[Cob] Sill plates?

[Raduazo at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/26/2004 11:23:19 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
lightearth at onebox.com writes:
tiller would be of more use for cob than for gardening....I'm firmly 
convinced that tilling is the worst thing we do for the soil, in many ways, write me 
if you want more details on that - i teach classes on mulch gardening and 
permaculture
I aggree on all counts. I have been making cob with a rototiller for several 
years and it works great. I also tried using a tiller in the garden. You had 
better be very careful. Tilling is bad for gardening for the same reasons it is 
good for cobbing. It tends to compact and ruin the soil. You can do it if the 
soil is dry enough and the tiller is handy if you have a quarter acre of sod 
that you want to comvert to a garden, but once the garden is established use a 
digging fork. 
    Oh and by the way only the cheap front tine tillers work for cobbing. The 
expensive rear tine tillers do not. Torro, for example, has a plate that 
prevents the tiller from chopping up your toes, and it also prevents the tiller 
from being dragged around on a pile of cob that you are trying to mix up.
Ed