Tiller

[PACub100]

Here are some pics of a tiller for sale near me. Guy wants $400. Comes with everything in the pics. Came off a 1250.
I've been wanting to get a tiller for my 1450 but thought $400 might be a little steep. Was thinking more around $250-300.
My questions are...

1) Do you guys think this is a decent deal? (It'll probably cost me another $40 in gas to go get it)

2) Can someone ID this model?

3) For all that have tillers, do you use them as often as they are designed for or do you find it easier to run a walk behind and be done with it?

I was planning on using it for a garden here as well as letting my boys go around town and make some money tilling gardens for residents. Being a small town I'd be surprised if they did 10-20, but a little extra money nonetheless.
Thinking about getting it hooked up just to till a 25'x15' garden seems overkill, but if it's hooked up and the boys and I can go around and do a bunch in a week or two it might be worth the time and money...

Anyways, would like to hear all opinions, pros and cons, etc... thanks all!

 

[bkattner]

If that was near me I'd probably go get it. Appears to be in pretty good shape.

 

[snicklas]

Not a horrible deal.... looks like a #2 since it is the wide one..... that the shell is 38" wide. The #1 and #1A have a narrow shell, that 1 or 2 extensions can be added to...

I believe it is this one:

http://ccmanuals.info/pdf/2 Tiller Operators Manual.pdf
Not this one:

http://ccmanuals.info/pdf/1 Tiller Operators Manual.pdf
If you look at the pictures, you can see the difference that I mention. The #2 the rib across the top goes almost to the edge. The #1 the rib stops short and then the extension is next to it.

 

[dschwandt]

That's a number 2 unit, they are very good.
It's a little overpriced IMHO as it appears there is no belt guard VERY IMPORTANT and dangerous to use one without it., especially if you intend for youngsters to use it!!

DO NOT, under any circumstances allow hands or fingers in the area where the tee handle clears the rear fender pan when raising the unit with the lift!!!! And make SURE the tee handle is parallel with the rear edge of the fender pan for proper clearance or you will tear up the pan when raised and you will not be a happy camper at that point!!

Make sure you get BOTH belts and the mule drive.
The pin looks like it is not for tiller operation as there should be a slot where the tee nut goes instead of a hole to allow for movement of the nut as the unit is raised.

Is it on a tractor now and operable?
I'd ask for a demonstration.
It will work good on your 1450 w/hydraulic lift for sure. Mine is on a 1450 for this season as well.

Good luck

 

[snicklas]

I agree with the warning about the tee bar clearance. It just misses the fender pan when fully raised... it will pinch the s**t out of your hand...

I agree, get both belts (the short one from the angle drive to the tiller, and the long one that goes from the PTO to the gear box) because no long belt drastically increases the cost of putting this into service...

I didn't notice the missing belt guard, but (this is a personal preference and I understand the consequences surrounding it, and I am the only one that runs the tiller) that belt guard is one of the first things I remove when I get a tiler with one. Dad and I have been running one for over 40 years that way.... so we understand the "don't put your XXXXXX back there when it is running". To me it makes it difficult to install the belt..... again personal opinion. We used to swap between the tiller and mower a bunch. It was the only tractor, and in the spring we did custom garden tilling so we had to swap to mow (we mowed more than 1 property) then put the tiller back on, the the mower.... you see where this is going. If I never tool the tiller off, I might put the guard back on (yes we have them)... bit at this point, I use mine without it and understand the risk.... This is not saying anyone should run with out it... this is just my opinion.

Depending on the mule drive, you would need either:

PN / IH-487045-R2 or PN / IH-549250-R1 (post a picture)

Charlie carries them both:

https://www.ccspecialties.org/belts.html

 

[PACub100]

Yes, growing up on a farm alot of safety guards were removed. And that was just it... you were constantly aware of it and kept well enough away. And yes, it may be a pain but with my sons I'd keep a guard in place even if I had to remove and reinstall it.

After talking with my brother this morning, I guess the thing for me to figure out is whether I'll use it often enough to warrant it. For my small garden the short, sweet answer is "no". But getting enough people to be interested in having theirs tilled would make it worth the purchase and time installing it in the spring.

 

[mgonitzke]

I use one to till my garden that happens to be a similar size to yours. Takes about 90 seconds to till. Much easier than wrestling with the walk-behind twice a year and having to keep that running.

