Help With Home Garden Tiller/Cultivator Comparison

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I'm contemplating buying a tiller/cultivator to aid in preparing garden beds each year. I've found the brand I want and now need to choose between two models. They are both electric, one is 6 amps the other 9 amps. One has 4 tines while the other has 6 tines. One weighs 14 pounds and the other weighs 17 pounds. They both have a 7 inch cultivating depth while one has a 14 inch cultivating width and the other has an 18 inch cultivating width. One has rear wheels while the other does not. One is $40 more than the other.

Here's a comparison chart I made:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gtBkkt0AQhc/TffnYC1KhBI/AAAAAAAABr4/Pf_sMSxq6B0/tillerchart.jpg

(I noticed I erroneously switched the weights of each. The 6 amp is 14 pounds and the 9 amp is 17 pounds.)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FhG6T3gMXMM/TffnWpTpt_I/AAAAAAAABrw/4cTtlodfyxY/tiller2img.jpg

6 amp model

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7PKjBByWiNA/TffnXfc8KyI/AAAAAAAABr0/LPsfM8kB5EY/tillerimg.jpg

9 amp model

Questions:

Is the difference in amps, number of tines, weight, rear wheels and cultivating width worth the additional $40 plus shipping?

How much difference in performance will there be with the higher amps and higher number of tines?

How much difference in performance will the back wheels give?

Which one will be easier and more controllable to use in several 36" high raised beds that are 5 ft x 10 ft?

Which one will be easier and more controllable in hard virgin ground with sandy dirt that needs peat moss and manure tilled into it to improve the soil?

I'm leaning toward the 9 amp model with the rear wheels but am questioning whether the smaller model will be more helpful in the raised beds. Tilling the virgin beds will be a one-time thing while tilling the soil in the raised vegetable beds will be a semi-annual thing.

Any advice?

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Type: Question • Score: 5 • Views: 3,518 • Replies: 29

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@Butrflynet,

You are wanting to till sand. That could make a difference.

I don't meant that in a snotty way, but near pure sand is very different than clay.

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

I go for the one that has wheels, easier to use and drag about.

1 Reply

@Ceili,

Same opinion. I can't imagine a tiller without wheels, either front or rear.

Whichever you go for, bfn, be sure to use a 12 gauge extention cord. It'll work better and last longer.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

Yep, that's why I said this:

Quote:

Which one will be easier and more controllable in hard virgin ground with sandy dirt that needs peat moss and manure tilled into it to improve the soil?

0 Replies

@roger,

12 gauge, is that the same as the heavy duty orange outdoor electrical cords we get at Home Depot? They're about a half-inch in diameter. If so, that's what I use on the weed eater and the leaf blower/mulcher.

I'm leaning heavily toward the one with the wheels too, but was a bit concerned about using the bigger one in the raised beds. The two tiller styles remind me of the difference between a big Kitchen Aid mixer and a stick blender.

I'm sold on the electrical aspect of both. I don't want to have to deal with batteries or gasoline and spark plugs.

2 Replies

@Butrflynet,

12 gauge is frequently what's inside the big orange extentions. A UL label is a better guide, but what you have is probably good.

I also favor electric, mostly because of weight and noise. The wheels seem to work as a fulcrum (sort of) and make it easier to control the depth and how quickly it's going to dive into the ground.

0 Replies

@Butrflynet,

Would it be possible to go to a local Rent-all store to try both for a half-day? It's enough of an investment that I'd want to be fairly sure that I was buying the right one. Not like buying the wrong colour socks.

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

I don't get buying these machines (for doing what) when you have sand. As is obvious that I don't.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

It helps mix in the amendments to improve the soil. In the last two years, I've gotten half the garden beds in the backyard done with a lot of manual labor and now that we've removed a few large trees and shrubs, there is the other half of the backyard and a lot of the front and side yard to till and mix in amendments.

I collect leaves in the Fall from the neighborhood garden helpers, run them through the mulcher, let it turn into piles of gardening gold during the winter, and then mix the compost into the sandy areas in the Spring, along with some peat moss and sacks of manure.

Works great!

4 Replies

@ehBeth,

I'm going to take a look at them at the local Home Depot and get an idea of exactly how heavy and cumbersome each of them may be.

I can only do a little bit at a time and my projects end up stretching over several days. The machine would be sitting idle for a lot of rest periods so it would probably be more expensive to rent them over several days than it would be to buy one after doing some good research and comparisons.

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

We have different views on this though I admit some small efforts of my own, keeping some lavender alive with water, or maybe not. You are amending sand with peat moss and manure. Peat moss? in albuquerque?

You don't live in california anymore. I didn't ever use it there either.

We are philosophically different.

I do admit to trying to keep my basil, thyme, and sage alive with water, but I have a certain amount of devilmaycareness about it.

2 Replies

@Butrflynet,

That is where we differ - you are trying to improve the soil.

It isn't soil, it is sand.
You are toying with the sand, and about to hire some kind of machine to move the sand around.

In my view, leave the sand alone.
If you want a row of basil (etc) work up a raised bed.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

So, what is the deal, you will feast your sand place with amendments?

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

Oh yeah, though I prefer ground bark to peat moss. It doesn't fluff up when it comes out of the bale, and it doesn't compress some time after it's in the soil. Both help hold moisture. They also sell some kind of white pellets that are supposed do a better than either, but I haven't tried it. Expensive, and it just doesn't look like dirt.

I imagine buying an electric tiller is better than renting. Those rental tillers are usually big enough you need a pickup to haul them home, they are heavy to work with, and two days rental often looks like about the fair market value of an old, heavily used tiller - or whatever you're renting. The electrics won't have as long a useful life, but for one home with garden could still last a lifetime.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

This is not a small argument, the one between butrfly and me. Hurling vast amendments at gardens is more to argue about than between us.

Where I used to live, we needed just about nothing.
Where I live now, I am surrounded by sand.

1 Reply

@roger,

An electric tiller for sand?

(swearing and spitting, with a bit of drool)

I don't think I want to know about this.

0 Replies

@ossobuco,

I refuse to argue about gardens.

1 Reply

@roger,

Snort.

Here, I'll pass you some rosemary..

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

My garden would presumably be different if I had some money to use for it, but maybe not so different.

0 Replies

Help With Home Garden Tiller/Cultivator Comparison

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