Resumo. The forest species cultivation with rapid growth in Brazil has increased, mainly due to the diverse use of its wood and climate adaptation. The cultivation with minimum tillage in the forest sector stands out a way to increase productivity, combined with the maintenance of biodiversity and soil conservation. This study was conducted at the experimental area of State Foundation for Agricultural Research - Research Center for Forestry in Santa Maria - RS, with aimed to evaluate the effect of the soil tillage methods on soil physical properties and on initial development of Eucalyptus grandis, in a sandy loam Typic Hapludalf. Four soil management practices were compared: no-tillage; chisel tillage; chisel tillage plus harrowing and; rotary tillage (rotary tiller), installed in a randomized block design with three replications. The soil under no-tillage conditioned lower initial growth of eucalyptus due higher soil penetration resistance and bulk density, when compared with treatments with mobilization. The root distribution analysis in soil, despite being a qualitative method, was effective in demonstrating the effect of soil tillage for the Eucalyptus grandis plantation. The soil tillage with mobilization resulted in a higher initial growth of Eucalyptus grandis. The chisel tillage effects in the soil physical properties persisted after one year of soil tillage.