Tiller for the garden with your own hands

What is the difference between tillers and motor cultivators

Motor-cultivators are often referred to as tillers. These are relatively small power units, which have only cutters and hillers.

Motor-cultivators are lightweight, 15-20 kg. They are equipped with low-power gasoline engines of 2.2-4.0 hp.

• The main working body is a soil milling cutter that will work the soil to a depth of 120-160 mm.
• If it is necessary to hilling, the cutters are replaced with rotary hillers, capable of raising the soil and moving it 100-200 mm in different directions, forming a furrow between the ridges.
• A narrow row of 200-400 mm is processed.

The compact dimensions of the cultivator allow them to be transported in the trunks of cars, on trailers. Some users even use public transport to deliver equipment to their dacha. Lightweight and mobile cultivators are in demand among summer residents. they are very handy for small areas.

Villagers use compact units in their gardens and greenhouses. Larger equipment will not be able to deploy in a limited area, and the cultivator can easily cope with the tasks. Mobile and mobile, it will go where the heavy model has difficulties.

There are craftsmen who manage to aggregate a light device with a trolley, turning it into a vehicle capable of transporting up to 100 kg of cargo on a flat road.

Centaur DTZ 470B. best tiller for giving

DTZ 470B is equipped with a gasoline four-stroke engine with a capacity of 7.0 horsepower, with a gearbox of 31 speeds (three forward, one backward). The engine has an oil-type air filter to prevent small particles of earth or debris from entering the system.

The delivery set includes a type-setting six-section cutter and rubber pneumatic wheels 4.00-8. On each side of the tiller, 3 sections with 4 knives are installed, which allows you to adjust the processing width (cutter grip) within the range of 480-720 centimeters.

To transfer rotation from the motor to the gearbox, 2 V-belts are used. The design provides for the installation of another belt for connecting active attachments, such as a rotary mower, a pump for pumping water, a grain crusher or auger snow blower.

Due to its low fuel consumption (less than 2 l / h) and a large fuel tank, with the help of the Centaur DTZ 470B tiller, you can carry out agricultural work as quickly and relatively cheaply as compared to other models.

Cost: 12 452 UAH. 12 months warranty.

Light tillers (motor cultivators with a powerful engine)

In motor cultivators (they are already referred to as light tillers), which have a more powerful engine of 4.0-7 hp, there are more possibilities.

• Can process rows up to 600-700 mm wide.
• Wheels for such machines are already included, the carts are also spelled out in the operating instructions. Therefore, many are no longer surprised when they meet such vehicles on public roads.

Attention! The main problem with such low-power devices is the limited service life. For some, it does not exceed 400-600 motorcycle hours. Therefore, when purchasing such a power unit, you need to remember that after a relatively short period of time you will have to change it or carry out major repairs, acquiring a cylinder-piston group, as well as transmission elements.

Master of the New Garden! Tractor Power Rototiller!

Many buyers are attracted by the relatively low price, which is the main determining factor in choosing.

How to choose a tiller. selection criteria

tillers, motor-cultivators, mini tractors or electric analogs help to cultivate the land, simplify gardening work and are indispensable for the improvement of plots.

Of course, you can take a shovel and dig up an area to get physical activity. But it is much more pleasant and useful to thoroughly process the garden with the help of a mechanical unit.

What are the Tilleries

Traditionally, tillers are distinguished by the type of fuel used by engines mounted on a frame:

• gasoline, working fuel gasoline;
• diesel, running on diesel fuel (diesel fuel).

In many models, a power take-off shaft (PTO) is provided, to which actuators can be connected: a fertilizer spreader, a rotary or segment-type mower, a vertical milling cutter and other working bodies. A mechanical assistant is produced without a PTO, but the range of tasks it solves is much more modest than that of an equipped PTO.

Heavy Tillery

Tillers of this class are equipped with 8-10 hp engines. There are models with a powerful diesel engine of 16-18 hp. It differs from a minitractor only in the absence of a second pair of wheels and a place to accommodate the driver.

