Trading Tillers

[jrslick]

I currently have a Caroni FL1400 tiller, it is 56 inches wide. I have been using this on my B7100. According to their website, it will work for this tractor. It is in almost new condition. I bought it used last August.



I found on craigslist a Bushhog RTS 40, it is a 38 inch wide tiller. I know it is Dealer owned (recognize the names, number and location) and I know they have had it for awhile, as I saw the post in early December too. They want $995 for it. That is about what I have in mine.




Would trading them straight across be a crazy idea? I have used a 50 inch tiller with the 7100 and had no problem. The 56 inch runs just fine, but as others have mentioned, it is a big tiller for the tractor. It does bog the tractor down, but only when it is really tilling deep. The tiller really digs in and does a great job and is super quiet. The Bushhog is a Forward tine tiller and the Caroni is regular rotation.

Am I going to regret going from a 56 inch tiller to a 38 inch tiller. It appears I could offset the Bushhog to cover my tracks, but only one of them. The Caroni covers both. A smaller tiller would/should have less wear and tear on the tractor. They both appear to be in the same condition.

I market garden on about 1 acre and have 6 high tunnels. I maybe adding some more ground 1/2 acre (if possible). So I will be using the tiller fairly regularly. I am not going to be trading tractors as I love the size and power of the 7100 for my small operation.

Any thoughts?

 

[Paulemar]

Why in heavens name would you want to trade down from a 56" tiller that works. If it only bogs down when at full depth then just go a little slower or into a lower gear. Wear & tear on your tractor is probably not an issue if you are only tilling an acre. 38" is getting into garden tractor territory as far as tiller size is concerned. Your B is certainly much more capable than that.

Paul

 

[jrslick]

Paul:

Won't disagree with you at all. It would be much, much smaller. Thanks for confirming my thoughts.

 

[skeets]

I have to go with Paul on this, unless there is a really good reason to trade, that little beasty would stay where it was,, just MHO

 

[5thhorseman]

I run my B7000 with a 48" tiller all the time. The B7000 is 17 hp I believe.

I always use the lowest hear and fairly high throttle but not maxed out, and PTO at the slowest speed. We have a fair amount of clay in our soil but the tiller does beautifully even at near maximum depth, though nowadays I set it for more of a shallow till anyways.

 

[2458n]

IF you ever decide to trade sell your larger tiller would better to work with fitting more tractors. I started out with a 48 inch tiller on my L245DT and kept breaking the chain. Just thinking out loud.

 

[Bulldog]

Look at it this way. The wear your might save going to a smaller tiller will be increased because it will take 3 passes to cover what you do with 2 now. Figure that over a couple of acres and you just added several extra hours of work to your day.

I ran a 50" behind my B7100 for a while and never had any issue as long as the ground wasn't to wet. IMHO I would keep the 56"

 

[Tooljunkie]

I will offer my .02 worth. The heavier tiller will make for smoother operation. The extra passes will add more time to that part of the operation.

 

[bmwmike]

I currently have a Caroni FL1400 tiller, it is 56 inches wide. I have been using this on my B7100. According to their website, it will work for this tractor. It is in almost new condition. I bought it used last August.



I found on craigslist a Bushhog RTS 40, it is a 38 inch wide tiller. I know it is Dealer owned (recognize the names, number and location) and I know they have had it for awhile, as I saw the post in early December too. They want $995 for it. That is about what I have in mine.




Would trading them straight across be a crazy idea? I have used a 50 inch tiller with the 7100 and had no problem. The 56 inch runs just fine, but as others have mentioned, it is a big tiller for the tractor. It does bog the tractor down, but only when it is really tilling deep. The tiller really digs in and does a great job and is super quiet. The Bushhog is a Forward tine tiller and the Caroni is regular rotation.

Am I going to regret going from a 56 inch tiller to a 38 inch tiller. It appears I could offset the Bushhog to cover my tracks, but only one of them. The Caroni covers both. A smaller tiller would/should have less wear and tear on the tractor. They both appear to be in the same condition.

I market garden on about 1 acre and have 6 high tunnels. I maybe adding some more ground 1/2 acre (if possible). So I will be using the tiller fairly regularly. I am not going to be trading tractors as I love the size and power of the 7100 for my small operation.

Any thoughts?

Why not just take the outside tines off your Caroni, which should make it a 46 " or smaller tiller and try it and see how it does and how you like it.

That way you have both a narrow one and a wide one.

mike

 

[jrslick]

Use the tiller for the first time today since last November and it ran like a top. The 7100 had plenty of power and never really bogged down except once or twice and I looked back and it had dug in so deep it was pulling a full box of soil.

It worked much better since I ran my soil ripper through the patches first.

Jay