I treat my garden tiller with respect when the tines are churning their way through a seedbed, but to my surprise, my closest brush with injury happened in the garden shed when I walked by the tiller and whacked my leg on a tine. On front-tine tillers like mine, the tine tips project an inch or more beyond the dirt shield, where they can cause mishaps ranging from snagged clothing to a lacerated shin.
I remedied the hazard by slipping short lengths of automotive cooling-system hoses over the exposed tine blades. You don’t have to buy the hoses. Your service station or repair shop probably has a trove of discarded hoses for the asking. To make sure the guards don’t get lost when the tiller is in use, I punched a hole near the end of each hose and inserted a small loop of wire. I hang the guards from a hook in the garden shed or from the tiller handlebars.