 

[Everettlee]

The walk behind ones tend to be narrower which is nice after planting. The white ones are nice for preparing the seed bed

 

[dschwandt]

I'm going to downsize our garden somewhat this year and plant the rows further apart
and utilize the #1 tiller w/no extensions mounted on one of my narrow frame units.
We still have beans and tomatoes in the pantry from 2018.
Garden this year will be just enough beans to eat along with sweet corn and spuds.
Speaking of spuds, they are getting excited already!! And I have a lot left for seed!

 

[PACub100]

I'm going to downsize our garden somewhat this year and plant the rows further apart
and utilize the #1 tiller w/no extensions mounted on one of my narrow frame units.
We still have beans and tomatoes in the pantry from 2018.
Garden this year will be just enough beans to eat along with sweet corn and spuds.
Speaking of spuds, they are getting excited already!! And I have a lot left for seed!

Send some my way
I'm trying to get a garden started... for the last several years. Just always seems to get too late and then I'm weed whacking it off..

 

[snicklas]

The walk behind ones tend to be narrower which is nice after planting. The white ones are nice for preparing the seed bed

Or if you have the room, go the other way and do what we did. Our garden was 100' x100' (at least) and we planted all our rows ~ 40" apart... plenty of room for the 149 and #1 with both extensions to get between the rows...

I do understand the differences in sizes, as we currently have 3 tillers.... Dad's that we have had since the mid 70's that is a #1 with both extensions ~38", but can be made narrower. My #2 that is ~38" and is always that size, then another #1 or 1A that I got in a package deal that has 1 extension (I think, I don't thinks it is the smallest it can go, but is smaller than the other 2)....

We have never owned a walk behind, and I helped a neighbor once (they had rented a front-tine tiller) because they were having difficulty (the neighbor was partally disabled and just couldn't fight the tiller, so I took over), and this was before I had bought my 1450 and it took me most of the day to till what they wanted tilled around their property. I was exhausted by the end of the day, If I had a Cub, it may have taken my an hour......

 

[eberner]

That's what I paid for my set up before Christmas. The Gear box itself sells for half of that on its own.
Is the sleeve hitch part of the deal?
Like everyone has said get the belts and don't forget the mule drive up front

 

[kmcconaughey]

I don't have a Cub Cadet rear tiller, I was never very interested in them as I have an MTD walk behind rear tiller that I bought new back in the mid 1990's that has worked great. My parents used to have a 48" CAT-0 tiller for the Cub Cadet 2072 they had, and it was OK but kind of big for the garden. Anyway, I thought I should post this here for those that may be having issues finding the long tiller belt. I forget who originally posted these back in 2000 or 2001 but it's a double pulley setup that converts the long belt into two shorter belts. All I have is two photos of the two versions and thought I should post them here. It might have been David Kirk that posted the top one and John Proeschel might have been the forum member that posted the second variant.

 

[JPrattico]

Kraig, that's actually a pretty cool idea!

I don't need a tiller either, as we've got a Cat. 1 3pt tiller for the JD 40, which is big and makes quick work of any tilling that needs to be done.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Which JD tiller do you have? I have the JD model 647, CAT-1 tiller for one of the X585s we have in the family. I snapped it up last summer for ~$650, which was basically stealing it. I've not used it yet. Other than the bent PTO guard which I have already fixed, it was in very good condition.

 

[JPrattico]

Oh, it's actually a Kubota tiller. Nothing special, it just works well with the 40. I have no clue on the model, there's not even a brand name anywhere on it.

That said, we do have a JD Sickle bar mower and the complete 1 row cultivator setup...

 

[mgonitzke]

I made one of those intermediate pulley things too. It sits on the shelf. It worked great, but for 82 series at least, much cheaper and easier to just get a Kevlar belt that fits instead of having to attach/detach this thing when using the tiller.

 

[Ken Black]

if your goin to use it for others gardens and such... thing to remember .. the tractor cant get to all..
if your saying to be a friend to ur naborhood. then why not have a toy hahha ... if you want to do a lil better .. both walk and tractor tillers needed... troy bilt horse... old tho.. before 85 i think mtd got them... 70s would be even better.
i did it for a season.. i tell you.. i did very well..

 

[dschwandt]

When I was a kid, I used the neighbors AC to plow gardens all over town.
Nearly everybody had a garden back then along with grape vines and fruit trees.
Now.....hardly anybody has gardens. Those areas are now vacant or have been built on. Now I could count the numbers on my fingers and not use all of them.
Too much trouble and/or work I suppose.
Much easier to run 10 miles to the nearest grocery store I guess.