Breaking In Your Tiller; Tilling Hints; Cultivating - Craftsman 917.296010 Owner's Manual

BREAKING IN YOUR TILLER
Break-in your belt(s), pulleys and tine con-
trol before you actually begin tilling.
• Start engine, tip tines off ground by
pressing handles down and engage tine
control to start tine rotation. Allow tines
to rotate for five minutes.
• Check tine operation and adjust if
necessary. See "TINE OPERATION
CHECK" in the Service and Adjustments
section of this manual.
TILLING HINTS
_ILCAUTION: 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 soil being tilled. 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 condi-
tions, 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"-6". A tiller will
also clear the soil of unwanted vegeta-
tion. The decomposition of this vegeta-
ble 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 contribute to
excessive bounce and difficult handling
of your tiller. Hard soil should be mois-
tened before tilling; however, extremely
wet soil will "ball-up" or clump during till-
ing. Wait until the soil is less wet in order
to achieve the best results. When tilling
in the fall, remove vines and long 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 between tilled rows There
are two reasons for doing this. First,
wide turns are much easier to negoti-
ate than about-faces. Second, the tiller
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.
CULTIVATING
Cultivating is destroying the weeds be-
tween rows to prevent 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 "-3".
• 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.
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