How to Use a Tiller - Earthquake Victory Rototiller Review

[@whatnotzone6866]

I own the Model: 33970 Earthquake Victory 16" 212cc tiller with the pneumatic tires. Here are a few postive observations from my experience. At 212cc It has the power and torque to break fresh ground, IF you work your way down in increments. You can't just go all in at once, for those that are new to rototilling. It has plenty of power and torque to till around 6 to 8 inches in depth. At the depth you're tilling, it digs right in and gets the soil worked up. The tines do good job getting the soil to a sufficient consistency to plant onto, as well. It's decent at incorporating grass root clumps back into the soil when breaking new ground. It starts up every time with just a couple pulls. Even after having set entire winter seasons. On a side note, I'll admit that I forgot to treat the fuel when putting it up for this last 21-22 winter season. But, it started up without any difficulties. I probably got lucky and do not recommend not treating the fuel. The forward and reverse operator controls are placed in good locations. The engine kill switch is located far enough down on the handle bar that it's easily reached but can't be accidentally switched off. I've never used the free wheel function. I've always drove it around under it's own power to where I needed it. With the weight of the machine pushing it around in free wheel doesn't make sense to me. Here are a few negative observations from my experience. If you're expecting a 10 inch tilling depth from this machine, No way! It is not realistically possible from my experience. Once you reach 6 or so inches of depth it requires that you constantly raise and lower the tines in the soil using the handlebar and pushing the tiller forward because the tires will loose traction and the machine stops moving. The CRT will apply enough ground contact force to stop forward travel in the loose soil and the tires just spin. The maximum usable tilling depth is 6 or so inches. More then that and It will wear you out very quickly tilling a large area! If you were able to get the tines to 10 inches (which would have the rear tine shroud pretty much buried into the ground) the tiller would never move forward because all resistance of the parts that would be physically in contact with the ground and the tine rotation pulling against the machine. The height of the handle bars, when breaking ground to roughly 3 or so inches they're at a comfortable height. Going to the 6 or so inches and the handle bars are far to short and there's no length adjustment to make them longer (Taller). At the mentioned 6 or so inches of tilling depth the handle bars are just about mid thigh, I'm 5' 11" tall. The hunching over while lifting and pushing is very tiring on your back. There is a considerable gap left between the Right side and Left side sets of tines. It leaves a untilled ridge in the ground when doing your initial tilling work. It requires that double up on your work to till again at 90 degrees multiple times to smooth everything out to a consistent depth. If tilling previously tilled ground it's less of a problem. My final thought is that overall the machine seems adequately built for what's it's capable of doing. The real question is would I buy it again? My answer is a NO for me. Not that it's a terrible tiller. It's a surprisingly good tiller for the cost to get you going! For myself, considering the ergonomics and how that effects the usage/operation it falls short. My recommendation buy up a decent amount in price point to get the better ergonomics. If you're not concerned with the ergonomics then buy this model tiller and get a good workhorse of tiller for 6 to 8 inches of tilling depth. You won't be disappointed from that aspect of the machine.

[@pilsplease7561]

I have the Champion 212cc tiller, which is the competitor to this model, engine is like 8hp and like 9,5 pounds of torque its actually a pretty powerful little motor for what it is, can till up to 8 inches and reliably do it I use it to break up soil and to help break up gopher tunnels periodically so they will leave grapes alone. Also use mine for tilling for planting barley or wheat through the year as I can grow them anytime in the year.

[@laurieharsh62]

I just bought this rototiller and it will be delivered Friday; had to wait this long for them to be back in stock. Hope it can bust through soil that has a lot of rocks until we can get them mostly sifted out of the garden spot. Love the greenhouse!

[@Housebarons]

Hi Laurie, awesome, so glad you purchased this tiller, hope you like it as much as we do. We built the hoop house this season and we have really liked the benefits of gardening in any weather. Let us know how the rototiller works out for you. Good luck!

