rototiller-hiller.avi

[@truthseeker3977]

Dang! How can something so simple work so great? That was beautiful. Thanks for posting.

[@philstat100]

HI PHIL: VERY, VERY COOL!!!!!! And look at those sweet looking raised beds! You did a fantastic job, And the results are fantastic! Thank You for the video and sharing with all of us.

[@kevinrice4887]

best bed maker i've seen on tonnes of videos!

[@garlicandchilipreppers8533]

I've watched this numerous times and really like it, I'm busy growing garlic and we've dug the furrows out by hand and then raked them level, which is quite hard work but for the last two seasons we did'nt have enough to plant to warrant buying and adapting machinery. Next Year the acreage will be at least 6-7 times greater and will certainly need to mechanise and you have shown me the way to do it, thanks for sharing.

[@victoriabaker4400]

Hey, Phil, just to let you know that we used your design and WOW what a thrill! I watched as many videos as I could of variations on this idea, but ultimately your video and the comments/answers gave us everything we needed to build it. The function of it is amazing. Beautiful idea, and thank you so much for sharing. I am interested in any other ideas and videos that you might feel like sharing. Thanks so much.

[@philcrandlemire]

Thank you so much Victoria -- I just happened to come up with the idea and it's worked great for me too -- happy planting -- I was just working in my greenhouse and transplanting tomatoes -- can't wait to get them into the ground. You might like this one I did on an affordable greenhouse idea kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4uwh61rq6eUarc

[@jonmacq6622]

Fellow Maine farmer here.. great idea, Phil. Thank you for taking the time to share it.

[@philcrandlemire]

Thank you -- glad you liked it.

[@fredduncan1610]

That is genius!! I wish I found this video a week ago, just planted yesterday. Will be working something up for next year! Thanks!

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

Thanks for the video...looking for a simple solution on our place for hilling up rows next year! Thanks again great idea great video!

[@richfiryn]

Clearly this works like a champ, and simple and easy is always a bonus. Nice job.

[@skd5432]

you have wonderful voice Phil....

[@Kuderik]

I have a similar 5ft tiller. This is genius you just saved me from buying a garden bedder!

[@philcrandlemire]

I am so happy to hear that. It's worked great for me for a number of years and it was all made with scrap lumber and pieced today in an afternoon. I've see some people modify the design and make some nice metal hillers but believe me this will do everything you want it to do. Just remember to rototill the ground well first and then attach the hiller and make your final pass otherwise you won't get the same results.

[@HealthSupercharger]

@@philcrandlemire I wonder if I can make something similar to pull with my truck, our garden is 18ft wide and 300ft long so I wonder if I can use a pickup truck with low tire pressure and a 16ft long 2x 6 to make a path digger at least because digging pathways after using my 22 inch rototiller is work and if I can do it with a single pull of my truck in lowest gear slowly then that would be good for planting potatoes or I could make my beds by just taking the top flat. That way with 3 passes I would have 2 beds.

[@philcrandlemire]

@@HealthSupercharger I guess what I would wonder is how to keep your path digger going straight. Maybe if you had someone behind holding it and guiding it -- like people did in the old days when plowing with horses. Also, I don't know why you would need a 16' 2X6 -- take a look at old time plows and such. Good Luck!

[@shelroutdoors]

Very clever! Nice job - this may be my next project. The snow is deep here in Minnesota and this may be next. Thank you for sharing.

[@motocephalic]

very cool, I am in Maine as well, happy farming!

[@crazycoyote1738]

Great practical solution!! The Rows looks delicious..

[@stevena9512]

Give a farmer a few minutes and he’ll make it simpler for themselves. Great job, if ever that farm, I’m going to give this a try. Thanks.

[@philcrandlemire]

Hi Gary, In the video I mentioned that it is 4 foot at the back of the rototiller and then narrows to 32 inches. I did kind of sandwich it to the back flap of the tiller with a 2X3 which clamps with some long 3/8 bolts -- additional scraps of lumber for levelers and a couple extras on the sides to hold in the dirt before it is leveled -- ratchet straps to attach it to the tiller -- cement block on the back for a little extra weight. It works great, I would like a better way to attach to tiller.

[@jayshriver3933]

Oh! you clever fellow! I was thinking along the same lines but never thought to attach the 'funnel' to the back of the tiller. Thank you Thank you!

[@Bob63198]

Well done sir, very economical and simple. I think I will try this with the corner of a board in the center of the drag bar for a "furrow" attachment. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@philcrandlemire]

Hi Bob -- there are a lot of possibilities you do -- you could even make a board with 4 or 5 thin sticks nailed to it to make several furrows at once for planting things like lettuce, etc. Or even get more inventive and build a wheel with a dimple attachment to mark spacing in the row. Believe me this simple hiller has been very useful over the years. Happy farming!!!