Heavy tillers are professional devices. Unlike conventional motor cultivators, they can:

• to process a wide soil strip of 900-1100 mm to a depth of 300 mm;
• carry a solid load of up to 300-400 kg on a trailer, overcoming rather steep ascents and descents;
• the power take-off shaft (usually there are at least three of them) allows you to perform many different works: pumping water, drilling wells, sawing wood, mowing grass, moving snow and other types of work.

They acquire heavy models less often, because their price is comparable to mini tractors. Therefore, potential buyers are often faced with the choice of which power tiller they need.

What is a tiller in the country for?

When the owner of the site thinks about purchasing equipment, he expects to perform certain work:

• plowing a vegetable garden in spring and autumn so that the land is deeply cultivated with a seam turnover;
• harrowing and loosening for crushing the soil layer, as well as removing root residues of weeds;
• sowing and planting, cultivation and hilling of row crops, as well as assistance in harvesting root crops;
• mowing the territory, maintaining the lawn in proper condition, making hay for pets;
• transport work for the delivery of building materials from quarries or from the trade network;
• snow clearing in winter.

To carry out work on the presented list, you need a power unit installed on wheels or an executive working body. Agricultural machines of mounted or trailed types will also be required.

BCS. The Best Tiller on Earth

The tiller itself is an energy-intensive mobile tractor. It is of little use without auxiliary weapons. It becomes useful only after the acquisition of agricultural machinery, turning into machine and tractor equipment for a specific purpose.

Information for thought. Large agricultural enterprises use universal tractors and specialized agricultural machines. Harvesting harvesters are a class of narrow-use devices. Tractors are versatile, energy-rich devices with which a whole set of machines are aggregated.

Therefore, the tiller is an analogue of a tractor of only a miniature version, where you can also install the attachments necessary for performing certain operations.

tiller. A milling cutter that plows

So that readers do not judge strictly the creation of my hands, I will say that although I had been carrying this idea for several years, I made a milling cutter literally a few weeks before the start of the spring harvest, from what was at hand. Immediately after production, I tested the milling cutter: I performed all the necessary amount of work with its help. And although I myself did not like something about the appearance of the car, I did not alter anything, believing that the main thing in it was reliability and performance, and not attractiveness.

The frame of the homemade tiller is welded, spatial, rather intricate (one might even say indefinite) configuration. This happened because I adjusted its elements to the layout of the power unit and transmission, and made the elements themselves from the material that was at hand. rolled steel of various assortments (corners, round and rectangular pipes, etc.).
I will make a reservation that in the figure I am not giving a drawing, but rather a diagram of the frame with approximate dimensions, since I did a lot “in place”.

The upper part of the frame is a kind of subframe-rack for the fuel tank, which is installed above the engine. After all, gasoline enters the carburetor by gravity.
In the lower part of the frame, on a steel sheet platform, a reducer is installed. The power unit was placed between it (the gearbox) and the tank, with the bottom of the engine crankcase still on the lower ends of the levers of the handles. Thus, the handles are also part of the frame. The main fastening of the engine to the frame is on standard brackets, used, like the engine, from an old wheelchair for disabled.

The power unit (the engine together with the gearbox and clutch) is also taken from the SZD wheelchair for a wheelchair. I think he is very suitable for a car like a tiller. Firstly, this engine is unpretentious and runs on low-grade gasoline. Secondly, it is strong enough. it has 12 horsepower, and it develops maximum power at only 3000 rpm. Thirdly, its cylinder is equipped with a standard forced air cooling system, without which the engine on the tiller at low speeds simply cannot work normally.

Alterations of the engine itself were not required, but some of its external devices had to be replaced. So, for example, I made a muffler of my own design for him; installed an air filter from a tractor (a regular one would hardly provide good air purification in dusty conditions); replaced the manual start handle.
But the main modernization affected the electrical equipment: the entire standard set was replaced with a magneto from the starting engine of the DT-54 tractor.

The tiller-cultivator transmission is a combination of various industrial-made units and self-made links. Its first stage is the clutch and gearbox of the power unit itself, the second is a homemade intermediate shaft with two chain drives and, finally, the third is a reduction gear.

