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62
ground. (See Photo 5/9.) They tend to clog up
badly in sod or any tall or lengthy vegetation
and are best used in clear ground only. They
will till 6 to 8 inches deep.
Pick tines are especially good where you have
hard clay and ground that has not been tilled
for several years. Although Bolo tines will
normally till any ground that you run up a-
gainst, they occasionally will require several
passes over the same very hard, rocky ground
to make much headway. Using Pick tines in
hard packed soil will often break up the soil
in just a few passes.
Naturally, as you cultivate your garden and
put back more organic material into the soil-
growing more vegetation for the tiller to chop
up, you will reach a point where you have im-
proved your soil conditions so much that the
early advantages of Pick tines will give way to
the all-around performance of Bolo tines.
CULTIVATING TINES
These specialized tines (see Photo 5/10) are
best for cultivation, which should be only one or
two inches deep to avoid damage to the roots
of plants. However, they will till as deep as 5
inches and disturb less soil than will Bolo tines.
They are an ideal choice wherever you wish
to cultivate between rows near shallow-rooted
crops, and for berries, vineyards, orchards and
shrub or tree nurseries. In fact, many profes-
sional growers prefer these tines for cultivating.
MATCHING WHEEL AND TINE SPEEDS TO
PARTICULAR JOBS
With a little experimenting, you will soon be
able to find the proper depth, wheel and tine
speed that is just right for the piece of soil you
are working on. (See Photo 5/11). What this
means is:
1. You advance the throttle lever on the handle-
bars to keep the engine running at a power lev-
el that is adequate to do the job.
2. You have the depth regulator set in a notch
that is not so deep that it causes the engine to
labor or causes the tiller to jump.
3. That you have the tines turning over fast
enough to really bust up the soil with a mini-
mum number of passes.
When your Troy-Bilt is working in this man-
ner, you can hear if the engine is not laboring
very hard and see that the tines are moving
well and breaking up the dirt to small friable
granules. At the proper match of wheel and tine
speeds, you will get the job done just as quick-
ly, more effectively and will achieve results
that are better and more satisfying. See Photo
5/12.
TILLING VERTICALLY ON SLOPES
If you garden on a slope, your Troy-Bilt Roto
Tiller Power-Com poster can be the greatest
benefit to you if you are able to plant verti-
cal rows up and down the slope. You can till
up the slope in high gear. In soft soil or weeds,
you may have to lift the handlebars up slight-
ly as you go uphill. Till uphill on the first
pass. It wi II do a better job than going downhill.
Till downhill in low gear. Never shift wheel
speed gears if the tiller is heading up or down
a
slope. See Safety Rule No. B.7 on page 38. The
powered wheels of the Troy-Bilt will pull the
tiller up the hill to do your digging and will also
hold the tiller back while you go downhill to
prevent the tiller from going too fast. See Photo
5/13 and Photo 5/14.
Tilling vertically on a slope will permit you
to prepare the entire area for your seedbed as
well as provide enough room between rows so
that you can cultivate between the rows during
the growing season.
Surprisingly enough,
growing a garden vertically on a slope does
not have to involve much of a problem with
soil erosion, as long as you have put in enough
organic material to improve the moisture hold-
ing ability of your soil and do not leave foot-
prints or wheel marks. Soil in this condition will
be broken up enough to prevent packing, and
will be held together well enough by those or-
ganic materials so that it will absorb water.
Tilling vertically up and down a slope allows
you to make tilling passes while walking along-
side the tiller, with one hand controlling the
tiller, at the same time thereby eliminating
troublesome wheel marks and footprints that
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