[@larryrobinson29]

Well done video, ordered mine today, thanks for the tips

[@Housebarons]

Hey Larry? Nice. Enjoy! Thx for watching!

[@earthquakeoutdoorpowerequi7344]

Great Video! I am glad to see you are enjoying your Earthquake tiller! For reference, the two orange oil caps you mentioned are actually both for the engine oil and both will reach the same reservoir. This is present to make it as convenient as possible to service your engine. Also, when adjusting the wheels into neutral, it may save you some headache if you push the wheel further onto the axel rather than pulling it over the axel hole. Then the pin can be replaced and will hold the wheel on as it spins freely! The way it is done in the video may actually cause the wheel to slip off while in transport. If you're looking for a tiller that does not require this step, I would suggest our Pioneer Dual Direction Tiller. It functions very similarly to your Victory but it can be easily shifted into drive or neutral with a single lever. It also features some other nice benefits!

[@Housebarons]

Hi Earthquake Outdoor Power Equipment, thanks for letting us know that the two orange caps are for the same oil reservoir. Also, thanks for the clarification about the wheel locks. That does make it easier to transport! We were able to reedit this video and delete those portions from it and now the video should be good. A mouse chewed through our forward belt, so we are getting that repaired. Couldn't find a good video to show us how to do that job ourselves, so we had to bring it into a repair shop. We do DIY project videos and our KZbin channel has over 8 million views. Let us know if you ever want us to review your new equipment!

[@fedora5926]

Please explain the use of the lock pin on the drive axle. When tilling the wheel should not have the pin through it correct? Pin should be in the axle and the wheel freewheeling correct? This way the wheels act as a brake ? Please confirm.

[@earthquakeoutdoorpowerequi7344]

@@fedora5926 Hello! The wheel pin is both through the wheel and the axle when tilling to allow the wheels to be powered by the engine. If you would like to put the tiller in "neutral" you can slide the wheel in and place the pin through just the axle to allow the wheel to spin freely.

[@polie67]

But isn't the DDT tiller only 90cc vs 212cc? I personally would prefer the DDT but with the larger engine.

[@earthquakeoutdoorpowerequi7344]

@@polie67 Good question! The 99cc engine featured on the Pioneer DDT Tiller provides the same sod busting power as the 212cc thanks to its unique gear driven transmission! This allows the Pioneer to be lightweight and even easier to maneuver. The Victory is still a solid performer but just does not feature the DDT capability along with a few other feature differences.

[@kaylporter276]

Just bought one :-) Looking forward to using. Thanks.

[@Housebarons]

Hey kayl…, Awesome. Enjoy it!

[@ChallengeM3]

Just got mine today. Thank you.

[@jimbojambo4008]

You will need a lot of water to grow tomatoes in there :) As suggested below you should water the area before tilling. 16" wide? Going over the ground 5 times? Front tillers usually go deeper than rear tiller. As you say, they reverse better.

[@Housebarons]

Hey Jimbo, Thx for watching!

[@MysticWanderer]

Currently this seems to be the cheapest rear tine I can find on the net and magically in store at Menards at the moment. The price has gone up and the tires look very different this year. Also since Menards does not have reviews I found this one on Home Depot's site and found several negatives about the tires that are more recent. Looks like a good value in it's original format. Thanks for the review and let me echo the suggestion that you make and post a build video for that hoop house. Good reason to build another.

[@Housebarons]

Hey David, Thx for the comment and the video vote on the greenhouse!

[@GusLandy]

It's 10x easier if you soak the ground first (but not too much). The "concrete" becomes "butter".

[@Housebarons]

Hi Gus, We have a crazy amount of garden areas to till, so we will give your advice a try. Thanks so much for this tip!

[@GusLandy]

@@Housebarons You could run a sprinkler (those hose end oscillating ones) for 20 minutes. Good luck.

