# Japanese Rototiller



## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

I have people stop in and ask what tiller I am using to clear brush and roots on recently cleared fields, and when I am grinding out fence rows of blackberries, willows, cottonwood, and Hazel nut brush. Thought I would toss in a photo and a bit about my $300 Yanmar 6' rice paddy tiller.










The rice paddy tillers are found in the grey market dealers, usually as part of a deal they got when they bought a container of low hour tractors for resale in the US.

This is a Yanmar tiller, the depth is set with the wide front wheels because everything behind them in the paddies is muck. They run a tiller of this size with a 17 horse four wheel drive subcompact equipped with deep tread rice tires. Operated at what we consider creep speed. Obviously they are tilling very wet soil.

On the back of the tiller is a full width steel gate that is held down by two long coil springs. Makes a smooth finish.

To get it to fit a US tractor three point the attachment pins are removed and installed inside the mounting frame in the forward holes.

The PTO shaft is a standard generic I purchased at the local John Deere dealer. 540 RPM system.

Bearings and seals are standard metric sizes and available through my local bearing house. Replacement tines are available from many sources, but I have yet to wear them out.

What this is used for is following the Cats with the stump splitter and brush rake when clearing ground. It grinds the roots and chips into the soil, where they rot. Then after the debris and stumps are burned, this grinds the remains into the soil and mixes in lime.

This one has wound up 100 year old hog wire fencing to the point that all that can be done is get the torch out and start cutting. Nothing bends or breaks, it is heavy at nearly 1,000 lb, and built for stout.

Best of all, it was dirt cheap and as we all know the cheap stuff we do not care about never breaks!

I bought this on a lark after I ruined my last big buck heavy duty tiller, and this is the best tiller I ever used.


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

For $300, that's a hell of a deal. Wonder if one could come even close to finding one for that price these days?


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## dozer966 (Dec 30, 2014)

Cool story thanks for sharing. Now I want one too.


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## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

I keep an eye on Craigslist and farm auctions. Good deals can be found, and it beats sitting around home when the rainy season starts and runs for nine months.


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