Abstract: To solve the problems of poor adaptability to complex terrains and insufficient flexibility in ridging of existing tobacco cultivator-hillers in hilly and mountainous areas, a small-size tobacco cultivator-hiller adopting a compact structural design and achieving functional adjustment through the cooperative operation of multiple devices was designed. The handlebar direction was flexibly adjusted to enhance terrain adaptability. The rotary tillage depth was precisely controlled via a position limit adjusting device, and the ridging height and width were flexibly adjusted by adjusting the angle of the hilling baffle. Design details of key components including the rotary tiller, adjustable hilling baffle and position limit device were elaborated. It was found that in hilly and mountainous areas, the machine demonstrated good hilling effect when the rotary tiller spindle speed was 200-400 r/min and the rotary tillage depth was 40-60 mm. Field trials were conducted using hilling height, hilling width and broken soil rate as evaluation indexes, with loam as the test soil. The results showed that at a hilling machine forward speed of 0.26 m/s, a rotary tillage depth of 54 mm and a rotary tiller spindle speed of 220 r/min, the hilling height reached 28.60 mm, the hilling width was 142.98 mm and the broken soil rate was 92.15%, meeting the design and practical operation requirements.