The first chain drive. from the output shaft of the gearbox of the power unit to the intermediate shaft has a drive and driven sprocket with the same number of teeth (22 each), that is, its gear ratio is 1. Single-row chain with a pitch of 15.07 mm. from decommissioned agricultural machinery. Its tensioner roller is machined from polyurethane. The second chain drive is from the intermediate shaft to the input shaft of the gearbox. Here, the driving sprocket has 58 teeth, and the driven sprocket has 15, that is, an overdrive gear. The chain is the same here, and the tensioner is a small sprocket.
Such an atypical selection of gears was due to the presence of such, this is in the first place. And secondly, this is the only way it became possible, with a 30-fold decrease in the number of revolutions of the gearboxes, to obtain optimal rotation of the cutters (about 26 rpm) with maximum power in the first gear.

The gearbox itself is of industrial manufacture, three-stage with helical helical gears. It is driven by a heavy apron conveyor and therefore provides very high torque transmission without any problems.
The output shaft of the gearbox was replaced with a longer (about 1 m) double-sided (also picked up from agricultural machinery), since it is also the drive shaft of the working bodies. cutter blocks.

The cutters are structurally combined into two blocks. 12 cutters each. Each block, in turn, consists of three units. 4 cutters, installed at an angle of 90 ° relative to each other. In addition, the position of the cutters of the nodes in the blocks is displaced by 30 ° relative to the neighboring ones, and therefore they work and even move when the block is relocated from place to place and along a solid pound quite smoothly, at least without jerking.
The cutter consists of a knife made of 5 mm tool steel and a stand made of 63×40 steel angle. The knife is welded to the end of the rack, and the other end of the rack is welded to the flange, which unites four milling cutters, installed mutually perpendicular, into one unit. The flange, in turn, is put on the block bushing and welded to it in a circle.

The bushing of the block is made of a pipe, the inner diameter of which corresponds (or rather, a little more) to the outer diameter of the output shaft of the gearbox (drive shaft of the working bodies). The bush, together with the cutter block, is put on the shaft and fixed here with two pins made of M12 bolts. Pin bolts are inserted into holes previously drilled simultaneously in both parts. shaft and sleeve

The operational controls of the milling cutter: gear shift levers, throttle adjustment coin, clutch release lever are placed closer to the control levers.
The speed of the milling cutter, in addition to adjusting the “gas”, is also carried out by the brake pin. To slow down the movement, the pin is buried in the ground with the help of the control levers, and to speed up it rises. The pin is inserted into the bracket, which also serves as a beam. A plow or other tillage implement is connected to it. for example, the share of a lancet cultivator. In this case, wheels can be put on instead of cutters. In the wheeled version, the tiller can work as a tractor of a cargo trailer, which is also attached to the bed.

I cannot boast of the elegance of execution, but the machine is working properly and the hopes placed on it in terms of facilitating work on the personal plot and in general on the farm fully justify.
And although the structure turned out to be a little overweight, but this is rather its plus than a minus. when using a tiller with wheels as a tractor, it does not slip on a dirt road even on a wet road. And when working with cutters, I do not use the brake very often and do not fully use it.
And the cultivator’s cutters loosen the soil, as they say, “to smithereens and dust”, and no further processing (breaking up lumps with a shovel, loosening with a rake, etc.) the soil no longer requires.

Tiller engine type

There are several types of tiller motors:

