Electric-Powered Rototiller

2001 - Volume #25, Issue #4, Page #10

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"It worked so well I could hardly believe it," says Bob Unger, Mena, Ark., who converted his rototiller to electric power by replacing the original 5 hp gas engine with a 1 hp electric motor.
  Unger mounted a 4-in. pulley on the 1,700 rpm electric motor that bolts on in place of the engine. He runs a heavy duty electric cord to the tiller.
  "I've used it for more than 10 years and it works absolutely fantastic. I've never cut a cord," says Unger. "I don't have the expense or hassle of adding oil and gas, there's no battery to maintain, it never needs a tune-up, and I don't have to worry about water getting into the gas during the off-season. The motor starts right up with the flip of a switch, without the hassle of using a choke and a recoil rope. The electric motor vibrates far less than a gas engine, so I don't get ætingly fingers' any more. The rototiller also weighs a lot less which makes it much easier to handle. It's easy to flip it over to pull roots, vines, and weeds out of the tines and you don't have to worry about gas or oil leaking out. I even mounted a light on the handle so I can use it after dark."
  Unger uses the rototiller to do everything that he did when it was equipped with the 5 hp gas engine.  He plugs the cord into an outlet inside his garage, which sits next to his garden. He uses a 100-ft. cord.
  "I start out using the rototiller in the corner of the garden that's closest to the outlet," says Unger. "I hold the cord in my right hand as I walk toward the other end of the garden. When I get there, I turn around and come back so that the cord is laying in the row where I just tilled. You probably wouldn't want to try this idea if your garden was 300 ft. from the nearest outlet. However, you could install a weatherproof outlet next to the garden and run a buried wire out to it, then use a cord off the outlet. If you wanted, you could also run a buried water line next to the wire so you could add irrigation water."
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bob Unger, 417 Polk 62, Mena, Ark. 71953.

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Electric-Powered Rototiller FARM HOME Miscellaneous 25-4-10 "It worked so well I could hardly believe it," says Bob Unger, Mena, Ark., who converted his rototiller to electric power by replacing the original 5 hp gas engine with a 1 hp electric motor. Unger mounted a 4-in. pulley on the 1,700 rpm electric motor that bolts on in place of the engine. He runs a heavy duty electric cord to the tiller. "I've used it for more than 10 years and it works absolutely fantastic. I've never cut a cord," says Unger. "I don't have the expense or hassle of adding oil and gas, there's no battery to maintain, it never needs a tune-up, and I don't have to worry about water getting into the gas during the off-season. The motor starts right up with the flip of a switch, without the hassle of using a choke and a recoil rope. The electric motor vibrates far less than a gas engine, so I don't get ætingly fingers' any more. The rototiller also weighs a lot less which makes it much easier to handle. It's easy to flip it over to pull roots, vines, and weeds out of the tines and you don't have to worry about gas or oil leaking out. I even mounted a light on the handle so I can use it after dark." Unger uses the rototiller to do everything that he did when it was equipped with the 5 hp gas engine. He plugs the cord into an outlet inside his garage, which sits next to his garden. He uses a 100-ft. cord. "I start out using the rototiller in the corner of the garden that's closest to the outlet," says Unger. "I hold the cord in my right hand as I walk toward the other end of the garden. When I get there, I turn around and come back so that the cord is laying in the row where I just tilled. You probably wouldn't want to try this idea if your garden was 300 ft. from the nearest outlet. However, you could install a weatherproof outlet next to the garden and run a buried wire out to it, then use a cord off the outlet. If you wanted, you could also run a buried water line next to the wire so you could add irrigation water." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bob Unger, 417 Polk 62, Mena, Ark. 71953.

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