Tillers are standard items in most general rental centers. During peak seasons, the demand for walk-behind tillers often exceeds the number of units available. The tiller is a simple, rugged machine designed to break up and turn soil for a variety of landscaping and gardening jobs.
A tiller's gasoline engine transmits power through a drive system to turn a steel shaft on which are mounted sharp, heat-treated tines. The rotating tine blades slice into the earth, breaking up the soil, turning and mixing it.
There are tillers with tines positioned in front of the wheels, others with tines mounted behind the wheels, and mid-tine designs with tines between the wheels. Opinions vary about which design is most efficient and easiest to use. "Many customers renting for the first time think all tillers have tines behind the wheels," says A.R.A. member Jerry Price, owner of Britton Rental Center in Oklahoma City. "We like front-tine machines - 95 percent of our business is with this type of equipment."
Small front-tine tillers are easily moved around the work site on rubber tires. For tilling, wheels either are removed or repositioned so they do not restrict the tilling action. Larger models may be self-propelled.
Digging depth is adjustable. Throttle and clutch controls are mounted on the handlebars. On some models, handlebars swing to the left or right, allowing the operator to avoid leaving foot prints in just-tilled soil.
Rental stores have a wide selection of tiller sizes, ranging from lightweight models that can be transported in the trunks of most cars to larger machines suitable for contractor and commercial use. Popular rental tillers produce swaths from 10 to 30 inches wide. Engine horsepower is in the 2- to 5-horsepower range. Tines of various designs are available for different soils and other accessories, such as plow attachments, are available to make tillers more versatile. However, tillers usually are rented strictly for tilling. Tillers are used to break fresh ground for establishing new lawns, to prepare ground for new garden plots and flower beds, for cultivation and maintaining established beds, to mix mulch and other additives with soil, to turn over old plants before planting new crops and to turn soil at the end of the growing season.

Who rents tillers?
Homeowners, primarily. Many people enjoy planting and caring for their own flower beds and cultivating small gardens to provide fresh vegetables for their tables but don't want to invest in a tiller that will be used only a few times a year. Commercial-grade tillers available from rental yards also are more productive than inexpensive models designed for home use.
"We have 2- and 5-horsepower tillers," says Jerry Price. "We rent twice as many 5-horsepower units as the smaller ones. They have more power and can do more work."
Landscape contractors rent tillers before seeding or sodding new lawns, for making new flower beds, and for maintaining established beds. Lawn maintenance contractors are frequent renters of tillers. They generally own a limited selection of equipment, and yard work for many is a sideline or weekend business. They rent tillers and other equipment as needed and include the cost of the rental in their fee. Operators of nurseries, orchards, agricultural businesses and park maintenance departments of government agencies and private businesses rent larger tillers when workloads are too much for their own machines to handle.

Operation and safety
Always ask customers how a tiller will be used so you can recommend the right equipment. Lightweight models are not powerful enough for many jobs.
Devote all the time necessary to first-time and occasional tiller users to explain the operation of the equipment they are renting.
Consider this: if you invest the time to take that occasional or first-time customer seriously, you may very well inspire a long-term relationship of repeat business. Customers remember who treated them right.
"Provide basic instructions on how to start, stop, operate and refuel," says Rick Dhein of MacKissic (Merry Tiller), Parker Ford, Penn.
Use training videos and review operator manuals, emphasizing safe operation, and fully explain controls and their functions. Demonstrate wheel or depth adjustment procedures. Point out warning decals on equipment. Send along a copy of the operator's manual with every rental.
Many customers welcome tips on how get the most efficient use from a tiller. Ground to be tilled should be moist - either from a recent rain or from watering. Tilling in dry, hard soil is difficult and hard on equipment. Instruct users to till in parallel lines. If soil is difficult to break, make a second pass. If mulch or fertilizer is to be added, till the area first, spread material evenly across the top and retill to mix additives thoroughly in the soil.
Inexperienced tiller users often encounter difficulties when they attempt to manhandle the machine. Advise them to relax and allow the tiller to do the work. Don't allow people or pets to stand near a tiller during operation and never leave a machine unattended while the engine is running. Do not permit children to operate tiller equipment. Appropriate protective clothing includes safety shoes or boots, eye protection and gloves.
Never attempt to remove material entangled in tines while the engine is running. Stop the engine to make any adjustments and to refuel.
During short-term rentals, customers should not have to service a tiller except for refueling. For longer rentals, the engine oil level should be checked periodically. Between rentals, maintaining tillers in accordance with manufacturer-recommended schedules and replacing tines when necessary will ensure trouble-free service.

Add-on rentals and sales
Tiller customers often need other items. "Hand tools, gloves, eye protection and seed are good add-on items," suggests David Harrington, MTA Distributors (Honda), Whites Creek, Tenn. "Displaying tillers in a prominent spot in the showroom and advertising during the tilling season encourages tiller rentals."