Electric garden tiller problem

samwich1979

Bought a garden tiller second hand off Gumtree a couple of months back ready to move from a flat to a house with a garden. Tested it and it all seemed to work fine.

Now we have moved and need to use it it turns on, has power and turns but as soon as it touches soil or anything for that matter it will not turn.

Does anyone know what the problem could be? my husband has cleaned it and put WD40 on it but still nothing.

Really dont want to buy a new one as we havent got the money.

wellused

Is it solid undug soil the kind that you might need a spade or rotavator on or is it already cultivated soil not too compacted and just needs breaking up, because that's what a tiller is designed to do I would imagine.

I_have_spoken

Sounds like the clutch is slippiing.

forgotmyname

The electric ones tend to be rather weak. As mentioned they are OK for ground you have already worked. But hard soil is not on the cards.

If it does have a clutch and you oiled it then that wont help.

Davesnave

This is MSE. Buying electric tillers isn't MSE if you can use hand tools, which are far more effective and have less to go wrong.

Not having a garden previously,you probably didn't know that these things may be pretty useless. Even petrol powered rotovators have their limitations, because the more powerful they are, the harder it is to control them and the more fitness/strength the operator needs.

If you find digging hard, then little and often is the rule.

Gardens aren't built in a day, no matter what you see on the telly.