Build a Micro Tiller

03 Mar

It always disturbs me tilling the entire garden just to plant a few rows of vegetables. Here we have a settled environment of soil and creature, and I come blowing through with several horsepower and upset all those worms in front of their tiny big screen TV’s. How would you feel?

So I have built this micro tiller. It attaches to an electric drill and tills a hole six inches in diameter. The soil is loosened locally and readied for seed planting, and I’m not disturbing the whole of Wormville just to plant a few squash. Take a look at the photos below.

Ready to go:

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Tilling:

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Finished tilled hole:

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In decent soil, you can drill down a foot easily. The soil is totally loose and ready for mixing in some compost and planting.

Here are a couple pictures of the tiller. It is constructed using a 3/8 inch diameter threaded rod, and a piece of strap steel six inches long by 1-1/8 inches wide. It was twisted in a vise to make it draw into the soil as it turns. I sharpened the leading edges a bit on a grinder. The blade is held onto the threaded rod using four nuts and lock washers. Tighten securely!

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The far end of the threaded rod was ground with three flats to fit the typical drill chuck. That’s it!

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Your worms will love you for it.

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