A tiller is a valuable item to have, whether you wish to have a lovely flower garden or a garden full of veggies. But, if you’re new to gardening, you might wonder what precisely the uses of a tiller are.
A tiller is a tool that gardeners use to prepare land for plantations. It’s the core step in planting fresh flower beds, herb gardens, vegetable gardens, and other plants. Some folks may even use these machines to till their lawns so that they can quickly reseed them.
A tiller has a set of blades called tines fixed in a housing unit attached to wheels. Four blades rotate alternately in opposite directions on the tines. These blades dig into the ground, loosen compact dirt and prepare it for planting. To power the equipment, there is usually a gas engine set in place. However, some gadgets also employ an electric motor.
Below you’ll learn how both these types of tillers work. We’ll also compare front tine vs. rear tine tiller so you can figure out which one is best for your garden.
Differences Between Front Tine Tiller vs. Rear Tine Tillers
Front Tine Tiller
Instead of pulling the tiller, the front tine tiller pushes it. Front tine tillers are helpful for the following tasks:
- Gardening in tiny and medium-sized spaces
- Soil loosening
- Breaking firm ground
- Weeding
- Garden maintenance in general
Rear Tine Tiller
Opposed to the front tine tiller, the rear tine tiller operates with a pulling motion. These tillers are used to till huge planting areas with engine-driven wheels. A back tine tiller is ideal for the following tasks:
- Digging extensive gardens and smaller farm areas
- Breaking firm ground
- Getting stony or hard soil to loosen
Front Tine Tiller
The forward revolving tines of a front tine tiller are usually situated in front of the machine. Front tine tillers have the engine sitting above or slightly behind the tines to give weight. The machine’s rear-mounted wheels make it simple to move it from one location to another.
Rear Tine Tiller
The tines on the rear tine tillers are positioned at the back of the machine. They are often the most expensive form of tiller because they are more sophisticated and have larger engines.
Front Tine Tiller
The forward-moving tines will drag the machine forward during the tilling process. However, muscle power is necessary to operate the front tine tiller by tipping the tines into the soil and holding back on the machine. This force is to adjust the tilling depth and manage the machine’s movement.
Rear Tine Tiller
A rear tine tiller has variable speeds as it has gears for hard and soft soils. Many of these also have forward and reverse gears available. This makes it easier to move out of tight areas.
The forward motion of the fast-spinning tines chops the material and mixes it with the soil. This allows the compost to be “power tilled” with these devices. Another characteristic is counter-rotating tines (CRT) versus standard revolving tines (SRT). This means the tines rotate in the opposite direction of travel (turn backward), making it simpler to break up resistant soil (see our list of best rototillers for rocky soil here)
Front Tine Tiller
Control requires leverage. However, with a front tine tiller, it is tricky to till virgin or untilled land. That’s mainly because it skips over the ground rather than going into the soil as desired.
This tiller style is more difficult to control with rocky soil since the tines catch complex objects and cause the machine to hop or jolt forward. As a result, front tine tillers require a little more strength to maneuver around your plot. But the experience of having their tiller run away with them may put rookie gardeners off.
Rear Tine Tiller
The driving wheels can drive the tiller to dig the soil to the required depth, making it easier to manage the tilling depth while steering the machine. The tines will continue to harvest even if forward motion is halted. You can start, stop, speed up, and slow down independently of the tilling operation.
Because the driving wheels control the machine’s forward motion, these units will not hop around when they hit an item, which makes them the top tiller for breaking new ground.
Front Tine Tiller
The front tine tiller is less sophisticated and less expensive than the rear tined tiller. This feature is vital to consider because most people do not use a tiller daily.
Rear Tine Tiller
Rear tine tillers are often the most expensive as they are more sophisticated and have larger engines. Regardless of the forward motion of the rear tines, the gadget can only be propelled forward at a certain pace.
Front Tine Tiller
Front tine tillers are smaller and more agile. This makes them ideal for small to medium-sized gardens or those with a lot of tight corners.
Rear Tine Tiller
Rear tine tillers are larger and less maneuverable. These tillers are ideal for large ground and rocky soils.
Advantage of Front Tine vs. Rear Tine Tiller
Advantage of Front Tine Tiller
Front tine tillers have excellent maneuverability that can tile a small garden. Unlike hand tilling with a pickaxe, this sort of tiller features tines that help drive the machine along while digging into the soil. Some front tine tillers can even activate the tilling tines in reverse or forward mode.
The rear tine tiller is the heaviest and most powerful tiller on the market, and thus, the most expensive one (see our list of best rear tine tiller here). They are more convenient to handle, especially when dealing with massive roots or boulders. In contrast, they are not as maneuverable as a front tine tiller and may be challenging to move into tight corners. However, they allow you to have better control over the tilling depth in general. For complex or highly rocky soils, as well as big garden plots, this sort of tiller is a must-have.
Similarities Between Front Tine Tiller and Rear Tine Tiller
Though choosing between these types of tillers depends upon one’s needs, here are some factors and similarities to consider.
Front Tine Tiller
When a tiller with forward-rotating tines grabs a rock, root, or stump, the tiller bounces forward and away from the user. This reduces the danger of accidents.
Rear Tine Tiller
If the tines of a reverse-rotating tiller grasp something, the tiller jumps backward. This can be dangerous if the operator is in a compact space and cannot move out of the way of the tines. To avoid injury, the reverse rotation should occur only on tractor-mounted tillers.
Front Tine Tiller
The Front tine tiller is appropriate for shallow tilling depths. But, the reverse process is easier to work with when it requires deep cultivation.
Rear Tine Tiller
Although the reverse rotation of tines makes grassy and compacted soil thick, these tillers lose forward traction in loose soil. As a result, they’re difficult to control because the tines must be elevated constantly to allow the wheels to drag the tiller forward.
Front Tine Tiller
Forward-rotation of tines is often less forceful than reverse-rotation of tines. In regions where a garden has grown, tillers with forward-rotating tines provide well-aerated ground and loose, uncultivated soils.
Rear Tine Tiller
Reverse-rotating tines break up compacted and rocky soils and hard clay with ease. On the other hand, they leave a more profound, cleaner seedbed in fewer passes than forward-rotating tines because of their more aggressive digging motion.
In Conclusion: Which One Should You Go With?
The size of land and the type of soil you’ll be tilling determines which tiller is best for your garden. If you have a plot with compacted or rocky soil, a front tine tiller will be more suitable. The rotating tines will cut into the earth and move the machine forward, which will aid at the beginning of your garden. This makes such tillers more productive and multipurpose than even reversible front tine tillers.
A back tine tiller is a heavy-duty machine that will benefit professional landscapers and serious gardeners the most. They will be able to clear an extensive ground area and till the soil to make it loose and easy to deal with. Also, when forming straight lines, these tillers will be easier to regulate, making them ideal for gardening.
When comparing front tine vs. rear tine tiller, read the product description to ensure it can perform the job.
