A tiller is a helpful small engine gardening tool that can make maintaining and setting up your garden a breeze. Garden tillers operate with a series of blades called tines that help to work in fertilizer while loosening and aerating compacted soil. This process makes it a lot easier to do your planting of flowers, plants, fruits and veggies. It’s important to make sure that your garden tiller is running in tip top shape with small engine maintenance and repair so that your gardening is easy and fun rather than seeming like a chore. In addition to proper maintenance, there are better times to till that will make the job easier and more effective. The best time to till is a day or two after rainfall when the soil will be soft and slightly damp because the soil will be much easier to work with. If the soil is too wet then it will clump heavily and on the opposite side of the spectrum, if it’s too dry it will be difficult to till so you will want to wait until the soil is damp and warm before tilling.
In terms of maintenance, we can help with a full checkup and tuneup of your small engine tiller to perform crucial tiller maintenance tasks such as:
Make Sure Your Air Filter is Changed in your Tiller
The air filter has the important job of preventing dirt, dust and other debris from entering your tiller’s carburetor and engine. The air filter in your tiller should be changed every 25 hours of engine use or once per mowing season or at the very least cleaned during this same period. Pleated, paper air filters must be replaced and cannot be cleaned. On the other hand, foam air filters can be cleaned using hot water and some detergent. After the foam air filter dries, it is then saturated with new engine oil before being reinstalled in your tiller.
Use a Clean Fuel Filter for your Tiller
We recommend replacing fuel filters because there is high risk of damage to your fuel filter if it is cleaned. We can take care of this for you during your seasonal tuneup and/or repair of your tiller.
Degrease Your Tiller
We can spray a degreaser on oil stains to sit for approximately 15 minutes before wiping with a clean cloth and then we rinse with a hose and dry completely as part of the tiller maintenance package.
Use a Fuel Stabilizer for Winter
Tillers like all small engines, require clean fresh fuel for best performance from the engine and to preserve the lifespan of your small engine equipment. During the off season when your tiller is being stored during the winter, the fuel should either be drained or a fuel stabilizer should be added to prevent clogs in the carburetor.
Clean and Lube Your Tines
Something you can do to ensure proper performance of your tiller is to clean the tines after each use with hose and then spray them with a lubricant to protect them from rusting.This can make the lifespan of your tiller longer and make sure that the tiller is easy to use and performs well each time.
Make Sure Your Tires are in Good Shape
We will check the tires of your tiller for excessive wear and if they are worn or damaged then we can replace them. It’s also important to check the air pressure on inflatable tires periodically with a tire gauge to make sure they are at the correct inflation pressure and if they are low then add air as required. This can help your tiller move easily through your garden or lawn which will make the overall job easier.
Give us a call to setup an appointment for your tiller maintenance or repair and one of our small engine technicians will swing by to get everything running in tip top shape so you can start tilling right away for the summer season.