• Two-stroke. The main advantage of two-stroke gasoline engines is their high power, therefore, tillers equipped with them are usually able to loosen virgin soil (trampled soil) well. However, unlike four-stroke engines, this type of engine consumes more fuel (about 30% more compared to a four-stroke engine of the same power). In addition, you need to prepare a gasoline-oil mixture, which is poured into the fuel tank. If you add less oil than is required in proportions (indicated on the package), the piston system will wear out quickly, and if you add too much oil, the engine will smoke. Due to the above disadvantages, many manufacturers are switching to the installation of four-stroke or diesel engines, so there are fewer two-stroke models on the market. It is worth purchasing a two-stroke tiller only if you plan to deal exclusively with the cultivation of small plots or flower beds. for sabbaths on arable land, it is better to take a four-stroke or diesel model.
• Four-stroke (gasoline). The most popular type of gasoline engines for tillers and cultivators. Depending on the power of the model, tillers with similar engines are used for processing land plots from 5 to 20 acres. At the same time, due to the design features, the engines almost never overheat, so they are very convenient to use in the warm season. The principle of their operation consists of four steps: the fuel mixture is fed into the cylinder, then the mixture is compressed by the piston, after which it ignites from the candle, and the burnt waste is discharged through the valve. Here, oil and gasoline are poured into separate tanks, eliminating the need for the user to monitor the proportions. At the same time, the noise performance of the four-stroke models is much lower than that of the two-stroke ones. Among other things, they have a much lower consumption of gasoline and oil for lubrication (depending on the model). However, in almost all cases, with equal power indicators, four-stroke units will be heavier than two-stroke ones. If two-stroke models do not exceed thirty kilograms, then four-stroke models can weigh more than a centner. And weight directly affects operator fatigue.

• Diesel (four-stroke). Diesel models are powerful units designed for plowing large areas, as well as for transporting goods. So, for example, the model Forte MD-101E. with a power of 7400 W (10 hp), it is capable of additionally taking on loads up to 500 kg. Due to such traction characteristics, diesel units, for the most part, can be additionally equipped with attachments, for example, a brush cutter, hay harvester, etc. Practice shows that the piston system of diesel engines is more durable than that of gasoline engines (depending on the manufacturer). Also, diesel engines consume less fuel per unit of time. However, such an engine will cost more than a gasoline engine to repair, and the tiller itself is an order of magnitude more expensive. Powerful diesel models are also suitable for those who plan to make money on arable land plots. sometimes this is the only mechanized way in those places where the tractor simply will not pass (it is impossible to drive up to the site or it is surrounded by a non-removable fence).
• Electrical. Electric engines, in comparison with gasoline and diesel engines, do not emit exhaust gases, therefore they are more environmentally friendly. They are also much quieter. However, the range of their action is limited by the length of the cord (you can increase it with an extension cord), and the cord itself greatly interferes underfoot during operation. The power of electrical units does not exceed 2500 W, so they will be of interest only to those who regularly process their own small plot of no more than 2. 3 acres, and where the land is not strongly rammed.
• Rechargeable. These are low-power models for servicing small areas. Their main advantage over conventional electric ones is the ability to plow the ground in the absence of an active power source. Otherwise, in terms of power and noise, they are similar to electric ones. However, due to the presence of a battery, the models are heavier. Also, the battery lasts no more than an hour, after which you have to charge (charging can take up to 4 hours).

Garden processing from A to Z: how to choose the right tiller?

In the 21st century, the tiller has become an indispensable thing for every gardener, as it replaces several tools at the same time, such as a shovel, scythe, hiller, snow blower, etc. Some models allow you to cultivate (plow) a vegetable garden where the ground is heavily trampled, while others are equipped with cutting cutters for mowing grass. Powerful diesel devices can be equipped with trailers for transporting implements and crops. And some models with a power take-off shaft are able to work with a variety of attachments. We will explain what to look for when choosing the right tiller for a particular type of agricultural work.

Reducer type

The gearbox is a structural element responsible for converting the high speed on the input shaft to the working speed of the tiller on the output shaft. It also transmits torque from the engine to the wheels of the device.

There are three types of gearboxes used in tillers:

• Worm. The cheapest and simplest version of the gearbox, which is installed mainly in models with a vertical shaft. He perfectly “drives” the tiller on regularly cultivated land, but problems with trampled soil will arise. It’s all about the brass gear, which can fail under high loads.

Worm gear.

• Chain. The most optimal option, which combines quality and relatively low cost. Models with a chain drive are capable of operating at maximum loads. The most common breakage is when the chain breaks or stretches. If the housing in which the gearbox is placed is collapsible (i.e. it is not necessary to remove the engine and the drive shaft to repair it), then if you have a spare chain and sprockets, you can easily replace the broken part without contacting a service center.

