Tiller (Chapter 3)
Even Lighter, More Compact Honda Tillers
Honda has created a new market for compact agricultural machinery as a “replacement for the hoe,” making manual farmwork easier and improving people’s lives.
While the widely popular “Komame F200” continues strong sales, Honda added the “Komame F210” to the lineup. This new model featured an adjustable tilling width and comes in specialized variations powered by a new engine for orchards, tea plantations, greenhouses, and other applications. The Komame F210 featured adjustable handle height and included a cell-equipped variation, making it an easy-to-use axle rotor tiller suitable for various scenarios.
Since then, the Komame series evolved from the F200, powered by the side-valve G100 engine, to the second-generation Komame F210 in 1984, featuring a new engine. This brought new evolution, including enhanced durability, stable and persistent output, and improved quietness through the adoption of a newly designed muffler.
Then, in 2001, the third-generation Komame arrived with the F220 powered by a dedicated 4-stroke OHV engine, delivering stable power despite reducing displacement from the previous 100cc to 57cc. It also offered a low center of gravity and excellent machine balance. Furthermore, the F220 met the stringent emissions regulations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), considered the world’s toughest, and achieved a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency over previous models. It also achieved class-leading low noise levels, enhancing environmental performance alongside improved equipment and usability.
In 2016, the Komame’s design underwent partial revisions, and in 2020, the 40th anniversary of Komame’s launch, cumulative Japan-domestic sales alone had reached 500,000 units.
In 1986, Honda launched the FR315, the first agricultural machine suitable for working in narrow rows, continuing its evolution toward lighter and more compact designs. The FR215 benefited from Honda's well-balanced design expertise cultivated in motorcycles, enabling smooth operation of this single-wheel cultivator, which can otherwise become unbalanced and difficult to handle.
Beyond the Komame, Honda expanded applications in 1991 with the Punch 2 F501 cultivator, featuring a 163cc engine capable of both tilling and ridge-forming operations. Furthermore, in 2002, Honda launched the Putina FG201 mini tiller, smaller and lighter than the Komame, powered by a 49cc OHV engine. This completed a lineup of three axle-rotor tillers: the Putina, Komame, and Punch, enabling use across a wide range of applications. Honda’s products have continued to be sold as lightweight, compact agricultural machinery that anyone can easily operate.
Honda tillers also took on the challenge of energy usage. While previous tillers used gasoline, Honda launched the Pianta FV200 in 2009, utilizing household canister gas fuel, which is easy to purchase and store. This product boasted superior environmental performance, reducing CO2 emissions per hour of operation by 10%* compared to gasoline engines of equivalent displacement. The Pianta FV200, while easy to operate, also featured a dedicated carry box that keeps storage areas clean, making it easy to move and transport. The Pianta firmly inherits the concept of Honda agricultural machinery.
* Honda research
Then in 2013, the Salad CG FFV300, fueled by gas canisters, was added to the already-sold Salad FF300 series. This model, also a tiller usable without gasoline, continues to be well-received today as a product capable of tilling larger areas.
Honda’s current tiller lineup includes compact axle-rotor tillers like the Komame and three other models (Pianta, Putina, Komame, Punch); the mid-sized front rotary tiller Salad; and three large rear rotary tillers (Lucky Boy, Lucky Multi, Lucky). These models are designed for diverse agricultural tasks.
Each of these models prioritizes being lightweight, compact, and easy to use, representing agricultural machinery Honda pioneered and created for the market.
Seeing hard, compacted soil transformed into soft, workable earth by using the Komame—hearing customers say how simple tiller operation, not manual hoeing, makes farming easier, and seeing them use it—is the greatest joy for Honda Power Products.
