Tilling with a 100 cub cadet w/creeper

[BigBill]

My 100 cub cadet with the creeper has the rear tiller finally mounted on it and running ok today. What a hassle installing the 3pt lift rod to the lift lever. The tiller works great. I made a few shallow passes first then dropped it all the way down for the final pass. I also tilled up some new ground to fertilize with manure and get it ready to plant corn in the spring.
Since i became disabled and can't walk behind the gravely with the rotary plow which is one of the best tillers i have ever ran or owned I need to ride now and the cub cadet sure gets the job done...

It cost me $150 for the tiller, $95 for the two drive belts and about $8 for new lifting chains and hardware.

On my 100 the 10hp kolher needs to be rebuilt soon but it never burped or hesitated while tilling. I ran it with the regular old goodyear tires and got stuck a few times. I need to get my 26" 1200 12" tru power at's mounted soon. Do any of you guys who use this tiller run chains too? I would run tire chains on the gravely. BB

[gitractorman]

Bill,
Those tillers are great. I had one on my 149 when I moved in to our house several years ago, and used it to till and re-grade about 3/4 acre of lawn. It makes sense that your 10-hp engine did good even on worn parts, as the gear reduction in the tiller really doesn't put a ton of pull on the engine. You will find that it will slip belts long before bogging down the engine.

I would go for ag style tires on your tilling machine. They have good traction and clean out easy, which is exactly what they are designed for. The narrow 6x12 ag tires have the best tread, lots of down pressure on a narrow foot print gives them excellent traction. I know, no-one likes the look of the narrow tread tires on the CC tractors, but the 6x12s really do have the best traction. Otherwise, you'll be adding lots of weight to overcome the big footprint of the larger tires.

If you are going to stick with turf tires, I have seen lots of folks put chains on. I never liked them for garden work, because they pack up with dirt and don't clean out, and you then end up tracking dirt throughout your lawn, driveway, garage, etc.

Bill

[BigBill]

My problem with skinny tires is I have a very high water table at times so my ground is very soft sometimes. My garden was very soft lastnite too. I had problems a few times with the orginal 23"-850-12" goodyear turf tires but i raised the tiller and she moved. I just purchased the 26"1200-12" tru power AT AG tires for the 100 w/tiller. I figure the wider tires will give me more flotation in the softer soil. I just painted the rims yesterday for them. Next i need to restore my CC100 and the tiller too.

Your right washing my dual turf tires on my gravely tractor with the tiller was a pia too.

They offer two different "Tru Power" AG style threads. The regular Tru Power tires are similair to the tractor AG thread style. The "AT" style threads have more lugs closer together they maybe more forgiving on the grass. I'm new at this and really don't want every tractor looking the same. My CC70 has the larger 29"1250-15" Tru power tires and they sure do dig in with traction. The repowered 8hp engine sure can spin them even with a broken teaser spring which i have to fix this week. I'm thinking of fabricating a new set of rear fenders for my 70 too. Mainly to protect me from the larger tires. One slip off the foot rests and those big lugs can pull me in. I can sometimes feel the lugs rubbing against my legs when i get too close to them. My point is to use caution when thinking about going to larger tires. If some of us remember the quads with the foot pegs. One slip and your legs are under the rear tires. The quads have a hand clutch were the cadets don't so we need to turn it off quickly or take it out of gear fast if that happens. Safety first.

Comming from an engineering back ground with product testing I like to test everything to see what works and what doesn't. I'm playing with different tires right now. I put two new firestone turf and field 24-850-12's on my 122 and two 26"1200-12's turf pro tires on my 108. The firestone's have a more open thread but both tires perform really well. I would figure the thinner width tire would give more traction due to lbs per square inch on the ground where the wider tire gives us more flotation. I think it also depends on the design of the thread too with the wider tires.

I notice very little difference between my 10hp and 12hp kolhers with the mowers(122& 108) but my 8hp kolher(70) never grunts too it just stays pulling. Now with my 100 with the tiller i'm impressed with the 10hp. After all its all about the gearing too.