[@barneybetelgeuse6273]

Great job Phil works a treat necessity the mother of invention 😃👍

[@cornwasher]

Brilliant design for raised beds. Like you I built beds with a Troybuilt Horse with the middle buster. This design is much better.

[@FUOPEC1]

Nice invention. You could even make furrows at the same time if the leveling board had a furrow cutter on it.

[@philcrandlemire]

I want to be clear about a couple of things. I built this in a couple of hours using scrap lumber -- 2X8X4 for the sides. I explained the best I could in the video -- it's pretty basic. There is a lot more I could do to improve on the design but it has been almost perfect for the last 5 years. Just wanted to share what had worked for me and hopefully some with some us something even better.

[@alphasxsignal]

So I guess the boards are 4ft long???????????????

[@philcrandlemire]

alphasxsignal Yes 2"X8"X4'

[@alphasxsignal]

Phil Crandlemire OK got it

[@country2thesoul277]

Simplicity is always the best answer

[@ralphjenkins9985]

I've been watching this over the last several months. my son and I are going to try to build us one in a couple of weeks. got the wood, the straps, everything we need , so it should cost $00.00 also saw you built a green house, do I g that this fall, maybe 30x50. shouldn't cost no more than $200.00 thanks Phil, best thing I've seen yet

[@philcrandlemire]

Thanks Ralph -- it's people like you that motivated me to share what little I've learned in my years of "playing" in the garden. Hopefully more to come. I'm planning a new website that will be coming soon called www.LastFarmStanding.org to help encourage others to become small commercial farms or hobby farms and keep our American heritage of farming alive.

[@sandrarichardson2713]

Beautiful garden plot!! Would it be possible to show you either taking the hiller off or putting it on the tiller. Also a good walk around view of the hiller? Some folks can just glance at something and reproduce it. I have to see close up and personal how it looks on each side and what's going on...lol. Thanks for sharing this idea....exactly what I am looking for but not a clue how to bring it pass like you did. Jesus bless.

[@philcrandlemire]

I am not able to show you how to attach it or remove it but I can say it was just held on with ratchet straps and I used these for many years.

[@petesmit33]

You've obviously got a great depth/volume of soil there Phil which I am guessing helps a lot! I have made a quick shaper out of plywood and it does create a bed although much shallower than yours although I am wondering if mine is too short from Rotavator to the back of the shaper.....more trial and error no doubt!!! Thanks for the video most useful

[@bill45colt]

neat idea,,,,not too old here to learn new things,,,thanks

[@NaughtyGoatFarm]

Amazing! Thats some beautiful soft soil as well.

[@DarrenMalin]

simple and clever , well done Sir :)

[@philstat100]

Thank You for the reply. I am thinking about growing coffee and I am supposed dig down 2 feet for the tap roots to grow correctly. Thank You for the information. Have a great day.

[@davidstewart860]

Fantastic! I will be building one. Thank you.

[@cavemandancer]

Really great job, perfect build.

[@bobnewhart4318]

The master of all inventions is necessity

[@larrypatterson3957]

Very ingenious. Thanks for the good idea and video.

[@thomasgronek6469]

Fantastic !!! Thank you for the video, and a wonderful idea.

[@18JBrianJ19]

Great idea! Seems to work really well!

[@johnburk9157]

Great idea I have a 6 foot tiller and made a similar attachment to my tiller that does 2 rows at a time

[@HealthSupercharger]

So how wide are the 2 rows. Since you are starting from 6ft wide, do you make them 1.5ft wide each so you have 3ft of pathways and soil to move from to raise your beds as they are shaped.

[@philcrandlemire]

I've been using it for years and it works great -- all made from scrap lumber.

[@christopherhoracek7349]

+Phil Crandlemire Hey Phil, do you happen to have any pictures/information from your build? Intrested in making one for myself.

[@philcrandlemire]

Chris, Just follow the video -- it's so simple.

[@hughbuntyn2780]

made one the day I saw this . Great job Phil . Works super. May have to drop the outside shank off the cultivator so it wont throw the dirt to the outside of the bed

[@semco72057]

That looks like a great idea and I am considering something similar to that for my rotary tiller since I want to grow natural crops without the chemicals which is used in commercial farms.