[@gtdude2883]

I wonder how it will start on its own if you didn’t remove the spark plug!,,,,,

[@kevinpugh9780]

Indiana wants me.. Lord I can't go back there.. Enjoyed the video!

[@Housebarons]

Hey Kevin, Thx for watching!

[@perryspain8360]

Great video. But looking for the hoop house build and find it on the channel. Would be interested being it appears different from many others

[@Housebarons]

Hi Perry, making a video of how we built this hoop house is on our things to do list. We might start a new channel soon all about our farm. When we do, that will be one of our fist videos. Thanks much for your comments!

[@charlesbrabham3001]

F is

[@michaelmoore7831]

Good stuff. Thank you. I'm also in Indiana. The clay here is no joke. Curious what you added to the soil to amend it now that all that clay is broke up.

[@Housebarons]

Hi Michael, we have four compost bins that we constructed out of pallets, basically just a square with no top on it. All you have to do is toss in grass clippings and kitchen vegetable scraps (no meat) into the bin, about 25% of the content, then add cardboard and leaves for about 75% of the content in the compost pile. It is best to fill a 3x3x3 foot bin full of compost with this ratio. If it hasn't rained for a while, water it with hose. From time to time flip the pile to the next bin to aerate everything. It will take a few weeks or longer, but eventually you will get astonishing black compost which we add to our soil. We have had great success with this. Hope this helps, good luck!

[@gradyharper3678]

I own the Earthquake Pioneer and I would make one suggestion. When you open the box stop. Find the yellow sheet, then be very careful unpacking the rest. Assembly is 12 steps, and will take about 2 hours. Stop often to read the directions, then continue. I like my tiller. It will do quite a bit of work in a short period of time.

[@Housebarons]

Hey Grady, Thx for the input and for watching!

[@northerngirlhobbies]

Ours keeps blowing belts, what are we doing wrong?

[@DavidNelson42]

are the wheels, self-driven? and is there a neutral gear?

[@DavidNelson42]

I have since purchased one (with the air filled wheels), the wheels are self-driven, but no there is no neutral gear. you have to remove the pin from both wheels to make it roll freely. It has tons of power and it operates a lot like my 30 year old Troy Bilt Pony did (without the neutral). if I had one complaint it would be that due to the counter rotating tines I had to lift up a bit on the handles to get it to go through the soil, otherwise the anchor stake seemed to act like a literal anchor and prevent it from moving forward.

[@deshavetalkwithkit8935]

Where did you get that tiller for $500 ??? The lowest price I can find now is $727 at Home depot . Thanks Kit

[@Housebarons]

Hi Kit, I ran into an incredible sale at our local Menards store. It was discounted for some reason. On top of that they were running that 11% off sale which they frequently do. This should be a a great time of year to run into an end of the season sale price. We are still very pleased with this tiller. Plan on using it today to get some beds ready for next Spring. Hope you find a deal. Good luck!

[@deshavetalkwithkit8935]

@@Housebarons Thanks for getting back~! Kit

[@on4acres]

Great video, I’m thinking of getting this off of amazon. Do you have a video on how you built this greenhouse?

[@Housebarons]

Hi Erik, awesome, we are pretty sure you will love this tiller if you get one. I plan to use ours today to make some new Fall beds. The structure in this video is called a hoop house. It is 20 x 60 and it is such a wonderful place to grow produce. We don't have a video posted yet about the construction, but we did shoot footage and we hope to post it soon. Good luck with your tiller purchase!

[@22rob2215]

It's a bad ass Rototiller, big or little, it gets the job done

[@Housebarons]

Hey Robert True. Thx for watching,

[@phleuge2000]

Great video! The only negative on this machine is the damnable wheel lock. I had a Troy Bilt with that feature and absolutely hated it. A real PITA to fool with for an older person with reduced physical capacity due to shoulder injury.

