Troy-Bilt 12065 - Manual (Page 19)

Cultivating
When planning your garden,
keep in mind that the tiller has a
tilling width of approximately 14”.
Allow at least this width between
rows in your garden— plus addi­
tional width for plant growth.
Take into account that bushy plants
like beans and tomatoes need more
width. Refer to Photo 4-9.
When cultivating, use a shallow
Depth Regulator Lever setting. Do
not cultivate deeper than l"-or-2".
Shallow cultivating keeps weed
growth to a minimum and doesn’t
damage plant roots.
For best results, begin cultivat­
ing as soon as seedlings appear,
and then cultivate as often as once
a week. The day after a light rain
is an excellent time to cultivate, as
long as the plants are dry. Avoid
working in the garden when plants
are wet. Diseases, blight, and rust
can be easily spread among wet
plants with your hands, clothing or
even the tiller.
V ■
Photo 4-9: Cultivating within rows.
Power Composting
To keep your garden productive,
regularly till organic matter back
into the soil (Photo 4-10). This
helps replace any nutrients har­
vested (as vegetables), and also
improves soil structure.
A simple method of power com­
posting is to chop, blend and till
under leafy crop residues, leaves,
grass clippings and “green ma­
nure” crops. This organic matter
will decompose and add important
nutrients back into garden soil.
When composting, put the
Depth Regulator Lever at the deep­
est setting that does not allow the
tiller to jump or cause the engine
to labor.
CAUTION
When power composting, do
not keep the Depth Regulator
Lever at a deep setting if the
tiller jumps or bucks.
If jumping or bucking occurs,
move the Depth Regulator
Lever down to one of the
shallower settings and then
slowly
increase the tilling
depth on later passes.
Failure to comply could result
in loss of tiller control, prop­
erty damage or personal injury.
V-
i-
^
Photo 4-10: Power Composting
“feeds” your garden.
Till crop residues back into the
soil as soon as the vegetables are
harvested. Green, tender crops are
more easily tilled.
Since the tiller is a compara­
tively lightweight machine, we
don’t recommend it for power
composting large standing crops
such as cornstalks. However, you
can uproot the leftover green corn­
stalks, run them through a shred­
der, or chop them into smaller
pieces and then scatter them on
your garden. This allows you to
power compost them back into the
soil.
After tilling under crop residues,
you can plant a cover crop such as
buckwheat, annual ryegrass, peas,
or beans to protect your garden
soil. This builds soil, adds nutri­
ents to the garden and helps con­
trol soil erosion.
High-Traction Frame Weights
The “High-Traction” Frame
Weight Kit is a handy accessory
for your tiller. This kit consists of
two 13-1/2 lb. cast iron weights
which attach to the tiller frame
right above each wheel axle.
To till very heavy soil or im­
prove tiller traction, the weights
are what you need. The weights
allow you to till under tougher
conditions and till deeper at a
somewhat faster rate.
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