Breaking In Your Tiller; Tilling Hints; Cultivating - Craftsman 917.298353 Owner's Manual

k
-i_l,-lu..ul.-,.u, , , i i ii
OPERATION
i ................................
SPARK
PLUG
CONTROL
)]rTLE
CONTROL
RECOIL STARTER
HANDLE
FIGo 8
BREAKING IN YOUR TILLER
Break.in your belt(s), pulleys and tine control before you
actually begin tilling.
• Start engine, tip tines off ,]round by pressing handles
down and engage tine control to start tine rotation
AIIow tines to rotate for five minutes.
• Check tine operation and adjust if necessary. See
"TINE OPERATION CHECK" in the Service and Ad-
justments section of this manual
TILLING HINTS
i .....................
CAUTION: Until you are accustomed to
handling your tiller, start actual field
use with throttle in "SLOW" position.
To help tiller move forward, lift up the handles slightly (thus
lifting depth stake out of ground). To slow down the tiller,
press down on handles
if you are straining or tiller is shaking, the wheels and depth
stake are not set properly in the soll being tille& The proper
setting of the wheels and depth stake is through trial and
error and depends upon the soil condition. (The harder or
wetter the ground, the slower the engine and tine speed
needed° Under these poor conditions, at fast speed the tiller
will run and jump over the ground)°
A properly adjusted tiller will dig with little effort from the
operator.
, Tilling is digging into, turning over, and breaking up
packed soil before planting, Loose, unpacked soil
helps root growth. Best tilling depth is 4" to 6". A tiller
will also clear the soil of unwanted vegetation. The
decomposition of this vegetabJe matter enriches the
soil Depending on the climate (rainfall and wind), it
may be advisable to till the soil at the end of the growing
season to further condition the soil.
, Soil conditions are important for proper tilling. Tines will
not readily penetrate dry, hard soil which may contrib-
ute to excessive bounce and difficult handling of your
tiller. Hard soil should be moistened before tilling;
however, extremely wet soil will "bali-up" or clump
during tiiling_Wait until the soil is less wet in order to
achieve the best results° When tilling in the fall remove
vines and ong grass to prevent them from wrapping
around the tine shaft and slowing your tilling operation.
You will find tilling much easier if you leave a row
untilled between passes. Then go back over the entire
area _t right angles (See Fig. 9). There are two reasons
for doing thi& First, wide turns are much easier to
negotiate than aboutffaces Second, the tiIler won't be
pulling itself, and you, toward the row next to it
Set depth stake and wheel height for shallow tilling
when working extremely hard soil or sod Then work
across the first cuts at normal depth.
FIG, 9
CULTIVATING
Cultivating is destroying the weeds between rows to pre-
vent them from robbing nourishment and moisture from
the plants° At the same time, breaking up the upper layer
of soil crust will help retain moisture in the soil. Best
digging depth is 1" to 3'L
• You will probably not need to use the depth stake.
Begin by tipping the depth stake forward until it is held
by the stake spring.
• Cultivate up and down the rows at a speed which will
allow tines to uproot weeds and leave the ground in
rough condition, promoting no further growth of weeds
and grass (See Fig. 10).
A
S-".
_j
i
l
v
FIG. 10
11