Reddit mentions: The best power tillers

It's all part of the quitting journey. Discovering new hobbies is just part of quitting because once you quit then you'll just have more hours free in the day (and night). If you don't try new hobbies then you're more likely to slip back into it again.

I try to stick to free hobbies or hobbies that are like buy it once then it's mostly free until you decide you want to upgrade, which might be often depending on what it is, lol! :)

I've really focused on making my healthy a priority, so I've taken on things like:

-Fitness. I bought some handweights, a medicine ball, a yoga mat (for stomach exercises mostly) then I just started some basic exercises, doing cardio and just generally trying to be outside more. I find that being outside generally helps me more than going to a gym (cheaper too) or doing exercises inside because it motivates me, so I can't give up as easily.

-Bicycling. It's fun, it's exercise, it's transportation all rolled into one.

-Swimming. Love the water, it's almost like meditating for me. Good exercise too.

-Cooking/Nutrition. Reading labels has become my version of reading stats, skill trees, etc. and it helps me challenge myself. Eating better is a reward in itself and if you like eating then trying new foods, spices or tools (grill, pan, oven, etc) then you'd probably like this. Food shouldn't cost you much extra either. Check out /r/eatcheapandhealthy, /r/crockpot, /r/vegetarian (even if you are not) and their sidebars. :)

-Metal Detecting, Magnet Fishing or /r/Geocaching . I feel like these are really forgotten about or people don't really know that they exist. /r/metaldetecting is like treasure hunting, exercise and cleaning up the environment all in one. /r/magnetfishing is the same thing, except you're casting a magnet and rope into the water and seeing what you can find (good arm workout too lol). Neither of these are expensive to get into (more than $200). Just be careful of bridges, etc when magnet fishing.

-Gardening/Landscaping. There are /r/gardening and /r/landscaping subreddits too. My rototiller is great for like digging up weeds or getting the ground ready for planting. They're surprisingly fun to use too. I want to use my rototiller even if I don't have to, lol! :)

-Social groups. Use anything and everything to just get out of the house. Use meetup.com, use the craigslist 'Community' section (be safe), find the local subreddit for your city because I can almost guarantee something exists. If you're not in a relationship then try joining a dating site, even if it's just for friends.

Challenge yourself to become better, you're the protagonist in your own story now. Video games come and go all the time and there will ALWAYS be another game.

I posted this a while back, but it's relevant.

I have many tools, and each of them gets used every season. Your situation may not be similar to mine, but hopefully this is helpful.

I have four 4x8 raised beds, three 3x4 beds and a 2x10 bed. The 2x10 is 10 inches deep on top of bare Phoenix clay, the others are 8 inches deep and were put in (unfortunately) on top of a Bermuda grass yard. I use garden mix similar to Mel's Mix for Square Foot Gardening: peat moss, vermiculite, and compost. The beds have been in for two years, so there is a growing percentage of native soil (sandy clay). I also have a compost bin made of lumber and hardware cloth with two 4x4x4 bins.

Tools:

• Garden forks: I have several of these because I keep breaking the cheapo plastic D-ring handles trying to dig my native soil. One day I will have a tool repair shop attach new handles with proper steel D-rings and rivets. Best used for compost (although a manure fork would be better) or light garden soil.
  
• Trenching spade (the kind with the long rectangular blade, not a square garden spade) - this is the proper tool to use to dig down into native soil here. It is also useful for breaking up my garden beds in the summer when the bastard Bermuda grass has woven its underground runners into thick sod. AKA a drain spade.
  
• Scoop shovel/grain shovel: Used when transporting soil or compost from one bed to another, etc.
  
• Garden rakes (steel tines): Excellent for raking and smoothing loose dirt, or applying even layers of mulch. Not so good with cleanup tasks.
  
• Leaf rake (plastic tines): Excellent for raking stems, branches, and leaves. Not so good for moving dirt or heavy mulch. Also makes the parts of my yard where grass does not grow look clean and tidy.
  
• Transplanting trowel (small composite blade; Fiskars): Good for small transplants
  
• Garden trowel (large steel blade): Good for large transplants
  
• Hand cultivator: Three-prong hand cultivator
  
• Standard Hoe: Makes me sandwiches and brings me beer (not really...I kid, I kid!)
  
• Action hoe: good for cutting off weeds below soil level
  
• Wheelbarrow: carries 200 pounds of compost without breaking my spine.
  
• Dandelion digger/weeder: Cuts taproots on recalcitrant weeds.
  
• Electric tiller (http://www.amazon.com/Earthwise-TC70001-11-Inch-Electric-Cultivator/dp/B004H4X6Z6/ref=sr_1_1 ): This is a luxury. It accomplishes nothing more than I could do with a spade, fork, or rake, but it does it in a quarter of the time. Light enough to lift into a raised bed, heavy enough to keep the tines in the soil mix. Optional, but useful.
  
  
• Finger: Was born with a 10-pack. Pokes holes at appropriate spacing for seeds. Optional, but only just barely.
  
  
• Mattock: I did not buy this but inherited from a friend who moved into an apartment. This was a godsend & lifesaver when I had to remove the stump from a bush I tore out and installed one of my garden beds. Optional unless mining for gold.
  
  
• 4-way hose splitter: I only have one spigot and multiple watering needs.
  
  
• Hoses, trigger sprayer, water wand, watering can
  
  
• Hose timer: Useful for keeping my time investment alive in summer when I was out of town.
  
