Electric Tiller/Cultivators

In the past, whenever I thought of a garden tiller/cultivator I must confess that instead of an electric tiller/cultivator I pictured a gasoline tiller. But I am now among the enlightened.

Keeping My World Green

Like so many people, especially those of us who garden and like to grow things, I have a desire to keep my world green. And quite frankly I don’t enjoy the smell of gasoline when I’m working in my garden. Petrochemicals just don’t smell like good health to me. I imagine gasoline doesn’t stimulate your appetite either. However, there are those who may find the power cord an annoyance and would prefer to use a gasoline powered tiller. For you, I have an article on choosing the right gasoline powered tiller too.

Finding My New Electric Tiller

When I realized that there were electric tillers which were up to the job of tilling my garden, I immediately began a search for the electric tiller which I thought would best fit me and my garden.

I don’t have a huge garden, but it’s big enough that I no longer consider tilling it in the spring by hand an option. My body just can’t take it anymore. It’s a concession to age.

How To Search For A New Electric Tiller

Deciding on a new tiller required deciding what factors were important in evaluating such a machine. Here are the factors I came up with.

Size
Power
Weight
Reliability

Electric Tiller Size

Choosing the right size tiller is important. For a large garden, you need a large tiller. A couple of inches may not seem important, but they really do make a difference when it comes to how much time you are going to have to spend tilling your garden.

Power

How many amps do you need to effectively till a garden? Most electric tillers average between 6 and 8 amps. For most gardens that is plenty of power. Electric tillers are quite capable of running for hours without overheating if the power is matched to the job. For an average size garden of around 400 to 800 square feet, tillers of around 7 amps are plenty powerful enough.

Weight

Electric tillers tend to be lighter than gasoline powered tillers, and for soil which has been broken up in the past and hasn’t been allowed to compact, this is not really a problem. If however, the soil you are planning to till is hard and compacted, you may want to consider going with a gasoline powered tiller. It has been my experience that electric tillers often just don’t have the weight to dig down into hard clay soils. If you don’t mind going over the same area several times, they will eventually dig their way down, but frankly a gas powered model is better for this type of soil.

Reliability

Reliability is a critical factor in deciding on which tool to buy of any kind. When it comes to machines like tillers and cultivators, which dig into the ground, as far as I am concerned choosing a machine from a manufacturer is the surest way I know to guarantee a reliable machine. For that reason, I looked among such makers as Troy-Bilt, Mantis, Sun Joe, and Earthwise.

In the end, I chose to go with an electric tiller made by Sun Joe, although it was nearly a tie with Troy-Bilt. But the reviews I read, in my mind, seemed to favor the Sun Joe model slightly.

Having an electric tiller has made gardening for me so much more pleasant. It is so much quieter than a gas powered tiller. In fact, it’s quieter than my vacuum cleaner. I don’t have to mess about with gasoline or oil. No smells other than the healthy aroma of Mother Earth filling my lungs. Choosing to go with an electric tiller for my garden was an easy choice for me.