Almost completed tilling the front yard today. It was much harder than expected because the soil is so hard plus dry.

Was close to finishing this afternoon, with maybe 30 minutes of work left when the tiller lost power. Could be that the engine got too hot. Then again, maybe the air filter needs cleaning. Do that in the morning. Doubt the spark plug needs adjusting yet but iit wouldn't hurt to widen the gap and adjust the carb for this elevation. Right now just try the simplest solutions.

Amazing thing is that the yard looks much better as bare dirt than it did with the grass which was there. Though the grass was green in rare spots, dead in some spots and bare in other spots. The ground wasn't level and showed signs of digging prior to my moving in. For what, I don't know because the digging was not around any pipes or such. Now that the soil is loosened up, I can level it out easily.

Still, because of the space between blades, it will be most effective if I till again across the directions I tilled today. That should get to any grass or weed roots which I missed and mix the soil more thoroughly.

Some hard areas to get to were along the walls and driveway. However, the tiller came with an edger attachment which can be used last for that purpose.

Still sticking with the original plan of letting the soil compost in place over the winter. Likely till again a time or two before spring to kill off existing grass and weeds. Going to order and plant grass seed with "micro-clover" I've seen advertised. Had thought about it but wanted to actually see this clover before doing so. I was cautious it could be hard and abrasive. Then I saw a commercial lawn with the same mixture planted. I'm convinced. It was soft, green and looked really good. Plus where I saw it was in a fairly high traffic area. I don't think it grows very tall, so reduces mowing. Allegedly takes only five days to sprout from seed and requires very little watering. Not sure about fertilizing. It's called "Wonderlawn with MicroClover" and can be found on Amazon. Price seems reasonable compared to what I've seen in stores, including discount stores.

Need a bath really bad.