# 5' Rotary Tiller - Brand Question



## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

I'm in the market for a 3pt tiller..... 38hp tractor to pull it. 

I've narrowed it down to:

Howse $1475
King Kutter (Countyline @ tractor supply) $1800
Taylor Way $1850

Does anyone have experience with any of these? I'm mainly using them to break new ground for pastures or vegetable crops. It will see a good deal of use each year. 

I like the Howse because it has a reversible drive line, and is the heaviest of the bunch. I dislike how cheap it looks.. lots of bolts in the housing, and IIRC it only offsets by a little bit to the right. 

King Kutter.... well it's well known. I dislike the rebranding at TSC but am assured it's a King Kutter II all the way, right down to the owners manual and warranty. Can be offset

Taylor Way - I have little experience with but have talked to a few farmers who swear by them. I can't find any information on whether or not this one offsets (totally forgot to ask the guys I was talking to about it). I'll have to call the dealer this week to find out.

Lastly, I was looking at a Woods... but the dealer refused to come down from $1960 (and it was a sub compact model no less, not as heavy as these other three)


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Have you looked at a Kuhn?


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

Nope, I don't believe there's a dealer near me.


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## ksfarmer (Apr 28, 2007)

I've got a King Cutter 5'. I pull it with a Farmall 40 tractor, rated at 36 hp I think. It does a nice job, depending on your soil. In tough sod I usually make two or even 3 trips over it. In plowed ground, one trip will work as deep as you want and leave it ready to plant, my tractor would handle a 6' tiller in good soil or plowed ground.


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

Yea I'm in a clay loam, that hasn't seen any tillage for over a decade so no matter what I buy i'll be doing x-cross patterns, shallow to deep... that's after I run a chisel plow through it...


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## RonM (Jan 6, 2008)

Go with the King Kutter..


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

idigbeets said:


> Nope, I don't believe there's a dealer near me.


Kuhn is built in Germany. IIRC their units use gears instead of belts. They have a website that you can use to find a local dealer. Is this close enough?

WEST CENTRAL EQUIPMENT LLC
3159 STATE RTE 119
NEW ALEXANDRIA, PA 15670
Tel : 724-668-7172
Fax : 724-668-2073
[email protected]
Web : www.westcentraleq.com


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## rockbottomranch (Dec 23, 2010)

i dont have a very high opinion of anything made by Howse


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

Thanks Darren, Alexandria is still a bit of a drive.. but I'll call them up for pricing. I did call the Johnstown store (they only sell JDeere for $2375), I didn't realize they were a Kuhn dealer as well. They never mentioned it when I asked for a tiller price.... Interesting.

Rock, 

Why?


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## imthedude (Jun 7, 2011)

don't have any experience with pull-behind tillers, only walk behind models, so forgive the possibly ignorant question: why would want to offset it from the tractor to the right? it seems like you'd want to have it aligned straight with the wheels so that your wheels could go in the areas between beds and not over where you'll plant.


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

Depending on the width of the tractor that is pulling it... If the tractor is wider than the tiller you'll have lots of wheel tracks (extra compaction of the soil) and wasted time.

So I found out today that TSC doesn't carry rebranded King Kutter anymore... they carry Tarter Industries. While they appear to be very similar, the working depth is listed as only 4" on Tarter's website, and it is about 80lbs lighter than the KKII.

Add the fact that I called out to Pittsburgh and can get a KKII for $1580 right now, it has rocketed to my first choice.


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

idigbeets said:


> Thanks Darren, Alexandria is still a bit of a drive.. but I'll call them up for pricing. I did call the Johnstown store (they only sell JDeere for $2375), I didn't realize they were a Kuhn dealer as well. They never mentioned it when I asked for a tiller price.... Interesting.
> 
> Rock,
> 
> Why?


The Kuhn is one of the best tillers on the planet. It may make the JD unit's cost look cheap. The Kuhn tillers are available in all sorts of configurations incluidng one to drive another piece of equipment behind the tiller. 

Take a look at the Italian tillers too. I'm a fan of Italian ag equipment. Check out the info on www.tractorbynet.com .

Buying a Kingkutter tiller isn't bad. It is built in this country but the gearbox is probably Chinese.


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

I think you'd be hard pressed to find many pieces of AG equipment that don't utilize chinese parts in some fashion. 

I'll see if I can find more info on the Kuhn.. but at $1580 the KK is a good value for me atm.


