Vegetable garden: tiller or plow or disc or ???

[pgmrdan]

I have a vegetable garden that's around 1800 square feet.

My back isn't what it used to be so I thought about getting an attachment for my BX2380.

Tillers are expensive especially for a garden that small. Plus tillers create a hard pan at the bottom of the tine rotation and destroy the soil structure. I have mixed feelings.

A plow could be better but it destroys the soil structure too. Will my BX pull a one bottom plow, say a Brinly Hardy?

I don't know much about a disc. Will they get deep enough?

What do you guys use?

 

[Bmbbm]

I use a tiller. They are expensive but when you get done its ready to plant. If you go with a plow your going to have to use a disc or something else to smooth it up before you plant. If your not breaking new ground a disc will probably work. Your BX will pull a single plow, but you will need a plow designed for a subcompact. With its short stature I won't lift a lot of older plows up high enough. YouTube has some video's of BX's pulling plows.

 

[skeets]

I have to with the tiller my self, I think ours is 48 inches maybe 42 but it covers the track on the BX and will work down 6 inches which really you dont need any more than that. Low range in 4wd will make it a pleasure, why 4wd just my preference, and low range because you want your ground speed down and RPMs up, also you might find that the tiller will want to push you along in high range

 

[bucktail]

Can't beat a tiller for seedbed prep. A spring tooth cultivator with a matching spring tooth harrow or a disk harrow might get you by for most things especially if your soil is light, but lettuce and some other small seed vegetables need fine soil in order to germinate. The disk harrow probably won't go as deep as the tiller depending on the tiller and the disk.

Any tillage is going to destroy the soil structure. I looked at the Brinley Hardy website and couldn't find moldboard plows on it. There are plenty of them used on craigslist locally though. Your BX will pull it. They're made for garden tractors. The ones that I've see for sale use hitch that's designed for garden tractors that don't have a 3ph on them, so you'll need some creativity to get the hitch to work and you'll still need something else to break up the clods for seedbed prep.

I picked up a JD 212 with mower, blower and tiller for $500. The tiller will need new bearings and tines, but going with a garden tractor for tilling might be cheaper even if you need to buy the garden tractor.

 

[tempforce]

I use a plow to flip the grass over, then rototill the soil on top. I started a few years ago with fire damaged soil, it was a light tan. I'm now getting a dark brown soil. after using cover crops several times a year...

 

[Landroverbill]

Try a sub spoiler and a tiller after that. Plant a cover crop as mentioned and use the sub spoiler to break that hard pan and get organic material down deeper.

 

[al m]

They are all different tools for different operations. Use a plow to turn under sod or stubble from summer growth in the fall,putting organic matter into the soil,not destroying the soil.
Spring is the time to till,disc to chop,spring tooth to airiate ,some say a tiller will do both,but it will pound the sub soil. A sub soiled is used to cobat compaction,every three to five years,depending on the rotation schedule,fallow practice ,and weight of equipment

 

[geoff]

I run a subsoiler through to break up the gravel base in my ground, and a rotary tiller after a spreading of well rotted wood chip, which I have an abundance of being a tree worker, to loose up and feed the top soil.

 

[Utopia Texas]

My father used a PTO tiller on his 1/2 acre garden for over 20 years. His gardens were always weed free and easy to maintain BUT.......
it ruined the soil structure and there was a low spot where the garden resided.
His tilling always produced a plumped pillowy soil until it rained and the soil compacted. Like a addiction he would till again and fluff the soil back up only to have it compact again after the next rain. Apparently the soil was over time broken down so much no air space was left after rain and then would compact.
Years later I tilled over fifty thousand pounds of pecan shells from our processing plant into the area and then left it alone. It is now pasture, back to ground level, and growing natural coastal Bermuda grass.
Warning.....don't go crazy with a rotary tiller.

 

[pgmrdan]

Good post Utopia Texas!

I'm convinced that the best way to work up a garden is with a garden fork.

 

[Blondie70]

I use a disk. I have a big ole garden with the fence that opens on both ends. I can run disk up and down the length of it.
As I like to stuff the easy way and my back is about worn out too....I plot my course and use the edges of the disked ground for my rows. (a nice furrow). As I plant stuff (after the main disking) I move the disk over to make another row and continue doing this until I get all my rows made.
This is the easiest way I have found. It is still work. Gotta use the garden rake for fertilizer lime and seed.
I deep plow the garden every few years just cuz I got a plow...ha ha.
Good luck and good eating.
Rite now growing turnips, collards, beets and broccoli.
Tomorrow I am planting multiplying onions....all with the disk !
Got a tiller, but it is in retirement.
Good Luck !!!

 

[Bulldog777]

If you use a tiller often, you have to put bio mass back into the soil. Cover crops have a lot of benefits.
We used a plow and disc when I was young, it works. You have to run the disc ALOT to get it broke up pretty good. But hands down, I LOVE my rototiller! I plant cover crops and till them in, and I also shred and till in old crops. When my corn is harvested, I shred the stalks, let them dry, and till them in. Same with peas, or whatever else I've planted. Oak leaves can be chopped with a lawn mower and tilled in. You have to put some structure back in the soil.

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