I think a PTO Tiller as the ultimate Garden implement. If you have a big garden the tiller will do it all in one pass.

If you have 30 acres of food plots you are going to be there a while. It is slow and difficult going in unimproved ground with rock, tree roots, etc.

If your ground has been worked for a number of years and/or you have fairly loose soil and everything is nice and clean I think a tiller is good. Otherwise the disk is more durable and faster. You can pick up a disk and a all-purpose plow for what you'd spend on a tiller I would think.

A tiller in my opinion is the way to go if your plots are established. One good pass and they're ready. You do have to watch out for stumps and don't get around living trees. Stay out from under their branches and you will be fine. You can move faster with a disc but if you don't have a extremely heavy disc and tractor it will take a few passes to get the ground chopped up well. A plot that is shaded may disc in nicely the first time but one that has a thick layer of grass on top will take a bit of time. I like to see pure dirt or mostly dirt in my plots. On an established plot I will take a tiller over a disc any day. I can run around 3mph with my tiller. If you do get a tiller get one with gears. NO CHAINS!

Good Lord, you don’t need 4x4 or a 50 horse tractor to plant 15 food plots. The only reason for 4x4 is if you have a loader. Older Fords or Masseys with a Perkins 3 cylinder will run for ever and will always crank if the battery is charged. You can get what you need (maybe not what you want) for less than $8,000 with a bush hog, disk and spreader if you shop around.

We also have about 15 acres of plots. Spraying took 6 hours, one guy on tractor, another carrying water.

This year I tilled 6 fields that were about 5 acres in about 6 hours. These were established fields in central Al (good dirt, no rocks) all but one had been sprayed but not cut. The one not sprayed had green growth over 6' tall which was no problem for the tiller. One pass and they look awesome.

Another guy disced 8 fields about 9 acres in about 8 hours. He made 3 passes in most fields and they still didn't look as good as the tiller.

All the seed was covered with the tiller set very shallow. Not sure on hours there, but I'd estimate 12 for covering.

I don't know anyone that uses a tiller. Takes too damn long.
Spray, and then disc.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned getting a tractor with a ROPS. I simply won't set foot on one without it. And I know several that have died without one on there.

Here's a real good looking Ford 3000

https://www.facebook.com/groups/21432827...resting_product

Well do you wear a harness or seatbelt while using it? And you don't have to answer that... but I don't see people on tractors with ROPS and seat belts. I never see people out in the country on a tractor wearing a seat belt. Maybe the County road crew was the last time I saw someone actually using a seat belt on a tractor off a job site. I really can't remember it has been so long. .

ROPS with no seatbelt is just as dangerous as without.

Tractor Safety is a completely different discussion. You can get hurt or killed pretty easily around one. I figure we can all agree on that for sure.

I absolutely use my seatbelt. Every time. The dang bushhog is lethal and 4' from me. One bump and you could bounce backwards into it. If folks don't use the seatbelt, that's crazy as hell.

I use a tiller. I have an 8 footer. I can actually run on at a pretty good pace but my fields are really established. One pro to me is that it only takes one pass and makes a nice, level seed bed

Yeah, if you've got a big tractor and a big tiller, you can do some work.

Tillers rule.

We use the tiller in all our established plots. Cuts our planting time by over half. One and done.

Someone new at tractor work needs just a disc not a tiller. A good used tractor, disc, and a bush hog is all you need. I had a Massey 245 I wish I had back but you can find anything around 35-40 HP. These will work fine.

Takes less time and does a better job to prepare a perfect field with one pass of a good tiller than multiple passes with a disk.
Plus one heck of a lot less wear and tear on the tractor and the operator.

I have a 245 I use with my spreader and cultipacker. I cant reach the lever on spreader from inside the cab of the IH986.

I like that tractor. It would be fine for someone who does 8-10 acres at most.

When I had bottom land my tiller was my go to. Now that I'm upland with mostly chert, it's useless. I'm probably going to sell it at some point, just been too busy to let anybody look at it.

I'd like the first shot at that tiller the you sell it.

This is common sense. You don't need a 4x4 and you don't need a loader to manage a few food plots. I've done a bunch of years of farming without either. Currently have one big tractor with a loader but I still don't have a 4x4 tractor. That crowd who says, "I won't buy anything unless it's magnum turbo supercharger 4x4 with big ol honkin front end loader"!
That's just a bunch of city boys don't know shcit about nothing.

I've been planting my foodplots for at least 5 years at my hunting club with an atv,sprayer,and spreader. My plots always look good. You don't need a tractor to grow good food plots.