Hey all. I've been renting a large rear-time tiller for the past few years to till my garden. My husband just told me I could buy a tiller. The issue is that I'm a small woman with little upper body strength. I want to get a tiller that I can use instead of waiting on my husband. Also we have clay/sandy soil with invasive grasses that have to be broken up every year. Any suggestions on which tiller to buy?
Get a rear-tine tiller as they are easier to handle. The weight of the tiller helps to keep the tines in the ground and it doesn't jump around as much as a front tine or one of those Manitis tillers. With a clay soil, you will want to go as big as you can afford - so it has the power to work that heavy soil. I just laugh every time I see a commercial for those little Mantis Tillers - unless you are tilling in potting soil, I doubt that it would do much good. My rear-tine tiller has a forward gear so it will power itself out to the garden and I don't have to push it. I just move the depth gauge in the back to it's travel setting and away we go. It is slow moving - so I put it in Neutral for the downhill travel and push it, but without the help fo the tiller, I cannot get it up the hill to the garage by myself.
