Honda FRC 800 tiller

[@aswhaley22]

I bought this tiller today took it home and ran it for about one minute and returned it. The tines are forward rotating, with my soil being compacted the tiller would start to dig in and then the entire chiller would launch forward and the handle would flip upward out of my hands. This video shows very good soil and already broken up. Would like to see it get into some rough soil! The idea of putting forward rotating tines makes no sense? Great machine, well made but a real piece of crap when you get into rough conditions.

[@sololawnprofessional]

It took me about 4 hours to get to the point where I made the video about how to run the machine. The ground was heavily compacted and you really have to start at the highest setting and work your way in and it does Buck around all over the place. But that's just the nature of breaking in new ground They do make tillers with counter rotating tines but they're not the standard.

[@JustTheGuy37]

Soak down the ground before you till would help...

[@drifter9425]

You tried to till too deep on first pass as well as if ground is super dry it's very hard "IF" you had a tiller that's tines ran towards you you'd get run over when it lurches think about it

[@mixalis11111]

Good decision to take it back as it is really of no value. Serious farmers all over this planet have quit using tillers because of its compacting effect. Even if you run a tiller on soft soil, the tines actually compact the soil at the cutting depth level. It is really a lose-lose situation: if the soil is hard the tines have a hard time going down, and if you have a soft soil the tines depress the soil at the bottom. Plowing is the KING because not only it does not compact the soil but it rejuvenates it by turning it over (bottom soil turns to the top).

[@drifter9425]

@mixalis11111 Maybe true on some soils but here in S Louisiana we have black soil and it doesn't really compact and for small space gardens a plows not an option I do wish I had the property for plowing if I did I would have a tractor and plow

[@PollyHowarth-u5y]

Excellent video/presentation! Would recommend steel toe boots , safety glasses , helmet, gloves, respirator, and earmuffs for new beginners. A defibrillator wouldn’t hurt either for out of shape gardeners.

[@sololawnprofessional]

Thank you for your very nice comment. I would wear eye protection, ear protection and just comfortable gardening boots. The soil gets very soft and unstable so something that's going to give you some good footing is a good choice. This tiller is super easy to use and if you rent one of these or buy it, you won't have any trouble with handling it, It's very easy to operate

[@drifter9425]

LMAO Or just a bubble suit

[@ML-wh9hz]

Did you buy it? Ask a new one? How much and where should I buy one? Thank you for sharing.

[@sololawnprofessional]

I rented this tiller. The new price of the tiller is $3100 This is the Honda website. Go to the dealer locator they had a buy online or in-person map. powerequipment.honda.com/tillers/models/frc800

[@ousamaabdu794]

How do you like using this vs the older Troy Bilt Horse tiller you used in a previous video? I own an older Troy Bilt Horse and I rented a Honda 600 tiller a few years back.. I think the Troy Bilt did a much better job

[@sololawnprofessional]

In my opinion, the Honda is much better than the horse just because of the ease of use and the fact that it's chain and gear driven opposed to belt and gear driven and it's the main reason why I rented it for this project because the belt drive on my horse I feel like was not going to be able to handle this situation. Also, my horse was used commercially before I bought it so it was heavily abused. If It was brand new just like the Honda was maybe a different story but my horse would have been squawking and carrying on throughout the whole process compared to the Honda which never complained once. Also, the Honda is a modern design and anyone can just pick it up and use it compared to the horse where that has a bit of a learning curve. I used my horse to till three gardens this year and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

[@TX_Natives]

Great video. Do you mind me asking how much you rented it out for per day?

[@sololawnprofessional]

This was last year. It was $150 per day or 8 hours

[@babyjgirl88]

Hi there, thank you for the video. We are planning to purchase this tiller. Will it fit in an SUV?

[@sololawnprofessional]

Front of the tiller along with tires, I know we'll fit in the back of a SUV, but I do not know if the handles drop down far enough to fit in.

[@osrsgrandedaddy]

How many sq feet can this do per hour

[@sololawnprofessional]

I was able to till 800 ft² in about an hour 4 to 6 inches deep ready to plant. The area had been tilled previously. I was not tilling into native soil which would take longer to get the same result. The tiller has two speeds. I broke the ground up first on speed one and the rest of the passes were on speed 2 and goes fairly quick

[@sandypratt8951]

💚👍👍👍

[@sololawnprofessional]

Thank you Sandy, I appreciate it

[@christopherpaige406]

Tines are turning in the wrong direction

[@sololawnprofessional]

On these heavy professional tillers The tines rotating forward is the proper direction.

[@mixalis11111]

this tiller is totally useless if your soil is clay type or compacted. I was only able to scrape the top at less than one inch and with too much effort but little or no gain. Its design of the tines (angle of penetration, etc) is horrible and thus makes it super difficult to dig deep in hard soil. The Honda engine and its functionality is excellent but the overall result on tilling hard soil is not good. There are other tiller manufacturers (at half the price of this tiller) that perform exceptionally well on clay/hard soils.

[@sololawnprofessional]

Thanks for your comment. If you're trying to create a garden in native soil that has not been turned over, it's going to be difficult no matter what tiller you have. Whether it's counter rotating tines or standard direction, the best solution would be to hire a company with a machine that can turn the soil over for you and add the proper amendments to create a nice planting area and then use the regular tiller to till the soil every season. In this case a tiller that's half the price would work fine. If you need a tiller that's going to last 30 years, there's nothing better than this Honda,Troy bilt horse and or the BCS tiller you're going to have to spend the right amount of money if you want the equipment to last.