Chain type reducer.

• Gear. The most reliable type of gearbox, designed for a long service life. It consists of several gears (usually 6. 8 pieces), made of high quality hardened metal, and interacting with each other. If you plan to use the tiller for commercial purposes and often plow trampled soil, then a device with a gear reducer is the best option. However, it should be borne in mind that the price for this type is much higher than for a worm or chain type (and more expensive to repair), which increases the total cost of the tiller.

Gear reducer.

Design features and additional functions that you should pay attention to when choosing?

The following criteria should be taken into account when choosing a suitable tiller:

• Engine power. Models with power from 750 to 2500 W are suitable for home use only for soil cultivation. If you plan to often plow virgin soil or heavily trampled soil, then you need models with a power of 2500 W and higher. To use attachments, it is worth taking a model from 4500 W, since the power take-off shaft will take the traction force additionally for the operation of the attachment. If you plan to connect a trailer and transport goods, then the best option will be a tiller with an engine power of 6000 W or more.
• Cultivator working width. The width of the working body depends on how quickly the land will be plowed. A grab with a width of up to 50 cm is more suitable for working with flower beds. The average for a suburban area is considered to be a working width of 75. 80 cm, which is convenient to process 5. 15 acres in one day. If you plan to make money on arable land, then it is best to take a model with a capture of 1 m for faster processing.
• Immersion depth of the cultivator. This is another indicator on which the speed of plowing the land depends. For planting potatoes, it is necessary to deepen approximately 20 cm, and for planting seedlings of fruit trees deeper than 30 cm.Depending on how deeply you need to plow your area, it is worth choosing the depth of immersion of the working body.
• The weight. The heavier the tiller, the easier it is to sink into the ground. However, during operation, in order for the furrow to be even, the tiller must be firmly held in your hands and guided, and it is difficult to operate a heavy unit. Therefore, for a site that is constantly processed, it is better to take a not heavy apparatus from 30 to 50 kg. For virgin lands, it is worth taking a heavier device from 70 kg and more, but at the same time taking frequent breaks in work.
• Active rotary tiller. This is a working body, which is fixed movably on the power take-off shaft of the tiller. In the event of a collision with an obstacle, such as a stone, the cutter lifts the tiller and the device continues to drive further. A passive cutter (fixed immovably), when it collides with an obstacle, turns the tiller over, which disrupts the plowing process, and can also injure a person. Please note that for the operation of an active rotary tiller, which is placed in parallel with the wheels, additional power consumption is required, which is transmitted to the PTO shaft (see description below), so you should pay attention to powerful gasoline and diesel units.

How to improve a tiller with your own hands. useful devices and gadgets from an engineer

It so happened that three years ago, doctors put a pacemaker on me and gave me a disability.

And they banned hard physical labor. I faced a choice. you can’t do anything, but you want to do it. Fortunately, I am an engineer by profession, I decided to make equipment that facilitates work on the site.

The time for digging potatoes was approaching. And within 10 days I had to make a potato digger attached to the tiller.

Now I hook her to the tiller, start the engine. let’s go! You can go after the unit, you can just watch how it works from the side. this does not affect the efficiency of work.

Now I’ll tell you more about the design. The frame of the potato digger is made of a steel profile, and the hook-on device for attaching to the tiller is made of a channel. I took the support wheels from the old painting equipment, fixed them on the frame with the help of a square and welded corners, making them adjustable. to change the digging depth.

The ploughshare is made of metal from an old container, only the cutting edge is reinforced with durable metal from a steel saw. I welded steel rods from wire 8 mm thick onto the ploughshare.

On top of the frame, I installed a shaft on bearings with a washing machine shell on one side and an eccentric on the other. With the help of a belt drive, the torque from the engine is transmitted to the pulley, then, with the help of rods, back-and-forth movements are transmitted to the screen. In the design of the potato digger, I used homemade silent blocks made of metal bushings and sleeves with a thread amplifier.

I painted the details of the potato digger in the appropriate colors and assembled it into one structure. The result is a rather light but durable potato digger. Copes with its task perfectly.

