Well it's that time of year again to start busting up your garden soil and start your planting. How you do that is up to you. If you need the exercise or have a very small garden you could always do it by hand.
To save your back and knees you could go with a stand up manual garden till like the famous garden weasel. It is cheap and easy to use.
For medium or large gardens you are going to need a garden tiller with a little more power than your arms. So what type of tiller do you buy?
If you have a smaller or confined garden you will want to go with something maneuverable like an electric mini tiller or cultivator. Or maybe a small 2hp gas model. Most of them are lightweight and very easy to handle. Cost on them is reasonable too for the amount of work they will save you.
One of the biggest pluses for a small garden till is that it uses less storage space. If you buy one with folding handles you can save even more room. A word of warning though, I would not recommend using a small garden tiller to start a new garden where the soil has never been broken up before. You will need something a little more heavy duty to cultivate your soil for the first time.
Renting a large heavy-duty garden tiller the first year to bust up your soil and then get a small tiller for maintenance and cultivating the following year.
Front tine vs. rear tine
The best purpose for a front tine tiller is maintaining soil that has been cultivated before. Start out the first time with a rear tine tiller.
Rear tine tillers are easy to handle and maneuver. They will pretty much turn on a dime when needed and require much less effort from the operator. The majority of rear tine tillers can handle any garden job that you require from them.
What Brand To Buy
There are many different brand names in the garden tiller business. Some of the better known garden tiller brands are, Troy Bilt Garden tillers, Mantis Tillers, Honda Tillers, Husqvarna Garden Tillers, Craftsman Tillers, and MTD Tillers. Prices and models vary a lot so the best thing you can do is shop around and compare after you have decided on what type you need for your garden.
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