Whip Your Garden Into Shape With The Greenworks 60V Battery-Powered Cultivator
Each year prior to, and even during, the Summer months, we see a lot of folks refreshing their gardens and flowerbeds with fresh annuals . Others plant vegetables—often twice a year. Still others, simply take advantage of the good weather to redo or refresh their landscaping. OPE Reviews got a chance to test out and review the Greenworks 60V battery-powered cultivator to see how it performed against several other models we’ve used in the past.
Pros
- More power than most attachment models
- Brushless motor maintains speed while tilling
- Capable of tilling established grass
- Easy to maneuver
Cons
- We’d like to see an easier height change
Greenworks 60V Battery-Powered 8-Inch Cultivator Features
Greenworks designed their 60V battery-powered cultivator with three height settings. This makes it easy to find a working position at nearly any height. Despite being 6 ft tall, I found the lowest height to work best. A collapsable handle also makes it easy to store this tiller when the work is done.
When you adjust the height on this 60V Greenworks tiller, you also adjust the angle. Yoiu may find that this plays a role in which setting you prefer as you work.
Front to back, the Greenworks 60V cultivator measures just over 45 inches. It weighs just over 29 pounds with a 4.0Ah battery. With a tiller, sometimes more weight works in your favor! In either case, this tiller weighs a bit less than smaller top-engine gas models in the 21-25cc range.
Greenworks 60V Tiller Controls and Noise Levels
A simple push-button start fires up the Greenworks 60V 8-inch cultivator. It, along with the bail bar, matches what you might expect to find on a battery-powered lawn mower. When you press the power button and pull back on the bail bar you can immediately get to work.
The lack of noise really impressed us while working. Using an SPL meter to measure sound, we read 74dBA from the operator’s ear. Were you to use a 2-stroke gas model, you might encounter as much as 100dBA from the same location! We see no reason to wear hearing protection while operating this tool.
Additional Features
- No gas emissions
- 60V battery works with more than 75 Greenworks 60V tools and products
Using The Greenworks 60V Battery-Powered 8-inch Cultivator
Greenworks uses a brushless motor to spin the tines of its 60V cultivator at up to 200 RPM. Using a 4.0Ah battery, we’re told you can expect up to 45 minutes of trigger time on this tool. That number drops when you use it with tougher ground material. And, of course, for a larger area, you’d likely want to go with something like a self-propelled rear-tine tiller.
The four 8-inch diameter hardened steel discs offer an 8-inch tilling width. Its 4-inch tines let this cultivator dig down to a max depth of 5 inches. This matches the tilling depth of the Greenworks 40V 10-inch cordless cultivator. You do, however, get more performance with the 60V brushless motor.
As a single-speed tiller, you do need to keep the tool moving at a steady rate to get a consistent depth. It takes some getting used to, but we found it easy to control.
If, for some reason, you need to till in a narrow space, Greenworks lets you remove two of the tines. You do this by simply pulling the ring pin on each end and removing the outer tines and the small felt washers. You then install hitch pins to secure the inner tines.
Getting to Work
To test the Greenworks 60V cultivator, we ran it through packed soil as well as thick bahiagrass. It quickly dug into the ground and easily turned over the soil. The solid 8-inch rear wheels provided good stability, travel, and leverage. Even with the bumpy terrain generated by the battery-powered tiller, they traversed the soil without too much difficulty. The foam padding on the handle felt comfortable, though we’re not sure how many years you’ll get out of it.
With established grass, you get a noticeable dip in performance. It took patience and a lot of downward pressure to really dig in and get things started. You can make it work, but we recommend a larger tool if you intend to do a significant amount of tilling from scratch.
Our main questions centered around whether this tool could handle clay and rocky ground. Our final assessment is that while it has enough power to break through some tougher clay, expect slow progress. This tool excels when used to refresh and replant areas that have already been turned and are still somewhat loose.
At this time, we recommend a bigger unit for turning highly rocky soil or, as indicated earlier, larger virgin areas of turf.
Greenworks 60V 8-inch Cultivator Price
The Greenworks 60V 8-inch cultivator retails for $249.99 as a bare tool and $329.99 with a 4.0Ah battery and charger. You can pick up the bare tool at Tractor Supply. Greenworks covers it with a 4-year limited tool and battery warranty.
The Bottom Line
If you’re debating between an attachment system cultivator and a standalone model, it’s worth going with the Greenworks cordless 8-inch cultivator. It provides better performance and it gives you much better ergonomics while working.
This model compares favorably to gas cultivators in the 21cc to 25cc range. While you may see a slightly reduced tilling width, you gain a whole lot of noise reduction and convenience. In our opinion, that’s a trade worth making.
Greenworks 60V 8-inch Cultivator Specifications
- Model: Greenworks TL60L410
- Power Source: Greenworks 60V battery
- Tilling width: 8 in.
- Max tilling depth: 5 in.
- Tine length: 4 in.
- Tine Material: Hardened steel
- No-Load Speed: 200 RPM
- Weight: 24.70 lbs. (bare), 29.32 lbs. (with 4.0Ah battery)
- Warranty: 4-year limited tool and battery
- Price: $249.99 (bare tool), $329.99 (kit)
