Breaking In Your Tiller; Tilling Hints; Cultivating - Craftsman 917.292403 Owner's Manual

Plug
Control
Control
Recoil
BREAKING IN YOUR TILLER
Break-in your belt(s), pulleys and tine
control before you actually begin tilling.
• Start engine, tip tines off ground by
pressing handles down and engage
line control to start tine rotation. Allow
tines to rotate for five minutes.
• Check tine operation and adjust if
necessary. See "-FINE OPERATION
CHECK" in the Service and Adjust-
ments section of this manual.
TILLING HINTS
_CAUTION: Until you are accustomed to
handling your tiller, start actual field use
with throttle in slow position (mid-way
between =FAST" and "IDLE").
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 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 ol
unwanted vegetation. The decomposi-
tion of this vegetable 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.
10
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
moistened before tilling; however,
extremely wet soil will "ball-up" or
clump during tilling. 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
negotiate 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
between 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" to 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.
, I
k _ ,.S ,; _