by Ron Khare on 22 May 2009
A few weeks ago, tired of the intense physical effort needed to double-dig the thick Iowa clay, I rented a rototiller with the belief that it would make my life very easy. As you can see….
…not so much.
[Ron Khare is a Fairfield native and local author. He blogs over at Growing Freedom]
Ron Khare - who has written 31 articles on Fairfield Voice.
Ron grew up in Fairfield, graduating MSAE in 2001. He plans on making Fairfield his life-long home.
You can find out more about his book here!
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I am laughing so hard at this video. The commentary by the woman in the first part was the best. She was so supportive! lol.
Iowa 1 – Ron 0.
I'm inclined to agree with you Alex. Much as I thoroughly enjoyed Ron's experience (schadenfreude, ah!), I've not had a similar situation.. I own a Mantis electric rototiller and I only wish I had been able to generate the level of entertainment that Ron had! I've been thrilled by the Mantis (except for having to clean out the blades if I run over the ever-present morning-glory or other vine), so I have to assume that there are different kinds of tillers. Or maybe it's the soil?
There are different tillers and different soils. As can be seen in Ron's video, front tine tillers just chatter across the top of the sod. Rear tine tillers, OTOH, dig down and tear it up. And, my guess is that the little Mantis tillers don't have enough power to break up a lawn. I've done the whole "dig up lawn and plant a garden" routine, and it really isn't very effective, even when rototilled with a tractor to fluff. When I established my current garden, there was very little topsoil due to all the earthmoving done around the building site, so I cheated and brought in three dump truck loads: one sand, one black dirt, and one manure.
Yeah, the next machine I use (assuming I can) is going to be something much heftier, hopefully a bulldozer. Then I can rip it all up, dump in some trucks full of (as you said) sand soil and manure. I'm done with small things for the size I have to cover.
Habitat for Humanity will soon have some black dirt and maybe some clay available for sale (donation) soon. Also Jefferson County Quarry sells black dirt and has a variety of people that will haul it. Royale Concrete can also haul smaller loads (4 tons or less) with their dump trailer.
Mr. Spade and Sir Shovel work just great for us (and a small hand held rake thingie). We have it down to a science and have cleared a lot of space by hand and are quite pleased with the results. Try it – you might like it!
The score would have been reversed had Ron used a rear tine tiller. Front tine tillers are only good for fluffing up loose soil.
I've been trying to do just that Alex, but I cannot find anyone that will deliver those loads. Suggestions?
If I recall correctly, the sand and topsoil was trucked in by Frank Caves, who is a farmer in Douds who has a dump truck and does local hauling of black dirt, sand, and gravel. I think the cow manure may have come from the Adam boys (Adam Agri out on Glasgow Rd.)
The next video post is for you.