Trimmer Attachments - Any Good?

[430752]

Anyone have any experience with attachments for trimmers? Ryobi, Troy-Bilt, etc. sell trimmers (usually gas) that have attachment systems, like tiller, edger, etc. that attach to the trimmer body in place of the trimmer head. Called "ez-lock" or "expand-it", etc.

I ask since I need to do some small tilling of soil (a couple 10'x10' patches) and there's no way I'm doing it by hand with like a garden claw or something. I've seen the "baby" tillers for like $200, but don't need dedicated and not sure I'd get enough use out of it. So, I thought maybe these attachment things would work. Of course, a non-dedicated tool wannabe jack-of-all-trades is usually a compromise that results in mediocre performance, but since I don't need heavy duty, maybe worth a shot. With this, I'd get a trimmer, tiller attachment, and can later expand with an edger or pole mounted mini chainsaw.


Any thoughts?

thanks,

curt j.

[Knottscott]

I've got a Ryobi gas trimmer, I think it's a 725R and has the "quick link". I've got an edge trimming blade in addition to the string trimmer. It works pretty well maintaining a pre-edged sidewalk. If it's a first cut, it's alot of work and is a rough go b/c it's on the light side compared to a 3-5hp B&S 4 stroke machine.

Never tried the blower or tiller.

[TheRic]

I have thought about getting the pole trimmer, and an attachment but have not yet. Not trying to talk you out of one, but have you looked into renting a tiller? For a small patch like that I would think you could rent one for a couple of hours and get the job done. If your trying to buy another tool forget I mentioned the rent part.

[havighurst]

I have the tiller attachment. It works, but since it is light and there is nothing to hold it to the ground, it bounces alot and you will get a workout.

[Tom Slick]

I have a small honda dedicated tiller which is much heavier then anything you are going to attach to a weedeater and unless the ground is already fairly soft it won't till, it just skips. it will not break clay or even a thick hard crust. if you are going to use it in a flower bed then I think a tiller attachment will work ok.

[430752]

Thanks!

Thanks for the all the replies. Yeah, I imagine it will be imperfect, and without any heft to it I'm sure I'll have to make sure to "grind" it into the ground.

TheRic- I am trying to buy another tool, but would refrain if it won't work. As far as rentals go, I looked at a few places and they're all the big tillers, like 16" wide, 150 lb. monsters. Not the mini-tillers I need, like honda or ryobi sell. That'll till my patch quick, but perhaps too quick! And, I used once as a teen and I remember them as having a lot of torque, and a tendancy to take off on you.

thanks again, maybe I'll get to it this weekend.

Curt J.

[crokett]

I got rid of my tiller attachment for my Ryobi this spring. The answer is it depends what you want to use it for. In a garden for mixing admendments into already loose soil I guess it would work. In NC clay it is useless. What I did when I had it was to use a potato fork to loosen the soil then use the tiller to break up the clumps. It kinda/sorta worked for that.

[BadeMillsap]

I have the Ryobi with the "chainsaw" trimmer ...

well I should say HAD the chainsaw trimmer ... truthfully ... it worked very well until I abused it by trying to cut way too large material for what it was obviously intended for ... and I stripped the gears .. I TRIED to disassemble the head and find parts but replacement parts cost almost as much as a whole new attachment ($99 usd) so ... I'm awaiting an "extra" $100 to fall in my lap before replacing.

The "Expand-it" line is what I have as far as brand and I'm satisfied with the quality .. you just have to be a little more 'responsible' in what you expect than I was of the tool.

[eezlock]

trimmer attachments

Trimmer attachments are usually too light to do heavy work...would be better
off in the long run to rent a tiller or borrow one. If you can get a good rental
unit, try and get one with rear operating tines, easier on you back, arms
when you are done you'll know what I mean. Front tines will beat you to
death with all the bouncing and having to pull backward all the time,
if you have old red clay like we have here in Charlotte, you'll know what a work out feels like for sure! eezlock

[JimD]

It seems to me that the sensible choices are hand tools or a full sized tiller. I can't see much labor savings to a light duty tiller - probably easier to just use a shovel.

Jim

[RichG]

I have the brush cutter and the tillter attachment. I use the trimmer alot and the brush cutter occasionally. I never use the tiller. Like others have said, it too light to really till any significant amout of soil. My wife's putting a vegtable garden in raised beds this year, maybe it'll get a little use in that this year.

I wish I hadn't spent the money on it but it seems like a good idea at the time...

[messmaker]

The only small tiller that I would consider is a Mantis. They work. They do cost some coins but are very handy.

[ejs1097]

I have to agree with renting a tiller with rear tines or turning it by hand with a shovel.

10x10 isn't all the big and when you add time to pick up a rental, use it and return it you could be done doing it by hand. Buying a new tool would require even more time since you'd have to buy it, assemble it, read the directions, etc.

If it were me i'd pick up the shovel, enjoy the motorless noise and some good old fashion ground turning.

[Kristofor]

My garden is fairly small ~30x15. For breaking it up after pulling out the sod I rented a big tiller. After that I brought in 3+ yards of soil and mixed that in too.

However since then I've just used a John Deere tiller attachment on the end of a Toro trimmer and that works great for having a small foot print ~12" wide. It also only goes down about 3-4" into the soil (a benefit between good plants, a weakness in heavy work). This is dealing with very organic rich loose soil. It would not in any way be suited to dealing with heavy compacted soil or trying to mix in unbroken cornstalks or the like.

If my garden was bigger and I had more space to deal with (and more space to take care of) I might look at a full size tiller. As it is I cope and keep the extra free space in the garage.

[thiggy]

A light weight tiller will not suffice for initially breaking up untilled soil. When I need to work up a new area, I use my heavy 30 year old walk behind tiller, and it can really rattle your bones. However, in my previously planted areas I use a 2 cycle Mantis tiller. It is lightweight and really a delight to use. I really doubt that a tilling attachment for your string trimmer would be very useful for any application.