If you have a garden, you probably find yourself needing tillers of different sizes through the season. In the early spring, the soil needs to be broken with a large tiller to create a bed, but after that, you need a narrow tiller to clean up the soil between rows. With Cub Cadet’s FT tillers, you can do it all with one machine. Its unique removable tine design lets it operate with a range of tilling widths without having to sacrifice power.
Getting Help from the Engine
Cub Cadet calls these “front tine” tillers, hence the “FT” model names. However, their design is more like a mid-tine tiller. The engine is almost directly above the tine reel to help push the tines into the ground. This makes it easier to keep the tines digging into the soil than a true front tine design, nearing the performance of a rear tine tiller without the added size, weight and cost.
The Right Size for Any Job
Usually, getting a tiller is a compromise: either buy something big enough to till anything and plant wide rows or get a small tiller for getting between narrow rows and rent a big tiller to turn the soil before the start of each season. With the FT, you can set it up for both jobs.
The tine stars on these models are held on by clevis pins, making them easy to remove. Depending on the number of stars installed, the tilling width can be 13, 22 or 24 inches. That size range overlaps with both mini and full-size commercial tillers.
Engine
These tillers are powered by Cub Cadet’s own 208cc engine. By designing a powerplant specifically for their products, they’re able to offer something that’s built for real-world use. That includes an automatic decompression system that decreases pull effort and easy-to-access service ports for simpler maintenance. Like the version found in the company’s snow blowers, this engine is fitted with a manual choke. This makes it easier to start in cold weather so you can start working the soil before weeds have a chance to take hold.
Tilling
The FT is designed to till up to 7 inches deep. An adjustable depth stake limits tilling depth for consistency. When it’s time to move to a new area, the tiller can be tilted back onto a transport wheel, keeping the tines from scraping the ground.
End caps are included with this tiller. When installed, they deflect dirt as it flies off of the tines. This reduces the amount of cleanup needed after tilling near pavement and keeps dirt off of nearby plants.
Models
Cub Cadet makes two versions of the FT. The FT 24 is little more than an engine and tine reel. The unit is pulled along by the action of the forward-rotating tines. The FT 24R adds a chain drive system with forward and power reverse gears. Since it doesn’t depend on the tines to move it along, it can move slower than the FT 24, cutting more times for each foot traveled. This makes it a better choice for tough soil.
Getting Parts for Cub Cadet Tillers
If it’s Cub Cadet, you can get the parts you need from www.cubparts.com. We’re a certified dealer, letting us provide OEM parts for both the FT and the engine that powers it. Our site lets you find parts based on your model and can show you factory parts diagrams and descriptions so you can be sure you’re ordering exactly what you need. We ship across the U.S. and Canada.