Rear Tine Tiller/Frond Tine Tiller/Ground Hog Max

[Islandlaker]

Anyone use a rear tine tiller for their plots? I have rented front tine tillers in the past for food plots, it worked great, but man was it hard! That thing bounced around like crazy. It took a lot of time and hard worked but worked great. So last year I tried to figure out something to make this process easier. I ended up buying a groundhog max. The reviews seemed good and the youtube videos of it were pretty sweet as well. Well it didn't work for me that well. In early June it seemed to work alright when there was still some puddles on the ground, however, it kept bending the hitch on my atv just after a couple passes. Well after two custom weld jobs latter it seemed to work. Well by the time it was fixed it was mid july and the ground was too hard, and it wouldn't do anything. We ended up sitting two guys on the atv and it worked a little but the ATV started overheating so just gave up. I think the groundhog would work if I had a bigger quad. I wish I spent the $400 bucks on a rear tine tiller instead of the ground hog max. Seems to be a few on hsolist for $250-400

Can I expect the same success with a rear tine tiller as I had with the front tine? Withouth the "bull by the horns" feeling? Also any of you use a ground hog max before? I think I will give it another shot, even if it doesn't work it will have its uses. It will be great for knocking down the rows of dirt that the tiller will make, may also be better in areas that have already been tilled.

[Bobby Bass]

Been using rear tiller tillers for better the 30 years and have done hundreds of gardens with them as I till in the spring and make my fishing money off my little hobby. Far better then front tine tillers as the rear tines have weight forward and the tines are counter rotating. For a food plot it may be time consuming as tilling is in no way as quick as disking an area. You can till with a rear tine with one hand, can't do that with a front tine. As for a used tiller the tines when new are sguare, not pointed, that is the sign of a well used tiller. New tines can run you upwards of 150 bucks so that is a quick way to see how much a tiller has been used.

[Islandlaker]

Thanks for the advice, especially about checking the tines. I don't mind time consuming as long as it works. It seems like everything for a food plot is time consuming. Using a tiller always gave me the best results, it was just a huge pain since it was a front tine. If the rear tine will work I think that will be a good investment.

[fishwater]

Maybe an option, check out the Meadow Creature Broadfork. If you have a decent back to work with, this will turn up a moderately sized plot better than the vast majority of walk behind gas tillers.

[Islandlaker]

Maybe an option, check out the Meadow Creature Broadfork. If you have a decent back to work with, this will turn up a moderately sized plot better than the vast majority of walk behind gas tillers.

Well if hippies can make it out, I am sure I could handle it.

[Powerstroke]

SOunds like you don't have your groundhog adjusted appropriately. If you're bending your hitch, I don't think a bigger quad would matter. If you've got it set too deep then it won't do its job.

We used a groundhog max on a Honda 400 all this season and it worked well every time. When breaking new ground, we would only set it 1-2" deep and run around letting it cut the top layer. Once the crust was broken we set it down another notch or two. Even in august it worked well in the dry hard packed field.

I can't imagine walking behind a tiller would be faster or easier, but who knows.

[Islandlaker]

Powerstroke; good to know you had good results. Are you able to use the long hitc that runs under your bike, or do you use the short one that doesn't? I have a Articat 250cc, I can not use the long hitch that uses two bolts. I have to use the shorter one and it can only use 1 bolt. I have also found that the bolt comes loose after a couple of passes no matter how hard I have it tightened. I will be trying the groundhog max again before I buy anything else. If I remember correctly there is some sort of spray I can put on the bolt to help it stay tight.

[LABS4ME]

Go pick up a couple of teflon nuts. Put them both on the bolt. Tighten down one top of the other. They WILL NOT becomiing loose on their own.

Good Luck!

Ken