[@Housebarons]

Hi phleuge2000, yes the wheel locks are not the easiest to use. It is best to have two people to operate them. One person can tilt the tiller while the other person adjusts the wheel locks. Happy tilling!

[@phleuge2000]

@@Housebarons I’m a one man show! No second person to help.

[@SanityClause]

Just got ours. Plenty of power to churn up Alabama soil and grass. Still puzzles me about how to turn around for the next tilling row. On free wheel that thing turns on a dime but is not self-propelled. On tilling wheel mode (powered) the wheels only move when it is engaged to till but can’t easily turn around. Any suggestions anyone?

[@charliemcgriff7643]

Hey friend where can i buy that plastic

[@chilli_lover7181]

Absolutely love the video and great explanation. It looks like you are pushing it it hard as you till or is it just my eyes lol. Seriously though depending on type of soil and hard packed it is really hard to maneuver and control?

[@artmoony7753]

Have some questions. What does it means when tilling and it grinds here and there ? Or does it means low on grease ? 🤗🤪

[@jimmylarge1148]

Ever used it on ground that’s never been tilled? (Grass/weeds)

[@Housebarons]

Hi Jimmy, we constructed the hoop house that is in the video shortly before we shot this video. The ground in the video had not been tilled previously. We have clay soil, so it wasn't easy to till, but every pass made it better. We have since tilled up many new beds using this tiller over thick grass and weeds and we still like it very much. Thanks for your question, good luck with your tilling!

[@richardshaw3094]

How did you build that greenhouse and about how much did it cost

[@roadkingrider6532]

Do you think this one is better than the earthquake pioneer? I ask because I’m buying one or the other tomorrow

[@Housebarons]

Hey road.., Just have experience with this one so hard to say. Enjoy either way! Thx for watching!

[@mountainviewcattle]

Awesome video! That tiller certainly does a good job. Good tip about steadily increasing the depth for each pass. Good to see you wearing your jeans over your boots too, pretty much required to stop dirt and soil from flying down into your boots and socks, especially on that kind of job. Are those rubber boots steel toe? I always wear my jeans over my rubber boots for work. Much better that way. Looks like you're going to be planting a ton of tomatoes this year!

[@Housebarons]

Hi Mountainview Ranch, thanks 👍 The Earthquake tiller is awesome! It has been cold and rainy in Indiana so far. We are WAY behind with our planting. Still have to plant all of our outdoor beds, hopefully this week. The tiller will get a workout. Very excited about our brand new hoop house! It is 20x60. We plan to plant 150 tomatoes in it because we found a private grocer who placed a huge order with us. Yes, the boots are steel toe, here is info from the manufacturer: The dependability of a Muck Boot™ is now in a steel toe work boot. The Chore can take on the worst of the worst. The upper has a stretch-fit binding keeping warm in and cool out as well as a seamless, quick-clean rubber overlay. A steel shank provides additional support, with triple reinforcement in the toe area and quadruple reinforcement in the heel. A durable, lightweight rubber outsole adds unbeatable traction in all conditions. Great boots, thanks for you comments and questions!

[@BceCam]

Hello. Thanks for the advice. I plant 250 bushes of tomato.

[@williamchristopher1560]

U say, with a front tine till, one might have to make multiple passes to get it down to desired depth, yet, thats what your doing with your tiller. I have a TB, so I know I have to make multiple passes to get it down far enough

[@Housebarons]

Hi William, you make a good point, I did end up doing several passes in our hoop house. That is because we planted tomatoes in there and I wanted to till down at least 8 inches. In other garden areas I only have to make one pass. It seems to me that the rear tine tillers are more effective than front tine tillers, but they are also more difficult to maneuver because they are quite heavy.

[@BceCam]

Приветствую. Интересный механизм. такого орегинального я еще не видел. +1 +1

[@Housebarons]

Hi, Rich studied German in college. Dave studied Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. However, neither of us understand this comment. Can anyone out there help us with a translation?