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## flewism (Apr 2, 2007)

I have no qualms recommending a King Kutter II gear drive tiller. I owned a 5' one for 10 years, and put through all kinds of work and it did a fine job. I sold mine in 2010 because of lack of use. In those days I had about 1.3 acres in sweet corn, beans and pumpkins plus our regular vegetable garden. It installed and maintained my three food plots for deer plus tilled about a dozen for friends. When I was having lots a fill brought in it helped a lot finishing and prepping for grass which is why I bought in in the first place. 
We have clay soil with a lot of limestone as we are close to lake Erie. I sold it $950 on Craiglist and people were beating my door down to get it. I paid $1450 in 2001 for it. I jammed it up a few times on good size rocks and tree roots but never broke it. Just grease and gear oil and it ran well but the paint job was poor on KK stuff in those day but it was a stout. 
Now that the kids are for the most part out of the house I just have two 32' by 24' raised beds and use my rear tine and mini for that. So it was just taking up space in the barn. There has been times already I regret selling.


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## wayne miles (Mar 13, 2008)

I have a King Kutter from TSC (before they put their own brand on it). I have had it 3 years, pull it with a Mahindra C-35 and have had NO problems. Quite pleased and amazed at what it does.


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## rockbottomranch (Dec 23, 2010)

idigbeets said:


> Thanks Darren, Alexandria is still a bit of a drive.. but I'll call them up for pricing. I did call the Johnstown store (they only sell JDeere for $2375), I didn't realize they were a Kuhn dealer as well. They never mentioned it when I asked for a tiller price.... Interesting.
> 
> Rock,
> 
> Why?


Just my experience and opinion that Howse builds inferior equipment.


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## elkwc (Jun 3, 2007)

I bought a JD 5' tiller that offsets and had been used 3 times for $1,100.00. I love it. It works great behind my 40 hp Kubota. Jay


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

^^ You got a good deal. JD here new is well over 2k. I've found exactly 2 used tillers in the past few months both needed some repairs or were recently "cleaned" up so one can't tell what if anything was wrong w/ them. New paint, new stickers, all washed up. They wouldn't hook it back up to tractor to run it for me... No Thanks.


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## elkwc (Jun 3, 2007)

I used to be an auction addict but go now only if I see something I really need/want. Prices the last few years have been low but starting to rebound some overall but still some good bargains Went to try to buy a tractor yesterday but it was rough and the seller had a reserve. While there spotted a Craftsman 9hp 29 inch snow blower that had been used once. I bought it for $250 dollars. I put gas in it and it started right up and ran like a top today. Things are still real tight for many around here and so they sell things to eat and pay bills. I will resell it. Jay


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

I'm trying to hold off a purchase as long as I can, however the next big farm auction here isn't until mid April. I had a friend get a good tiller for under $300 a couple years ago. I need to get things going before then.. So we'll see !


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## nathan104 (Nov 16, 2007)

Im in the market for a 6' tiller myself. I didnt know I wanted one until I borrowed the neighbors last week to do my garden. Man those things are great. The one I borrowed was a King Kutter II 6'. Its worked great. Ive got a 50hp john deere and it just covered my tire tracks. I have heavy clay soil and this old farm used to have tons of horses on it which compacted the soi.l. That tiller chopped it up like butter. I got all my grden done and took it down to the bottoms to see what it would do down there in my pastures which have been ravaged by wild pigs. Looks like a bomb range down there. One pass and it was smooth as a babies behind. I was blown away. 

I have been checking around and looked at TSC today. They have the 6' coutnyline branded king kutter for $1899. Like you, he assured me it was the same exact thing as the king kutter II, but I just dont like the different branding. Just doesnt make me feel secure if you know what I mean. Atwoods also carries the 6' King Kutter II for $1700. They also Have a 6ft Priefert for $2050. 

I imagine I will end up getting the KKII from atwoods as Im having no luck finding one used.


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

Careful at TSC. In my state, TSC no longer carries rebranded KK. They carry "tarter industries" tillers. I checked out their website and was not impressed by the weight or cutting depth of their tiller.


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

So, I ended up w/ the King Kutter II, 5' for $1580. My biggest complaint is the lack of documentation on how much gear oil to fill the gear boxes with. The manual says "1/2 full" but doesn't give a capacity. The next line says "DANGER DO NOT OVERFILL PAST 1/2 OR YOU VOID WARRANTY". Well, it's a small hole to look into, pretty sure I'm good. Just find it odd they can't list it as something like "fill with 2 qt gear oil". Meh.

Other than that, it's a dream to use. I took the feet off it so I could till a little deeper. It pulls through heavy soil with no problem, turning sod into chunky seed bed with one pass, two passes and it's ready to rake down and plant. Fantastic !


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