Tillers

[Mark 2]

Our soil is essentially clay so thinking about purchasing a corded one.
What should I be looking for?
Thanks in advance.

 

[frank horton]

prob better with a petrol version....
the extra weight will help stop it from bouncing....
just rent one....

 

[rtcosic]

Our borders are clay with embedded rubble.

I bought a cheap corded tiller and was amazed at how well it coped. Give it enough light nibbles and I took the borders down to about 300mm depth - and bagged 1500kg of stones, bricks and other delights for disposal at the local Civic Amenity Site.

It was the cheaper of the two listed - about £59.99 for 1.4kW version.

The manufacturer's label has come off and I can't find the receipt!

Off running errands until c.19:00 - I'll look again when I get back.

If you were closer you could borrow/buy it.

 

[drjim]

I had a cheap handy tiller from screw fix which I used to relay the lawn, then to dig out compacted MOT when I did my driveway, garden paths and patio. It eventually died but lasted amazingly well for what it cost!

It was about 50 quid as I recall, possibly in a sale/clearance. Can only see more expensive ones now. It looked like this..

30cm (12") 800W Electric Tiller - The Handy Garden Machinery

Buy the The Handy Garden Machinery 30cm (12") 800W Electric Tiller direct from the manufacturer here.

thehandy.co.uk

 

[gaz1]

you do know that you can improve clay soil by adding sand to it and it makes it so much easier to tiller it when you need to do so

 

[Pond frog]

I’ve got one similar to those above, again I only paid about £50 prices seem to have jumped up a lot .
l got it to relay a small lawn and was surprised how capable it is, however it bucks about a lot if it hits hard patches so not for the feint hearted
overall it’s great for the price but I wouldn’t want to do a large area with it,

 

[brightspark]

you do know that you can improve clay soil by adding sand to it and it makes it so much easier to tiller it when you need to do so

yep the sand breaks down the clay add some topsoil as well

 

[Mark 2]

you do know that you can improve clay soil by adding sand to it and it makes it so much easier to tiller it when you need to do so

That's the plan Gaz, I was sort of wondering how well mixes.

 

[Gritineye]

yep the sand breaks down the clay add some topsoil as well

Multi finish and similar plasters break up clay really well, perfect place to dump your old out of date stuff.

 

[rtcosic]

They have gone up a lot since last year! I was sure mine was listed as 1400W, but there is no data plate on it to check.
This looks like mine:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/VonHaus-Electric-1050W-Tiller-Cultivator/dp/B00UTVR26U?ref_=ast_sto_dp

Once I had broken up the clay and the compacted hardcore from the old farm yard, mixing in topsoil, peat and stable cleanings was very easy with this little tool.

 

[gaz1]

depending on soil conditions as they stand now if thick and difficult to shovel then hire one let that take the brunt of the work

after that use a small one for what you need

but if you do 2 layers by digging out the first layer 9-10" and then do the same again it will give you a good bed to play with also depends on what your planting as well