[@BceCam]

@@Housebarons Hi, I am from Ukraine, I am writing in Russian. Here is a translation using Google translator. Greetings. An interesting mechanism. I have not seen such an original.

[@Housebarons]

@@BceCam , thank you so much for taking the time to translate this for us!!! Much appreciated!!!

[@Housebarons]

This is a wonderful tiller! Highly recommended, thanks for your comment!

[@richardzwaschka7737]

Your tiller, I have a newer model Not sure if you have this on yours There’s a tilling setting on the axle for the wheels. Take out pin, move tire out to end of axle, put pin back in axle. The tiller moves right along. Hardly any work at all. It pretty much Runs it self, very easy. Looks to me Your struggling or pushing tiller. No need. Only thing you can not push Tiller. Either you have to lift up hand And let the tiller move. 2nd you can take pin out of axle push tire back And put pin back in. Tires will move Freely. Just saying. Good Luck tilling Must be exhausted pushing tiller

[@jaihindu8817]

Vow you bought it for $500 ...very good...I just got it out from home depot for $900

[@Housebarons]

Hey 2021, Yeh, they call that “ transient “ inflation.😳 Thx for watching!

[@jvoll7685]

I bought one of these last summer. Works great but... this season the engine surges. I noticed the air filter box is broken somehow. I just spent hours online looking for an air filter and box and found to my shock that the parent company (Ardisam Inc) doesn't show any engine parts at all! They only show the parts for the tiller, but nothing for the engine!! Not even an air filter, let alone the box for it. I googled the 99cc Viper engine and found an air breather kit part number, but nowhere to buy the kit, but although they show the box in the diagram, there is no number for that. First, the box should not have fallen apart over the winter. It was stored in a shed. Second, have you ever heard of a company selling a product like this and not giving any option to buy the parts to maintain the engine? I wouldn't recommend this machine, or any other product from Ardisam Inc to my worst enemy. Disgusting business practice to not supply parts for their product that's less than a year old...

[@safffff1000]

Probably won't work on untilled hard pan clay

[@Housebarons]

Hi safffff1000, our farm is in Indiana. We would describe our soil directly under our topsoil as hard clay. The tiller has actually done remarkably well with it. Viewers have suggested wetting the clay before tilling to make it easier. The trick there is to wet it enough, but not to0 much or you will be tilling in a horrible bog. Good luck!

[@samfinazzo8314]

Demonstrator is confused about depth regulator bar. Kept moving up a hole to go deeper when he should have move down to the lowest hole to get the deepest tilling

[@Gander319]

Rear tine tillers work opposite with depth bar than front tine tillers.

[@samfinazzo8314]

I only use rear tine BCS

[@Northern_Farmer]

Wrong

[@mynameisearl2626]

800 now

[@chrishamilton-wearing3232]

Why make a video about using a rototiller and when you actually get around to showing how you use it , you put the video into speeded up mode so we can't see what's going on ?

[@sbri733]

You have money for buy tractor

[@richardday5855]

Warning!! Don't buy this tiller. Look at the shroud under the engine. It's open on both sides allowing debris to pack against the drive pulleys and tear up the drive belts. The drive belt broke 3rd time I used it $65 replacement. The next time I used it the wheel hub broke. Thin metal is only spot welded $100 replacement for the same problem. I got mine from Menard's once you put gas in it you can't return it. Now I'm stuck with a POS.

[@Housebarons]

Hey Richard, Thx for the input - I’m sure that will be helpful for viewers! Thx for watching!

[@ghostriderwashere]

Junk. Reverse tines fight against wheels. Have to push it. You ARE the self propeller! Leaves a 3-4 wide ridge between the times in middle you have to go back over. If it wasn’t reverse time soon it would be a good tiller. Doesn’t work worth a damn in good deal black soil.

[@Northern_Farmer]

Reverse tines work great In harder ground...forward tines just tend to take off and you have to hold it back