During work, however, an unexpected problem surfaced: the potato digger was quickly clogged with tops. Manually mowing is contraindicated for me.

I had to re-connect my wit and, in the shortest possible time, a lawn mower for mowing potato tops was created from a chainsaw, a metal corner from the armored mesh of the bed, wheels from a baby carriage and steel tubes. By the way, I now harvest hay with the same scythe, which requires a lot on the farm.

From the corner, using a welding machine, I made a frame for lawn mowers, from the tubes I welded a steering wheel for control (I fixed the engine throttle control lever on it). I installed and fixed the chainsaw on the frame, having previously turned the gearbox down with the leading sprocket. A cutting knife made of high-strength steel was attached to the drive sprocket through a connecting sleeve.

The lawn mowers’ frame was installed on three wheels from a baby carriage. Why three? Because the fourth wheel interferes with the process of placing the tops in the aisles. From a steel bar I made a bracket for lifting the lying haulm and moving it to the left aisle. In this way, a lawn mower for mowing potato tops was easily and quickly made.

After the rows were mowed, I hooked the potato digger to the tiller and started digging. Harvesting potatoes turned into just a game! Playfully mowed, playfully dug. The only difficulty is that you and your wife have to manually pick potatoes. But the time will come, we will think carefully, and this problem will also be solved.

By the way, at the regional exhibition-fair of technical and folk art “And the impossible is possible” my potato digger took first place in the nomination “Decorative and applied art” (inventions of a technical nature).

I want to say, you can do everything: raise good children, build a house, plant a tree, make any machine, get good harvests. The main thing is that there is a desire.

DIY tools for a tiller. an engineer advises

With your own hands. How to do it yourself

How to do something yourself, with your own hands. home master’s site

DIY accessories for a tiller. photos and drawings

• Using the coupling device, we connect the potato digger with the tiller. Through the belt, there is a transmission of torque from the engine to the potato digger
• lawn mower for mowing potato tops with a device for lifting the foliage lying between the rows

The initial stage of assembling the construction of a potato digger with setting the angle of attack of the share and the depth of digging

From a watering hose (sleeves with a thread amplifier), metal bushings, bolts, washers and nuts, we assemble silent blocks to connect moving parts together

5 and 6. All parts of the potato digger are made and painted. You can start assembling

Potato digger drawing

The frame with dimensions is in blue, the moving rods with dimensions are in red, the ploughshare with bars and support wheels are in black, the shaft is gray on bearings with a pulley

DIY electric tiller

Materials and tools used by the author:

List of materials:
– rickshaw drive axle (or similar);
– BLDC motor 60V / 1000W;
– rechargeable battery (60V);
– wheels for the tiller;
– speed controller for the motor;
– electronic throttle handle or switch;
– bicycle handlebars;
– square and round pipes;
– Sheet steel;
– steel plates, corner;
– bolts, nuts, washers, etc.

The process of making homemade products:

Step one. Assembling the frame
First of all, the author assembled a rectangular frame from rectangular tubes. The frame is made in such a way that it turns out a kind of box, a case in which the motor, the speed controller, and also the battery are located.

Next, the author installed the finished frame on an axle with wheels, welding the necessary brackets. That’s all, half of the tiller is already assembled!

Step two. Steering wheel
We weld a piece of round pipe to the frame, and to the end of the pipe we weld the handlebars from a bicycle or motorcycle. That’s all, if the angles are correct, the steering wheel will be quite comfortable. Of course, if the homemade product has several users, it would be good to provide for height adjustment.

The hitch is made of thick steel plates, it should be possible to adjust it in height. It will not be superfluous to have a setting that will allow you to adjust the angle of attack of the harrows.

Step five. Painting, assembly and testing
The homemade product is almost ready, we weld the necessary fasteners and you can assemble the tiller. Everything looks quite original, you can experience it. From a place, the tiller starts off quite briskly, the car easily drags the harrows.

Of course, if you make a good reduction gear, the motor power can be enough for more serious tasks. It would also be good to think about the possibility of locking the driving axle.