  TL;DR: I like me some gardening and my shed is well-stocked. The manual cultivators are not worth it; you can accomplish the same thing with other multiple-purpose tools, or a cheaper hand cultivator.

Hello! I also am in Dallas and relatively new to gardening at a house.

My recommendations:

• I LOVE LOVE LOVE Easy Gardens for North Central Texas. It was so incredibly helpful to figure out easy-to-grow plants for the various parts of my yard. If you don't want to buy it, go check it out from your library and make photocopies.
  
  
• There are a lot of plants in that book that you won't always see at your local Calloway's or Home Depot. You can shop online for plants. Just shop around, and make sure you google "[online shop] review" and look for the reviews at Dave's Garden. Home Depot has a larger selection online than in its local stores, and shipping is free for orders over $20. I ordered Brilliance Autumn Fern and Kerria from HD, and all the plants were very nice.
  
  
• Shovel, hand trowel, rake, hoses, nozzle sprayer (you can get one with a bunch of different settings at HD), and most importantly good gardening gloves (usually by the garden cash register at Home Depot). Once you get your plants installed, consider buying soaker hoses. You can google about why those can be more effective than your generic sprinkler / sprinkler system.
  
  
• As suggested by others, study the lighting conditions in the various parts of your yard. Lighting conditions make all the difference in what will thrive and what will die. Google more about this - lots to read.
  
  
• Soil preparation is essential, particularly with our clay soil. You likely will need to till the soil and then (depending on your soil) till in compost or other stuff. You can google more about this or read Neil Sperry's book. You can rent a tiller from Home Depot, but I bought this electric tiller. It's $120 on Amazon, but rentals at HD were ~ $80/day, and I had multiple weekends of work to do. Easy to assemble and use.
  
  
• You asked about raised beds. I've always heard that here in N. Texas, you NEED to amend your soil to make it more nutrient rich. You may be adding in other stuff to help it drain better, too. You can google that, but generally what you want is compost, not the "garden soil" you see at HD. Call the nursery nearest you - all of the ones near me deliver for free. Some require a minimum $50 order, some don't.
  
  
• Don't forget mulch! Again, all the local nurseries by me deliver.
  
  Good luck!!
  

There's a really important thing to note here - your title is confusing people. It says "heavy clay soil".

Later you say it's "clay like". But you got a load of cheap top soil, I assume?

In that case it's simply clay-like, it's not clay. It's just dense. That's a huge difference.

Soil compaction is going to happen in any bed that goes unused (no roots to aerate) and will slowly increase with time. You just have dense soil. Did you loosen the area around the root ball when you transplanted? If so, the roots should get established easily. Dense soil really isn't all that terrible of a problem- there may be other issues afoot. Roots can pretty easily go through dense soil. It's more about what's in the soil, and the moisture content, that's going to have a big effect on them.

Beyond that, what you need to do is simply improve soil structure. There are tons of ways to do this, but check out this article and this site as well.

Basically, add organic matter. Compost. For now, you can top dress. Make sure the ground stays the proper moisture level (get a $10 moisture meter if you want to be doubly sure) and roots and earthworms will aerate it. More plants and more roots will help. If it's super compact, you can mechanically disturb the soil, but actually people are shying away from this now due to more research showing undisturbed soil has healthier microbial life, and roots don't mind moderately-dense soil. Still, if it's crazy hard, you can get a small tiller (I used this one ) on both my actual clay soil, and to mix in compost. You can of course just use a regular hand cultivator tool if you want to save some $.

As far as cover crops go, that is a pretty good idea- check out this podcast: https://joegardener.com/podcast/100-understanding-cover-crops-the-basics-and-beyond-with-jack-algiere/ .

I'll also note that adding sand is a terrible idea. That's a weird myth floating around, a quick google search will reveal this.

I'd like to start gardening! Growing my own fruits and veggies sounds so fantastic! A rototiller is definitely nessessary to make my garden! This would improve my life by giving me a great hobby, and helping me get healthier!

Not sure how much a tiller cost to rent but if you have power near you garden, https://www.amazon.com/Earthwise-TC70001-11-Inch-Electric-Cultivator/dp/B004H4X6Z6 I have this tiller and it is great when you have already broken through the sod. Way to go! Looks like a great spot for a garden

For what it's worth, you can get an actual electric rototiller for about that same price.

What about this one? http://www.amazon.com/GreenWorks-27072-Corded-Tiller-10-Inch/dp/B00D3KJN3O/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1427081198&sr=1-1&keywords=greenworks+8-amp I saw that Troy-Built one, but then started thinking about the Greenworks because it's supposedly higher current and cheaper.

It's a Mantis Tiller, specifically this one from home depot. https://www.amazon.com/Mantis-4-Cycle-Cultivator-7940-Powered/dp/B00N6X9VY4

I was told it would do the job.

Dude I have the same problem in like 5x the space.

Before

After

I've tried it by hand with garden forks, shovels, etc., as many here suggest. Fuck. That. Shit. Way too much work.

First, weedwhack it. That will chop the weeds up and make it harder for them to clog the tiller. I use this and it is a beast. Will chop down corn stalks, so I'm sure it'll handle that stuff.

Next, till it with this monster. This fucking thing WILL NOT QUIT. It is an earthrapist. Will take the dirt down 8"-12" with minimal effort, and will churn all that good chopped up weed into the dirt as compost.

I did a HUGE 2000 sq foot space in just a few hours, and I know you could do that little bed in like 45 mins. Think about it.