Tillers

Preparing the ground by hand is what puts most people off keeping a vegetable garden. A tiller solves it: it breaks up and aerates the soil, works in compost and leaves a seedbed ready in a fraction of the time. Two families are worth telling apart. Rotavator-style tillers are lighter and are pulled forward by the tines themselves, ideal for family plots and soil already worked. Proper two-wheel tillers have driven wheels and a power take-off, accept attachments such as ploughs, ridgers, trailers or lug wheels, and cope with compacted ground and larger areas.

How to choose

• Match power and tine width to the area and the hardness of the soil: clay demands more muscle than you would expect.
• Make sure it has reverse: in an enclosed plot that is what lets you manoeuvre without effort.
• Check the ergonomics: a handlebar adjustable in height and sideways, a smooth clutch and an adjustable depth skid.
• Think about the attachments you will genuinely use, since they determine the model and the power take-off.

At Tecomac we help you choose by what your soil is like, not by the spec sheet, in our Palafrugell shop; Honda is among the brands we carry. We stock tines, belts, filters and oils, and handle servicing and repairs in our own workshop.