a 48" king kutter on my B7100 and have less horsepower than you do, and it does fine. So, if it were me, I wouldn't worry about running a 50". Trust your dealer.
Now, picking it up is a different story.
How heavy is it, in relation to you lift capacity and how much weight you have on the front of the tractor? Some tillers are heavier than others. My KK is 580 pounds. The 7100 picks it up fine, but if I didn't have suitcase weights and loaded front tires, I'd be steering with the brakes.

 

[TripleR]

I use an RTR0550 with our BX2660 and it works great.

 

[Kubota_Man]

Hodge: From what I found my tractor has 660 lbs at 24" lift capacity the tiller is 300 lbs so I should be fine on this front. I usually leave my FEL on so I think I'll be alright there as well. Yeah I sometimes get a strange looks when I'm mowing and bagging with my FEL on. You just never know when you may need to bury the evidance

TripleR: I don't know how much 3hp matters in the grand sceme of things your BX2660 has about 3hp more than mine. Does your RTR0550 drag you tractor down to much?

I think my main concern is will my tractor be a bit underpowered to pull a 50" tiller that is trying to pull me backwards being that it is a "RTR" model.

 

[hodge]

Rule of thumb is 5 hp per foot of implement, so at 23 hp, you are at almost 4 1/2 feet. I run a 4' tiller on 16 hp, and it pulls it fine. Granted, mine is forward rotation, but I don't know if it makes much difference. I have tilled some rough gardens, and have never run out of power. So, I believe that you will be fine.
For what it's worth, I was advised when I was shopping that a 48" tiller would be too much for my B7100, but it hasn't been.

 

[TripleR]

Hodge: From what I found my tractor has 660 lbs at 24" lift capacity the tiller is 300 lbs so I should be fine on this front. I usually leave my FEL on so I think I'll be alright there as well. Yeah I sometimes get a strange looks when I'm mowing and bagging with my FEL on. You just never know when you may need to bury the evidance

TripleR: I don't know how much 3hp matters in the grand sceme of things your BX2660 has about 3hp more than mine. Does your RTR0550 drag you tractor down to much?

I think my main concern is will my tractor be a bit underpowered to pull a 50" tiller that is trying to pull me backwards being that it is a "RTR" model.

You can control ground speed as well as depth, so I really don't see how you would have any problems. Our machines should weigh about the same.

The only time I have bogged down was my fault trying to till when it was too wet in a low spot in my back yard.

 

[gpreuss]

I ran a 40" Howard on my L185DT with only about 13 PTO horses. I usually ran it in PTO-3 (1000 rpm), with the tiller gearing in hi. Never had a problem. Turned field into flour. I cannot imagine you having a problem with half again the power and only 10 more inches of tiller.
If your garden is fenced it will be a lot more convenient not to leave the FEL on it, if it comes off easily. Some times it just gets in the way...

 

[kubotasam]

Just something to think about. Just because you can run a larger tiller do you really want one. I have a 42" BEFCO that I use. I plant my rows of potatoes far enough apart and can till between the rows most of the summer. If If I had a larger tiller I would need my rows much farther apart. I keep a cut down section of a York rake mounted to the bottom of the loader bucket. After I till between the rows I go back through and drop the bucket/rake. The rake pushes the loosened dirt out to the sides and hills the potatoes.
When tilling the whole garden in the spring or fall a narrower tiller will take a few more passes to get the job done, but that is not a big deal to me.

 

[hodge]

Just something to think about. Just because you can run a larger tiller do you really want one. I have a 42" BEFCO that I use. I plant my rows of potatoes far enough apart and can till between the rows most of the summer. If If I had a larger tiller I would need my rows much farther apart. I keep a cut down section of a York rake mounted to the bottom of the loader bucket. After I till between the rows I go back through and drop the bucket/rake. The rake pushes the loosened dirt out to the sides and hills the potatoes.
When tilling the whole garden in the spring or fall a narrower tiller will take a few more passes to get the job done, but that is not a big deal to me.[/QUOTE

I till more than my own garden, so time is money. I need to till a garden in the shortest time possible, so I need the widest tiller that my tractor will pull.

 

[Kubota_Man]

So I think I understand that my Lil Giant can handle a 50" RTR tiller. I also understand that I need to make sure I want something that big or not. With only an inch on each side of my tires I dont see that with what I'll use it for that won't make much of a diffrance.

Thank you for your help guys

 

[guymontana]

I am running a 50 inch Landpride RTA12 tiller (forward rotation rather than reverse rotation) on my BX25. I have plenty of power, and don't need to be in 4 wheel after initial tilling. Tiller does a great job. I had considered a reverse rotation tiller as well, but my dealer said if you get into soil with rocks, you can have trouble with the rocks getting stuck in the tiller.

 

[cynicman]

I run a Land Pride RTR1250 with my BX25.....it works great. First job I did was to till up a half acre or so that hadn't been touched in probably 70 years...no problem. One word of caution...if you're using a tiller with a slip clutch, make sure the clutch is free to slip and not seized. I bought my tiller new, and found out through trial and error that the clutch wasn't working properly...hopefully nothing was damaged during my learning curve. What are we paying PDI fees for anyway!