The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Equipment => Topic started by: Farmersson on March 20, 2010, 04:45:39 pm
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Hi all; New to this forum, and noticed old posts about the Maxtra "heavy Duty" tiller, this is the one with 6.5HP engine and what look like driven wheels.
I am thinking of buying one, I've seen them for sale at around £380 which seems like really good value, I was wondering if the existing owners are still happy or if anyone else has had any experience of this machine.
Also how heavy / manoeuvrable ?
Any help would be really appreciated. thanks
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Hi
It certainly looks the business. I would be tempted if I hadn't bought a SARP cultivator from Northern Tool last year. However, from that experience I could suggest a couple of things to check.
The first point is the availability of spares like drive belt (there is usually one in the transmission to act as a shock absorber), tines (the bits that do the digging - they wear quite fast) and engine parts. The SARP has a Honda engine so I hope to be able to find parts for that if they are needed. However, the drive belt has come off twice recently which can't be doing it any good.
The SARP weighs about 50kg which means I can just get it into the back of my car but it is a struggle and the thing seems to have been designed to catch on every corner. The Maxtra will be heavier as it has a gearbox and separate drive to the wheels. So if you intend to transport it from place to place, you might need help (or a lower loader!).
The SARP copes well with the very light soil on my land but I would prefer the Maxtra design on anything like a medium clay soil. The SARP is hard work to use even if you have the technique to use it properly worked out. After 2 hours, I feel like laying down where I am working!
Anyway, good luck if you decide to buy one. Report back on how it is going.
NN
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I shouldn't worry about getting any type of drive belt. They are easy to get from bearing suppliers and the like or agricultural parts suppliers or lawn mower shops. Just take the old one in for a pattern. Most belts are manufactured by third parties anyway. ;)
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Thanks for taking time to reply. It is appreciated
The weight is a bit a problem and I wonder how manoeuvrable it is with the driven (?) wheels. As to the drive belts as lazybee says I think these are ok, the tines might be more difficult. This is clearly a Chinese manufactured machine so certainly wouldn’t be Honda quality.
I’d love to hear from someone who owns it!
Thanks again
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Hello, just joined when I saw this thread :)
I just recently bought one of these off Ebay
First impressions......it came very well packed, bolted into a steel frame, and that inside a cardboard box
A bit of assembly is required, nothing challenging, then you will see its not a tinny affair (like I suspected) no shortage of good metal on this machine........and the "tines" are good chunky quality
It started up first go (after petrol/oil added) and runs very nicely......then I put it to work, it has ample power, but I have noticed one fault, it tends to "hop, skip and jump" when the tines hit a patch of hard dirt, and this happens at "shallow" depth as well, i've figured what it needs, is "weights" on the front, (ala Howard) and am now constructing a carrier to bolt on the front, for some weights to sit in.......its handy as there are 4 bolt holes in the front of chassis already there!
I'll give an update when I get my weights sorted
Hope this helps