TILLING TIPS& TECHNIQUES(CON'T)PowerComposting
Powercompostingsimply meanstillingunderandburyingin the soilall manneroforganic WARNING: Whenpower
mattersuchas cropresidues,leaves,grassclippingsand covercrops. This materialwill de, composting, do not keepthe
composeduringthe non-growingseasonandadd imPortantnaturalnutrients to the so DepthRegulator Leverat a
Thefirstplaceto beginis with crop residuessuchas leftovervines,stalks,stemsand roots• deepsetting if the ti!ler jumps
Powercompostthesecrop residuesassoon astheyfinish bearing.Thesooner this isdone, orbucks.
thebetter,astendergreen matteris easierto till under. Usethe deepestdepthregulatorset- If jumping or bucking occurs,
tingpossiblewithout causingthe engineto laboror the tillerto jump ahead, movethe DepthRegulator
Leverdown to ashallow
Standingcornstalksofreasonableheightcan bepower composted.Pushing over(but not setting andthen slowly
uprooting)cornstalkswill often makeit easierto chop upthe stalks•Keepthetines clear of increasethetilling depth on
excessivetanglingby ,fishtailing"orfrequentlyusingreverse. Makeseveralpasses,thenre- I t r
turnafewdayslatertofinishoffanyremainingstubble. Lee passes;, ... .
t-allure[ofollow tins warmng
Aftertillingundercrop residues,addmoreorganicmattersuch asleaves,grassclippingsand cou d result noersona n urv
evenkitchenscraps. Whentilled intothe soil, this organicmatterwill decomposeandadd
evenmoreimportant nutrientsto the soil•
Afterpowercomposting,you maywant to planta "greenmanure'!covercrop to protectthesoil duringthe off-season. Yousimply growa
cropof clover,alfalfa,buckwheat,peas,beans,ryegrass, grain,or kale andthentill it into the soil priorto the planting season.
TillingOnSlopes
Readthefollowing recommendationsbeforetillingon slopes:
youmust gardenon a moderateslope,pleasefollow two very _mportantgmeennes:
If
1.Til!only on moderatemodes,neveronsteepgroundwherefootingis difficult I reviewsafe-
ryrules in Section1: Safetyof this manuaU.
2. We recommendtilling up and clownslopes ratherthan terracing. Tillingverticallyon a
slopeallowsmax_murrplantingareaand also leavesroomfor cultivating.
IMPORTANT,"Whentilling on slopes be surethe correct oil levelis maintainedinthe engine
checkeveryone-halfhour of oeeratlonL The inclineof the sloeewl causerne el to slant
awayfrom_tsnormallevel and_n_scanstarveenginepartsof requiredlubrication. Keepme
motorOHlevelatthefull eoint at all times!
WAF{NINEi: Donot
operatetiller on a slopetoo
steepfor safe operation. Till
slowly and besure you have
goodfooting. Never permzt
tiller to freewheel down
slopes.Failureto follow this
warning could result in
personalinjury.
TillingUp and DownSlopes (VerticalTilling)
•Tokeepsoil erosionto aminimum, besureto add enoughorganicmatter tothe softso that it hasgoodmoisture-holding textureandtry
toavoid leavingfootprintsor wheel marks.
• Whentilling vertically,tryto makethefirst eass. _hillasthe tiller digs more aeeplygoing uphillthan it does downhill. Insoftsoil or
weeas,youmay havetolift the handlebarsslightlywhile goinguphill. Whengoingdownhill,overlap thefirst pass byabout one-halfthe
widthof the tiller.
TillingAcrossSlopesWithout UsingTerraces(HorizontalTilling)
• fvertical or terracing gardeningaren't practicalfor you, then you cantill laterallyacross a slope. We don't recommendthis methodas
tcan createunsurefooting and invitessoil eromon.
• As in terracegardemng,startatthetop of the slopeand overlapthefirst passey _alfthe widthof the tiller. Foraddedstabilityofthe tiller.
alwayskeeptheuphillwheelin thesoft. new_yhliedSOIL
TerraceGardening
• Whena slope _stoosteep or too short for verticaltilling, _tmay be necessarytot_llacrossthe sloae andcreateterraced rows.Terraces
arerowsthat are cut rotethe sideof a slope,creating a narrow,but flat areaon whichto plant.
• Ona long s_ope,youcanmakeseveralterraces,one belowthe other.
• Terracesshouldbeonly2-to-3 feetwide. Diggingtoofar into thesideof the slopewil! exposepoorsubsoilthat is unproductiveforplants.
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