Troy-Bilt Super Bronco Operator's Manual page 12

Tilling Tips & Techniques
Tilling Depth
WARNING!
or utilities company and inquire if underground
equipment or lines are used on your property. Do
not till near buried electric cables, telephone lines,
pipes or hoses.
• This is a CRT (counter-rotating tine) tiller. As the wheels
pull forward, the tines rotate backward. This creates an
"uppercut" tine action which digs deeply, uprooting soil
and weeds. Don't overload the engine, but dig as deeply
as possible on each pass. On later passes, the wheels may
tend to spin in the soft dirt. Help them along by lifting up
slightly on the handlebar (one hand, palm up, works most
easily).
• Avoid the temptation to push down on the handlebars in
an attempt to force the tiller to dig deeper. Doing so takes
the weight off the powered wheels, causing them to lose
traction. Without the wheels to hold the tiller back, the
tines will attempt to propel the tiller backward, towards the
operator.
• When cultivating (breaking up surface soil around plants
to destroy weeds, see Fig. 5-4), Adjust the tines to dig only
1" to 2" deep. Using shallow tilling depths helps prevent
injury to the plants whose roots often grow close to the
surface. If needed, lift up on the handlebars slightly to
prevent the tines from digging too deeply. (Cultivating on a
regular basis not only eliminates weeds, it also loosens and
aerates the soil for better moisture absorption and faster
plant growth.) Watering the garden area a few days prior
to tilling will make tilling easier, as will letting the newly
worked soil set for a day or two before making a final, deep
tilling pass.
12 s 5— O
ectiOn peratiOn
Before tilling, contact your telephone
Figure 5-4
Suggested Tilling Patterns
• When preparing a seedbed, go over the same path twice in
the first row, then overlap one-half the tiller width on the
rest of the passes. See Fig. 5-5.
Figure 5-5
• When finished in one direction, make a second pass at
a right angle, as shown in Fig. 5-6. Overlap each pass for
best results (in very hard ground, it may take three or four
passes to thoroughly pulverize the soil.)
Figure 5-6