[@farmertyler8087]

Have you considered plastic wrapped beds? Works so well for me for weed control down here in Massachusetts

[@philcrandlemire]

Yes I have and used that method for a few years. Total awesome and but it total sucks when you need to remove them and disposal -- it's a wicked hassle. But no weeds -- ha.

[@garyarrington9071]

Thanks Phil, I'll probably start on mine in a couple of days. Great idea!

[@SirMickPb]

Thanks for sharing the design. I followed you example for the design but used left over 3.5x10" headers for extra weight and notched the sides to set up on the skids of the tiller. One of the sides kicked out after a couple hours of work. I think the lag bolts I used bent. Did you do anything underneath to hold those sides in at the bottom? I'm thinking about adding a piece of channel to the skid to then set that side in. Thoughts or suggestions?

[@philcrandlemire]

Hi Jeff -- I am so happy to see that I am still inspiring folks to build their own hiller. I did nothing special other than what you saw in the video -- no skids on the frame. I think the ratchet straps take most of the pulling force when pulling it -- I have broken several. But my simple and basic hiller has lasted for years and years. Although now my farming much smaller than before and I don't hill my rows anymore except for a few that I just do with my Troybilt and that hiller attachment.

[@garyarrington9071]

Do you have specific plans for how you built this and what dimensions you used? It looks like you have clamped the device onto the rear flap plate of the tiller...is that right? There also seems to be two additional pieces strapped to the 2 x 8s that raise the sides some. Is that just to make the beds higher, or is there some other purpose for these pieces? It does a great job and I'd like to build one. Thank you!

[@bobbartlett9610]

Great Idea...From Australia

[@philcrandlemire]

Hi Gary, For what it is (made out of junk -- ha ha) I've been using it for the last 4 years -- sometimes I break the ratchet straps. Coming soon will be my new video -- the easiest, low-cost, greenhouse you will ever build. It has a convertible roof for ventilation. I tested a 12 X 25 last year and it survived through a hurricane and heavy winter snows undamaged. This year I remade it into a 12X40 - it cost about $225 (even when buying all new materials) -- less for me because I used some scrap.

[@tahraqapie4783]

great work

[@johnsfarm9366]

Great job!

[@brucecampbell6133]

Great job! What's the tractor horse power?

[@tahraqapie4783]

very practical and clever

[@twyggy]

That's genius! Thanks for sharing!

[@philcrandlemire]

Glad you enjoyed it -- thank you.

[@goodingwashington6099]

Thanks a bunch I am going to do just this coming spring

[@wingzofsteel]

Great idea! thanks for posting this.

[@buffalopatriot]

Beyond impressive.

[@smalltownMainer]

Jackman maine here. is your tractor the 750? if so its similar to my yanmar 226d.

[@philcrandlemire]

Hi Jackman Maine -- YES JD 750 -- it's the best thing I ever bought! What do you guys grow up there?

[@smalltownMainer]

not growing anything yet but would like to, have been looking at tillers.

[@meyou-zx9ng]

Is that a reverse turn tiller

[@philcrandlemire]

No

[@idahocntryboy5984]

Phil I would love to see how you built this. I am an amputee disabled veteran and have to do my raised beds by hand and would like very much to learn how you built this.

[@philcrandlemire]

+idaho cntryboy pretty simple -- 2X8 4 foot long -- 48" at the back tapering to 32" at the rear. All just nailed and strapped together.

[@LacyO86]

@@philcrandlemire but how is it all attached to the tiller? Too hard to tell in the video. Rows look awesome.

[@philcrandlemire]

@@LacyO86 with ratchet straps -- I do mention and show it in the video -- just watch it again.

[@LacyO86]

@@philcrandlemire I see it in the video but the mechanics of it and how it is all strapped and put together are hard to tell from just seeing the video

[@philcrandlemire]

@@LacyO86 look at frame 3:27 and you will see the side is just strapped on -- and then again 4:35 -- the video and my narrative says it all.

[@68sweetnovember]

Excellent !!

[@paulbraga4460]

wonderful sir. mygreathanks. could use this in our place

[@ronaldhagan6474]

grate job sir

[@zaappp1588]

That's pretty slick. I'm impressed at the ingenuity but more so that it holds together considering the weight of soil. Are the middle vertical pieces on each side just to keep the soil from spilling over?

[@philcrandlemire]

I know it's crazy -- all scrap wood just stuck together. This year I made some minor tune ups but basically it's the same hiller from 7 years ago. Yes, the extra side boards help hold in more soil -- but it's fine without it -- removed it this year.

