7 Tillers For Market Farmers That Old Farmers Swear By
Discover the 7 tillers seasoned farmers swear by. These time-tested machines are prized for their durability and unmatched soil-prepping power.
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Key Tiller Features for Market Garden Success
Your soil is your bank account, and a tiller is how you make deposits and withdrawals. The most fundamental choice is between forward-rotating tines (FRT) and counter-rotating tines (CRT). FRT tillers pull the machine forward and are great for cultivating already-worked soil, while CRT machines have tines that spin against the direction of the wheels, aggressively digging in to bust sod or break compacted ground.
Power and weight are a constant balancing act. A heavy, powerful machine will tear through new ground without bouncing you across the field, but it’s a nightmare to maneuver in tight spaces or turn at the end of a 30-inch bed. A lighter machine is nimble, but it might struggle in heavy clay or rocky soil. The right balance depends entirely on whether your primary task is breaking new ground or cultivating existing beds.
The most significant feature for a serious market farmer is a Power Take-Off, or PTO. A PTO allows you to power a wide range of attachments beyond the tiller, like a flail mower, chipper, or sickle bar mower. This transforms the machine from a single-use tool into a versatile power plant for your entire farm, dramatically increasing its value and utility.
Troy-Bilt Horse: The Original Workhorse Tiller
Before the wave of high-end European two-wheel tractors, there was the Troy-Bilt Horse. Built around a legendary cast-iron, gear-driven transmission, these machines were designed to last for generations, and many have. Their simple, rugged construction means they can be repaired with basic tools and a bit of mechanical know-how.
The Horse is pure, unapologetic brute force. It’s heavy, powerful, and when you put it in "low gear," it will methodically chew through the toughest soil conditions. This is its superpower and its weakness. While it excels at primary tillage and breaking established garden plots, it can be a real beast to wrestle around, especially on slopes or at the end of a long row. It’s the perfect machine for the initial big jobs of the season.
BCS 739: Versatility for the Modern Farm
BCS isn’t just a tiller; it’s a two-wheel tractor system, and the 739 is a sweet spot for many market farmers. The entire philosophy is built around the PTO, which powers over 30 different attachments. One day it’s a tiller, the next it’s a flail mower for terminating cover crops, and in the winter it can be a snow blower.
What sets the 739 apart is its combination of professional features in a manageable size. It includes a differential lock, which locks the two wheels together to power through slippery or uneven terrain, and multiple working speeds for both the tractor and the PTO. The handlebars are reversible, allowing you to switch between front- and rear-mount attachments in minutes.
Let’s be clear: a BCS is a serious investment. You’re not just buying a tiller; you’re buying a platform. For a small farm trying to maximize efficiency and minimize the number of engines they need to maintain, the BCS 739 can replace a half-dozen other machines, making it a smart long-term purchase for a growing operation.
Honda FRC800: Unmatched Engine Reliability
There’s one thing every farmer knows about Honda engines: they start. After a long winter in the barn, when you need your equipment to work without a fuss, the Honda reputation is worth its weight in gold. The FRC800 is a commercial-grade tiller built around this principle of absolute reliability.
This is a no-nonsense, dedicated tiller. It features heavy-duty counter-rotating tines designed to dig deep and pulverize soil in a single pass. The controls are intuitive, the construction is robust, and everything about it feels engineered for hard, consistent work. It doesn’t have the attachment versatility of a BCS, but it’s exceptionally good at its one job.
The FRC800 is for the grower who needs a dedicated, powerful machine for primary tillage and bed prep, and who values reliability above all else. If you already have a mower and other equipment, and just need a tiller that you can count on year after year, this is a top contender.
Mantis XP Tiller: Precision Between the Rows
Most of the machines on this list are for breaking and preparing beds. The Mantis is for what comes after. It’s not a tiller in the traditional sense; it’s a lightweight, high-speed cultivator designed for one specific, crucial task: weeding.
Its narrow profile and light weight are its greatest strengths. You can easily lift it into raised beds or navigate the tight pathways between rows of established crops to churn up thread-stage weeds. Its high tine speed creates a fine tilth on the soil surface, disrupting the weed seed bank without damaging the deeper soil structure or nearby crop roots.
Don’t make the mistake of buying a Mantis to break new ground; you will be profoundly disappointed. But for keeping beds clean throughout the growing season, it is an invaluable tool. It saves countless hours of hand-weeding, making it a specialized but essential piece of equipment for maintaining a clean and productive market garden.
Grillo G110: Italian Power and Durability
In the world of two-wheel tractors, Grillo is the other Italian heavyweight, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with BCS. The Grillo G110 is a beast of a machine, often chosen by farmers who need maximum power for demanding tasks like running a 30-inch tiller or a heavy flail mower through thick cover crops.
Like its competitors, the G110 is built around a heavy-duty, gear-driven transmission and a versatile PTO system. It boasts a differential lock and multiple working speeds, making it adaptable to any task or terrain. Grillo users often point to its robust build quality and straightforward, rugged controls as key selling points.
The choice between a Grillo and a BCS often comes down to local dealer support, attachment availability, and personal preference on control layout. Both are exceptional, professional-grade machines built for a lifetime of hard work. If you have a good Grillo dealer nearby, the G110 is a formidable option that will not disappoint.
Husqvarna TR317D: Power for Breaking New Ground
Sometimes, you just need to tear up some sod. The Husqvarna TR317D is a modern, purpose-built machine for that exact task. Its design is focused entirely on putting maximum power into the ground to transform a patch of lawn or compacted field into a workable garden plot.
The key is its combination of powerful counter-rotating tines, heavy counterweights over the wheels, and aggressive, deep-tread tires. This setup keeps the machine from bucking and bouncing, forcing the tines to dig deep and stay engaged. It’s a sod-busting specialist.
While it can be used for general garden cultivation, its weight and aggressive nature make it less ideal for delicate work in established beds. Think of the TR317D as the first-stage tool. It’s the machine you bring in to do the heavy lifting at the very beginning of a project, creating a blank slate for finer tools to refine.
Gravely Model L: The Two-Wheel Tractor King
Talk to a farmer who’s been at it for 50 years, and they’ll likely mention one name with reverence: Gravely. The Model L, first produced in the 1930s, is an icon of American agricultural engineering. These machines were built with an all-gear drive and a philosophy of absolute indestructibility.
The Gravely design is unique, with a front-mounted PTO that powers a huge range of incredibly robust attachments, from a 30-inch brush hog to a circular saw. Unlike rear-tine tillers, the Gravely’s tiller attachment is mounted out front, pulling the machine forward as it digs. This design, combined with the machine’s low center of gravity, makes it remarkably stable and effective.
Finding a good Model L and its attachments can be a treasure hunt, but their legendary durability means thousands are still in service today. More than just a piece of equipment, the Gravely L represents a bygone era of manufacturing where tools were designed to be repaired, not replaced. It’s a testament to the idea that the best equipment is a lifetime investment.
The right tiller is the one that fits the scale of your land, the type of your soil, and the specific jobs you do most often. Whether it’s a versatile two-wheel tractor that can mow your cover crops or a nimble cultivator for weeding, think of this machine as a long-term partner in your farm’s success. Choose wisely, maintain it well, and it will pay you back for decades to come.
