Tillers are incredibly versatile earth-turning tools that help gardeners create new vegetable and flower beds, pull up pesky weeds, and work nourishing compost into soil. Easier and more efficient than a shovel or a hoe, lawn tillers are most useful in gardens over 100 square feet, and can be used to keep the rows in your garden even and clear of weeds.
Tiller Buying Guide: Garden Tillers 101
How to Choose the Best Tiller for the Job
Choosing the best garden tiller for your lawn care needs is really a matter of how it will be used. Ask yourself the following before going any further:
- Is the tiller for home or commercial use?
- Will you be tilling, turning up soil, and cultivating existing flower beds or virgin soil?
- Will you be working with hard pack soil or clay?
- How large of a space will you be tilling?
- Are you interested in special attachments for edging, dethatching, snow removal or trimming?
Tillers are powerful earth-churning machines. They break up, mulch, and aerate soil with deep-cutting blades that extend deep into the ground. A typical lawn tiller is somewhat larger than a gas-powered lawn mower and requires a larger, more powerful tiller engine.
Tillers come with blades (or tines) either in the front or the back. Front-tined tillers generally have an electric motor on top of the blades and are lightweight, while rear-tined tillers have a gas motor located above the front wheels which propel the tiller through the soil. Rear-tined lawn tillers cultivate soil that front-tined machines can only bounce across. Large, rear-tined tillers are much easier to control, which translates into less sore muscles for you!
Garden tillers come with three basic kinds of blades:
- Bolo: basic design for deep tilling
- Slasher: for thicker vegetation and roots in soft ground
- Pick and chisel: for use on hard, rocky ground
Tiller Features that Make a Difference
Briggs & Stratton engines are renowned for their reliability, toughness, and easy-starting. Our tiller engines are no different! All garden tillers powered by Briggs & Stratton feature:
- Reliable Motor: Dual ball bearings extend engine life; cast iron sleeves withstand wear and abuse, and provide improved oil control; and an OHV design runs cooler and cleaner—delivering more power, longer engine life, and improved fuel economy.
- Easy Starting: easy, electric-start engines.
- Forward-rotating tines for self-cleaning.
- Conveniently-located Controls for comfort, ease of use, and safety.
- Adjustable Operator Handle: up, down, and side-to-side to avoid waling in tilled soil.
- Adjustable Tilling Depth: lets you choose to prep soil (deep) or weed (shallow).
Visit Your Local Tiller Dealer
Briggs & Stratton dealers can help you find the best tiller for your gardening jobs. Take an on-site test drive to determine how easily a tiller turns, how loud it runs, and how much vibration is created by the engine. For find the perfect tiller for your yard, find a dealer near you.
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