Garden tillers offer homeowners an easy way to prepare a vegetable or a flower garden. They are the handy tools that cut through soil and destroy weeds coming their way. These tillers can be either electric powered or gas powered. Tilling the garden with shovel may take days to complete whereas a garden tiller can do the same work in a matter of a few hours. Besides, the uniformity in tilling can only be achieved by using only them.
A good garden tiller is one, which can convert hardpan soil to lightly cultivating soil, that too, with ease. Due to the nature of their work, they are more likely to break down, therefore it is important to look for one, which performs well under tough conditions and is highly durable. Here are few things, which you should look for, before buying a garden tiller.
Horsepower or HP is one of the major features that you should look for, before buying a garden tiller. HP reflects the rating of the power a tiller has. Generally, the harder the soil is, the more horsepower is required. On the other hand, if your garden soil has already been cultivated before, then you can go for a tiller with a lower HP rating.
Tiller blades are also important, as they determine the functioning of the garden tiller largely. Blades are also known as tines in the gardening lingo. The three major types of tines are pick and chisel, bolo, and slasher. Each one of them is suitable for a particular soil type. Most basic are the bolo tines, which are used for deep tilling. Pick and chisel are used for rocky soil whereas slasher blades are used for cutting through heavy vegetation.
You must also decide whether you want to go for a rear tine tiller or a front tine tiller. Rear tine tillers are easier to handle and requires less "muscle" on the part of the operator, whereas front tine tillers are used for working on soil that has already been cultivated before.
The size of a garden tiller is also an important feature, which you should consider before buying one. Factors such as soil hardness and garden area should be taken into account before buying a garden tiller. Smaller tillers are usually referred to as power cultivators and they usually consist of couple of blades. Larger tillers have around 4-5 blades on them and are suitable for hard or rocky soil.
