Cultivator vs. rototiller: What’s the difference? Learn about the different rototillers, how they differ from cultivators, and what you might use for the task at hand.
The growing season has officially begun, and you’re itching to get outside and start a new garden or wake up your existing beds, but just thinking about your old shovel and garden rake is giving you second thoughts. Thankfully, there’s an easier way to get the season started. With a new rototiller or cultivator. But which one is right for you and your garden?
Rototiller vs. Cultivator – Similar Tools for Different Needs
At first glance, rototillers and cultivators look like variations of the same tool, yet they’re designed for different jobs and different types of gardens. Think of them like you would a pickup truck vs a dump truck. Both transport loads from one place to another, but you wouldn’t use a dump truck to move 10 bags of mulch, just as you wouldn’t use your pickup to move 4 cubic yards of the stuff. Similar tools — different jobs.
Cultivators – the Versatile Pickup Truck of Your Garden
Cultivators are lightweight with smaller engines than rototillers and are designed for work in smaller, established garden beds. You can use a cultivator to wake up your vegetable garden by loosening the soil and mixing in fresh compost before planting or to loosen the soil around perennial flowers and shrubs before mulching. The smaller tines of your cultivator make it an excellent tool for preparing the soil in raised beds, too. During the growing season, use your cultivator to keep weeds at bay between rows of plants without spending hours hunched over, pulling them out one by one. Your back will thank you.
Rototillers – A Dump Truck with Many Use
Like the dump truck in our analogy, rototillers are heavier, wider, and have larger, more powerful engines than cultivators, because they’re designed to break new ground and churn deeply through compacted soil. Rototillers come in several configurations, including different tine rotations and operation styles.
Let’s start with tine rotation. Rototillers are designed with three options for tine rotation, each with a specific purpose: forward rotation, counter rotation, and dual rotation.
Rototillers with forward rotating tines are perfect for incorporating heavy compost and working the soil in large, established gardens. Machines with forward rotating tines also rely on the tine rotation to pull the machine forward as you till, allowing you to directly impact the tiller’s depth by holding the machine back and forcing the tines to dig in deeper or by walking forward and allowing the tines to move across the surface. These machines can be a workout to use but they’re great for turning over cover crops in existing beds in the spring or reawakening old plots that have gone fallow. Then, at the end of the season, your forward rotating tine tiller can quickly chop up and till spent plants back into the soil, where they’ll break down and add valuable nutrients back to the soil, so your garden is ready for next spring.
Rototillers with counter rotating tines tend to have more powerful engines because they power both the wheels forward while rotating the tines backward, counter to the movement of the wheels. This counter rotation allows the machine to dig deeper and break up compacted soils and sod, making them perfect for establishing new beds or expanding existing ones. Rototillers with counter rotating tines are also available as models designed to be towed behind your ATV, UTV, or garden tractor so you can bust sod without even having to stand up. Now that’s gardening made easy!
Finally, dual-rotating tine models are popular because, just like a good chocolate and vanilla swirl, you get both. Break new ground with counter rotation, then switch to forward rotation to till-in compost — it’s the best of both worlds.
Using and Maintaining Your Chosen Machine
Now that you know what rototillers and cultivators do, you may see uses for one or both in your garden. Whichever machine you choose, proper operation and regular maintenance will ensure years of use.
Like any other power tool, safety should always be your first priority before operating your machine.
- Avoid loose clothing and wear protective gear, including gloves, eye protection, and sturdy footwear.
- Familiarize yourself with your machine’s specific controls and features, and always follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for safe operation.
- Before you begin work, look over your machine, check for anything that may have become loose or worn during the last tilling session, and check your oil level.
- Finally, prepare the area you’re planning to till by removing rocks and large sticks.
Thoroughly checking the machine and clearing the space will help prevent damage to the machine and any potential injury that could be caused by a sudden stop or thrown object.
Rototillers and cultivators work best in dry conditions, where the soil can fall away from the tines as they rotate. Working in wet conditions will cause the soil to stick to the machine and create clumps, while working in extremely dry conditions can make the soil excessively hard and challenging to break up. Move slowly in straight lines as you operate your machine, and overlap each pass slightly to ensure thorough coverage.
After your garden is tilled, protect your machine from corrosion by washing off any clumps of sod or soil that might be stuck to the tines. Finally, give your machine another once over, checking for any damage that may have occurred during operation, before putting your machine away.
Selecting the right rototiller or cultivator for your garden, combined with proper operation and maintenance, can help you get the most out of your machine and your garden.