Cultivator vs. Tiller: Which Is Best for Your Garden?

Hello, my friend, hello again; today we come together to talk about Cultivator vs. Tiller: Which Is Best for Your Garden? and hope the blog can help you.

If you dig gardens, it’s important to get the machine that’s right for the job.

Tiller or cultivator? Gardeners often use the two words as if they mean the same thing, but they are actually different tools. The machines look similar, although tillers are usually larger than cultivators, but each is built to perform a unique function in the garden, and they aren’t really interchangeable. A rototiller, or tiller, is the heavier and more powerful of the two. Tillers are made for digging deeply and aggressively to break open the soil—for instance, when you’re creating a brand-new garden bed or to getting started at the beginning of the season. Different models offer a range of configurations and functionality, such as rear or front tines, variable depth settings, forward and counter-rotating tine operation, and more.

Cultivators, however, are built for speed and finesse. They are made to stir up the top few inches of already-loose soil to incorporate fertilizer, break up crusted soil ahead of irrigation, or assist with weed control. They are compact and lightweight but still powerful, with a smaller working area for greater precision. If you’re not quite sure whether the task at hand requires a tiller or cultivator, read on to learn more about these two important gardening machines.

1. Cultivators mix the soil, while tillers break up hard soil into pieces.

A garden cultivator is designed for regular maintenance tasks on already loosened soil and for working around growing plants. Think of it as a hoe with a motor. The power source and tines are built to fit into tight spaces, and the lightweight frame does not dig aggressively into the root zone. Cultivator tines are designed to grind the soil to a fine texture, which makes this tool the superior choice for final bed preparation before sowing seeds. 

A tiller, on the other hand, is big and heavy, with a relatively large tine diameter. The hand tools it replaces are the mattock and shovel, and like those tools it is meant to dig deeply and break up hard soil in the earliest stage of bed preparation. Tillers also do a great job of incorporating leftover plant material into the soil at the end of the gardening season. 

2. Power cultivators have faster tines and less torque than tillers. 

The smallest garden cultivators are actually people-powered. They look like a cross between a hoe and a rake, with a narrow head and short, curved teeth. The motorized versions are slightly larger and heavier, driven by small 2-cycle or 4-cycle gas engines, cordless electric motors, or plug-in electric. Their power, comparable to that of a string trimmer or cordless drill, is sufficient for stirring the soil surface and light enough for comfortable operation. Cultivators can go where tillers simply can’t: Their small size and lightweight motor make them easy to maneuver around growing plants.

Our Favorite Team-Tested Tillers

 

Troy-Bilt’s Super Bronco is the most powerful tiller in our tested Buyer’s Guide. It has rear tines, which are perfect for breaking new ground, seasonal soil prep, and pathway weed control in large gardens.

 

 

The Earthwise 13.5-Amp Corded Electric Tiller offers clean electric power and unlimited runtime, but limited mobility because you’re bound by the power cord. This is a good tiller for both seasonal bed prep and in-season maintenance of small to medium-size gardens.