A Sampling of Rear-Tined Tillers

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Most gardeners, at one time or another, consider buying a rototiller... and the primary consideration in doing so is matching the implement to the job(s) that it'll be expected to perform. In order to help our readers choose the machines they need , MOTHER has compiled...

A rototiller is a big investment, and many folks find that they can get along lust fine renting or borrowing the machines when they need them ... usually no more than once in the spring to till the garden, and again in the fall to chop up crop wastes and expose belowground insect larvae, etc.

However, the more involved a person becomes with wholistic gardening, the more practical it often becomes for him or her to own a tiller. After all, the machines can be used to cultivate between rows throughout the growing season (produring an orderly and weed-free garden without the timeconsuming labor of hand hoeing) ... to retill areas as crops mature and are harvested (allowing for easy succession planting) ... and more.

But it's often difficult for the potential tiller owner to decide just how much machine he or she needs. And the decision is an important one, because the prices of rototillers tend to rise in proportion to the power of the tools. Therefore, buying too large a tiller for your purposes can result in unnecessary expense, and inconvenience when trying to maneuver the big machine around a small garden ... while purchasing too small a tiller can result in frustration, extra labor, and—worse yet—even the need to rent a large model to break up your soil before the "little teller" can handle it!

There are, of course, any number of good tillers on the market, but in preparing this article, we decided to limit ourselves to a sampling—which spans the most popular horsepower ratings—of rear -tined tillers. The following list of machines isn't complete, then, and isn't meant to imply that tillers not included are in any way inferior to those listed. It is, however, intended to give you an understanding of what you can expect from the four specific models tested ... and of the potential of other machines with similar horsepower ratings.

THEYELLOWBIRD

The little Yellowbird (sold by Precision Valley Manufacturing Co., Dept. TMEN, Springfield, Vermont 05156) is—as far as we know—the smallest reartined tiller on the market. Weighing a scant 75 pounds without its blades in place and sporting a 3-HP Briggs & Stratton engine, the Bird is a fine tool for gardeners who have small plots and/or often need to till in confined areas.