[@zaappp1588]

I haven't given this much thought yet regarding measurements but I've got a larger tractor. The tires are 81"s from outside to outside...I don't know how much between the tires or if it would even matter but I recently purchased an 80" tiller. I haven't even used the tiller yet because I was waiting on a Quick Hitch to be delivered before I checked to see if I needed to cut the PTO shaft. Anyways...obviously I don't want to try to narrow 80 inches down 32 inches or even 52 inches. Thinking out loud here, I wonder if I could just double your design side by side and end up with 2 rows? Split 80 inches into roughly two 40" rows and then narrow them down to maybe two 24 inch rows... I don't guess there's much cost in trying it even if I had to buy new wood. What do you think? Would it work? Your side boards look like they're about 4 to 4-1/2 ft long. Is that about right? Also, just to make sure I'm seeing this right, the tiller gate is resting on the lateral boards with blocks on either side of the gate that keeps the whole thing from sliding side to side with a "spreader" board on top of the gate and then some threaded rod holding that part all together? And then the side "runners" butt up against the skid shoes and spreader boards at the exit end with some weight on it. Any other vital parts I'm missing besides the straps holding it together? Thanks!

[@philcrandlemire]

That's kind of the overall design -- your hiller is going to take a lot more stress and then having to split the row into two rows will be a challenge. Good luck.

[@zaappp1588]

Are those measurements for yours pretty close?

[@philstat100]

HI PHI: I have watched your video a number of times and I am sill impressed! Let me ask You This. How deep will your rototiller dig? Sorry I don't know anything about your type of tiller and it may be important to me. Again Thank You.

[@philcrandlemire]

The tiller will go to 8" (I think) but by tilling and then hilling you increase the depth of the bed.

[@eupt4]

wow, since i garden a larger plot since troy bilt days ( still have it). wanted to know how i could get similar results with my small tractor tiller. This is perfect, now to get the best hubbie in the world to make it for me!

[@oldstudbuck3583]

Does the acoustic guitar encourage organic gardening or is it the other way around? Do screaming electric guitars inspire gardening? Is there such a thing as inorganic gardening? Is the any good stand up Bill Burr style comedy on the “organic” gardening folks? Are “organic” gardeners allowed to drive big tire, highly modified diesel belching pickup trucks that were purchased with the profits from they’re “organic” gardening?

[@philcrandlemire]

Yes music does, and I am surprised more people don't ask the same question. Depending on the crops you need to tune your music accordingly. Root crops like loud, heavy metal because it rocks the ground and loosens the soil so better root structure. And soft acoustical music for above ground crops -- and the more delicate crops I just hum lullabies until they sway in unison. Now take your sarcastic ass and go bother someone else because you are not as funny as you think you are!!!

[@cms148cs]

just wondering how big of tiller your running on that 750, I have a 750 that I want to put a tiller on and I'm toying with the notion on which width to buy a 48" or 60"

[@philcrandlemire]

It's 48" -- truthfully, I don't think you could run a 60" tiller. I run mine on 3rd low and it goes great but really heavy ground I go down to 1 low. Sometimes I can run 1 high in light soil but that's not often and really too fast for tilling the soil very well. Good luck.

[@kb4gap565]

That's cool !

[@Jeffnixononline]

Phil, do you have any photos that we could take some visual directions from?

[@philcrandlemire]

It's all in the video -- I built this in a couple of hours using scrap lumber -- 2X8X4 for the sides. I explained the best I could in the video -- it's pretty basic.

[@thylordsatan666]

Nice!

[@CashJohnston]

Simple solutions are always the best...So where are zirks (joke)?

[@stephanlarson8899]

I like it!

[@darthdrk]

Wow, you just saved me a load of loot

[@gpenton]

Has anyone tried this on a smaller scale with a Troybilt tiller? I do not like the hiller plow not the results it produces.

[@philstat100]

Hi Gerald: Did You get any information About building a hillier for your troy built? I have a troy built as well.

[@danielmercuri2038]

If you are litteraly standing behind the roto tiller how would you even be able to add the hiller? It would set you 4 feet behind the handle bars? or are you about a PTO driven tiller?

[@claysr100]

very Smart

[@philcrandlemire]

When I see something that is cool I like to share. Check out this hiller BEDFORMER [e-mail] -- I like the design and how a the soil gets plowed up before going into the tiller. Gives me some ideas for a re-design of mine.

[@alphasxsignal]

Require a bit of welding for that one. I do have a nice Miller stick welder that could do the job. I think I will just try your 2x8 version first. How long are the 2x8 boards?

[@alphasxsignal]

Looks like that design needs to be longer in the steel compress section. There seems to be a dip in the center of the hills. Your hills seem to be compressed a bit better since you 2x8 boards are longer then his steel box area.