Walk-Behind Rototiller Mounted On Garden Tractor

Walk-Behind Rototiller Mounted On Garden Tractor TRACTORS Conversions “I’m too old to operate a walk-behind rototiller but too stubborn to quit gardening So I converted my walk-behind rototiller to a ‘4-pt ’ mounted model that mounts on my old Massey Ferguson garden tractor I use a hydraulic pump and valve to raise and lower the rototiller Works great ” says 82-year-old Harold Billings of Kenosha Wis Billings stripped the rototiller down to the engine drive system and tines then made an angle iron frame to support the drive system Then he bolted a homemade hitch equipped with a single hydraulic cylinder on front of the frame The hitch’s lower lift arms bolt onto the back of the tractor and pivot freely as the cylinder is raised or lowered which keeps the rototiller level at all times He added a 6-in wide set of tines on each side of the rototiller to increase the rototiller’s tillage width to 3 ft which is enough to dig up the tractor’s rear wheel tracks He also mounted a long handle on the rototiller’s clutch He borrowed the hydraulic pump from a log splitter and made a hydraulic reservoir from a can of lacquer thinner Both mount on brackets alongside the tractor A hose runs from the pump to an oil filter and valve mounted on the tractor’s operator platform “It’s easy to operate I pull-start the rototiller in the lowered position and raise the tiller then release the clutch to engage the tines Then I climb on the tractor and lower the hitch ” says Billings “I call it a 4-pt hitch because the hydraulic cylinder is connected to a pair of upright metal arms that bolt together at the top which together with the original 3-pt lower lift arms makes a 4-pt hitch If I want I can use a pair of turnbuckles to adjust the rototiller’s angle ” He says the rototiller’s engine has plenty of power to operate the rototiller “If the soil is too hard I can quickly remove the outside tines but most of the time I leave them on ” says Billings The hydraulic cylinder is off the tailgate of an old cotton wagon and was given to Billings by his son-in-law who lives in Mississippi “If I want I can remount the cylinder on front of the tractor and use it to operate a dozer blade ” says Billings Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Harold Billings 1825 15th Ave Kenosha Wis 53140 ph 262 551-8971; haroldbillings@yahoo com

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