If you’ve ever tried to dig up a new garden bed by hand or use a cultivating fork to work a vegetable garden before spring planting, then you know how hard it is to work soil with manpower alone. Powered cultivators and tillers save a lot of time and make working soil a whole lot easier.
Whether you’re working large garden beds or tilling up garden boarders to plan annual flowers in the spring, there’s a cultivator or tiller available to make the job easier. But how do you know which cultivator or tiller is the best fit for your home or business?
Cultivator or Tiller: What’s the Difference?
The main difference between a cultivator and a tiller is in the size. Cultivators are small tools, designed for tilling up the space between rows of vegetables in a garden and mixing amendments into the soil. They’re great for working up small garden beds in the spring and fall or for mixing compost and other amendments in. They won’t work, though, for deep tilling, working up soil that has never been gardened before, to tilling up large beds.
Tillers are larger gardening equipment designed to till soil more deeply. They’re also larger than cultivators, so they can work more soil at a time. They’re good for tilling medium-size and larger gardens in the spring and fall, and working in soil amendments. They can also be used to break soil up for a new garden.
Types of Cultivators
There are two main types of cultivators: stand-alone models and multi-tool attachments. If you already own a multi-tool or an attachment-ready tool (like some string-line trimmers), then check and see if there is a cultivator attachment available.
The Echo Pro-Attachment series and STIHL KombiSystem are two top-quality multi-tool systems that offer cultivator attachments. You can use these attachments to transform your multi-tool into a lightweight, hand-held cultivator perfect for tilling up weeds between garden rows, mixing in soil amendments, and prepping small garden beds for planting.
STIHL’s MM 56 C-E Yard Boss is another multi-tool, but one designed primarily for use as a cultivator. It comes standard as a cultivator, and there are attachments available to change tiller tines or turn the tool into an edger, trimmer, dethatcher, or sweeper.
Stand-alone cultivators are walk-behind tools designed similarly to a small, font-tine tiller. Honda’s FG110 and Echo’s TC-210 Tiller/Cultivators are good examples of this type of tool. Both have a compact 9-inch tilling width for getting into tight spots.
Types of Tillers
For the larger tillers, we can break them into categories based on where the tilling tines are located.
Front-tine tillers have wheels in the back and tines in the front. Some of these are narrow enough to be considered cultivators, while others have a wider tilling width (up to about 24 inches). Since they’re larger, more powerful, and dig deeper than cultivators you can use them in larger gardens. They may be tiring to use for long periods of time, though, and rely on the operator pushing them forward.
Mid-tine tillers place the tines right under the engine. They’re similar to front-tine tillers, though some can be larger, up to about 36 inches wide. The weight of the engine helps push the tines deeper into the soil, and wheels on either side make these tillers a little easier to push than a front-tine tiller.
Rear-tine tillers are heavy-duty tools with wheels in the front and tiller blades in the back, with a guard to protect the operator’s feet. These tillers can get deeper into the soil than others and they’re more powerful. This makes them a good choice for breaking up soil that has never been tilled before. Since they’re heavier, though, they can be more difficult to maneuver and require more strength to use.
Which Cultivator or Tiller Is Right for You?
If you’re a landscape professional who will regularly be working up new ground for planting beds, then a powerful rear-tine tiller is a necessary tool. You might also want a smaller cultivator and/or front- or mid-tine tiller for working amendments into the soil and turning up previously cultivated ground.
If you’re a homeowner with a large vegetable garden, you might find value in getting a rear-tine tiller so you can turn old vegetation into the soil in the fall, mix in soil amendments quickly, and work the garden bed up before spring planting. You might also want to get a cultivator as well to help with weeding.
If you’re a homeowner with a smaller garden and planting beds, a front- or mid-tine tiller or a cultivator should meet your needs quite well. You can rent a larger rear-tine tiller if you need something more powerful to turn up compacted soil when starting a new garden.
Other Things to Consider
Most tillers and some cultivators are gasoline-powered. If you want a battery-powered system, then a cultivator will be your best option. Some cultivators powered by an electric cord are also available.
Most tillers come with bolo tilling tines. These work well for most tilling situations. If you’ll be working in rocky ground or places where there are lots of tree roots, you might want to consider a tiller model that lets you swap out the standard tines for slasher (for cutting roots) or pick and chisel (for rocky ground) tines.
Be sure to check the maximum tilling depth and width for each tiller or cultivator you’re looking at. That will give you a good idea of whether the tiller will work well in your space. Many tillers offer adjustable tilling depth features. Some also let you change the tilling width.
You’ll also want to make sure you get a tiller from a reliable manufacturer, such as Honda, STIHL, or Echo. And if you buy from an authorized dealer like Richardson Saw, you’ll know you can bring the tiller here for maintenance and repair if you need to. Stop by today, and we’ll help you find the perfect tiller to fit your home and landscaping needs.
