Investing in high-quality outdoor power equipment can make your yard work easier and more rewarding. And while lawn mowers, leaf blowers and other common power tools are found in nearly every tool shed, you might not see a garden cultivator or rototiller in the average equipment collection. Highly versatile and capable, both tools make solid additions for anyone with a large yard to look after.
Rototiller Vs. Cultivator: Which Do You Need?
Rototillers, also known as tillers, and cultivators are useful tools for lawn and garden care. They both work to loosen up the soil in your yard to make planting easier, doing the job more efficiently than regular gardening hand tools. In fact, creating flower beds or garden patches without them can be difficult work, especially in hardened or heavily overgrown ground. But there are key differences between the two types of tools.
Heavy-duty tillers are great for breaking up compacted soil and pulling up stones and hidden roots. Gardening cultivators work with already tilled, lighter soil, improving texture and drainage quality. Combined tiller cultivator models also exist, making use of a mini rototiller to work gently on an existing bed and a more powerful garden cultivator to work on tougher soils than a regular model.
Work Large Areas with a Powerful Rototiller
Even a small rototiller can help you loosen large areas of soil in a hurry, while larger, more powerful tillers can turn over a full yard in a matter of hours. However, as with all power tools, choosing the right rototiller model is important for efficiency, and here are some points to think about.
- Job size: Look for a rear-tine tiller for larger jobs, since these machines have powered wheels to help break through hard, rocky ground. When working with existing beds, weeding, forming compost or tilling smaller projects, forward-tine tillers can be easier to maneuver thanks to their back wheel design.
- Power source: Both gas and electric rototiller models are available, and while gas tends to give higher power, electric tillers can handle most home jobs and need less maintenance.
- Engine type: If you choose a gas rototiller, using the engine type to narrow down your options can be helpful. 2-cycle engine models typically use both oil and gas and don't require as much regular maintenance as 4-cycle engine tillers. 4-cycle gas tiller models are more powerful, but also heavier and use gasoline only.
- Maneuverability: The tires on your tiller help decide how easily your machine can move over rough ground. Pneumatic tires are especially popular because they help make maneuvering your tiller considerably easier over rutted and uneven terrain.
- Blade depth: For heavy-duty work, you'll probably need the rototiller to cut deeply into the soil, while for more delicate flowerbed preparation, a shallower cut may be more useful. For the best of both worlds, choose a tiller model with adjustable tine depths.
Regular Maintenance with a Gardening Cultivator
Although a rototiller is great for starting a garden from scratch, cultivators are the better choice for maintaining your current lawn or garden. Cultivators help to mix up soil, rid your garden of invasive weeds without chemical treatments, and work fertilizer or compost smoothly into the existing soil mixture. They can easily dig into your flower bed to loosen the soil and prepare it for any changes you wish to make but are small and accurate enough to work around any plants you want to keep.
Just like tillers, garden cultivators are available in models powered by gas or electricity. If you have a large yard to maintain, a gas cultivator will let you work for longer without worrying about a power source. On the other hand, for smaller yards an electric cultivator offers plenty of power but with less vibration, no fumes, and lower noise levels.
Shop the Rototiller and Cultivator Department at Ace Hardware
Whether you've got 20 acres of land or a single cherished flowerbed, having a rototiller, cultivator or combined tiller-cultivator tool in your collection will save you time and energy. Shop Ace for tillers, cultivators and accessories from brands like Craftsman, STIHL and more. Then, make sure to browse our selection of riding mowers, weed killers and other lawn and garden essentials to take all the chores out of your gardening and yard work.
