Last Updated on January 10, 2023
Looking for an electric tiller for your small garden or small farm? Here are the best electric tillers to help you get started.
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Introduction
An electric tiller can be a great addition to your collection of small farm and garden equipment.
Whether you have established garden beds or need to bust into new ground teeming with 50 shades of green grass and weeds, an electric tiller is the quickest most efficient way to improve your soil and prepare your yard for a garden harvest or lush landscaping.
Electric-powered tillers should be powerful, versatile, compact, and easy on your eardrums. Hats off to those yielding hand tools, who tout the relaxation and exercise benefits of tilling their gardens the old-fashioned way, but for the weekend warrior —an electric tiller gets them done fast. Electric garden tillers also boast the benefits of being eco-friendly and quite affordable.
And while these products are designed to make tilling easy on your body, you’ll still score points on your daily workout too. Keep in mind that most electric tillers are corded, so make sure to budget for a 15 amp cord of 100 feet to allow you to move around your garden beds freely.
Here three of the best electric tillers that the market has to offer.
1. Overall Best Electric Tiller (for the money)
The Sun Joe TJ603E Electric Tiller and Cultivator is among the best for tackling a small garden at a very reasonable cost. Customers rave how this machine is easy to maneuver while it slices through all types of soil like a beast.
Push the instant start button and your electric tiller will have you swiftly unearthing the rich, nutrient-dense soil in your yard.
This product has a 12 amp motor and features 6 steel angled tines that cultivate the ground up to 16 inches wide and 8 inches deep.
Its power and tilling capabilities allow for maximum garden aeration and its low maintenance and 2-year warranty ensure it will serve its purpose in your yard for a long time.
Check out this video review to learn more.
2. Overall Best Electric Tiller (regardless of price)
Earthwise’s corded electric tiller features an adjustable tilling width option. This versatility matters because a greater tilling width reduces the number of passes you take through your yard, while a narrower tilling width allows you to weed between rows and around borders.
This tiller’s design allows you to quickly remove 2 of the 6 tines (with no tools!) to provide a variable width of 12.5 to 18 inches.
Depth matters too and this machine makes it easy to dig down into hard-packed soil to depths of 8 inches, allowing it to chop through most garden weeds, roots, and packed soil.
This 13.5 amp tiller is powerful while its anti-vibration system ensures comfort. After use, it folds up easily for compact storage in your garage.
Earthwise is a newer company gaining traction with homeowners due to its attention to quality and innovation.
Along with a 2-year warranty and customer reviews crediting an ergonomic, easy-to-assemble design, Earthwise offers a modernized and versatile product that makes it worth its slightly higher price tag.
3. Best Budget Electric Tiller
Earthwise has been doing eco-friendly since Laura Ingalls Wilder first chronicled Pa Ingalls tilling the prairie soil. Their electric tiller is under 100 bucks, lightweight at 9 pounds, and it’s cordless!
It runs on a lithium-ion battery that fully charges in an hour and provides up to 45 minutes of tilling time.
At 7.5 amps the motor still packs a punch and its 4 durable steel tines can plow the soil to depths of 6 inches. This machine is all about ease of use from its ergonomic handle to its ability to aerate most medium-sized lawns on one battery charge.
Keep in mind that this product is best for maintenance tilling and controlling weed depth rather than digging up a whole yard.
Questions and Answers
Are electric tillers as good as gas tillers?
Most electric garden tillers are not as powerful as gas tilers. Because of this, if you are managing a large garden, you will probably be better off with a gas tiller. However, for small gardens an electric tiller can be a great choice.
Electric tillers are quieter and don’t produce exhaust. They are also much easier on the wallet and the planet than gas tillers. They are also typically much lighter and are easier to maneuver.
If you are dealing with a smaller garden or just the occasional garden work then an electric tiller can work well for you.
Do electric tillers really work?
Whether you want to easily tend to your soil to keep it healthy and clear of weeds, or even cultivate compost, an electric tiller is a product proven to be powerful and adjustable for all sorts of needs.
Check out this video to see one in action.
What’s the difference between a tiller and a cultivator?
The difference between a tiller and a cultivator matters most when referring to their gas-powered counterparts. 1
A cultivator will churn and blend soil, control weed growth, and loosen hard dirt. A tiller is more robust for handling large areas of hard, rocky ground for farm plots and substantial gardens.
For the average-size American yard of 5000-10,000 square feet, an electric tiller cultivator combines most of the features of the two gas-powered machines but for smaller-scale projects.
How long do electric tillers last?
Given the low cost of many electric tillers, customers say that they get the worth out of the product in just a few months. It is intentionally designed to be low maintenance so that it remains a very budget-friendly addition to your garden tool arsenal even if it needs to be replaced within a few years.
Should I get an electric tiller?
If you have a small garden and want to establish plots, flower beds, and take the pain out of weeding, an electric-powered tiller is absolutely the garden tool for you!
How do you clean an electric tiller?
One hallmark of the electric tiller is that it is low maintenance, so a thorough wipe down after turning off the machine is all that is required before folding it down for compact storage. On occasion, you will want to inspect the tiller closely and rinse off any caked-up dirt and vegetation on the tines.
