Tillage practices can disturb the soil surface, forming porous and loose erodible soil layers. Thus, these layers may greatly influence soil aggregate breakdown and maize yield. However, quantitative studies are still rare regarding the effects of tillage operations on soil aggregate stability and maize yield in wind-water erosion crisscross zone. These regions face more serious soil erosion than areas that are mainly affected by wind or rainfall alone. To address this issue, the influences of tillage treatments on soil aggregate stability and maize yield were investigated. Seven tillage practices were selected, including two conventional tillage practices of rotary tillage (RTS) and plow-tillage (PTS) with 100% harvest maize stover mulching, and five conservation tillage practices of subsoiling+100% mulching (STS), no-tillage+30% (NTS1) and 100% (NTS2) mulching, and notillage & ridging+30% (NTSR1) and 60% (NTSR2) mulching. Results demonstrate that tillage practices significantly affected soil aggregate stability (P = 0.05). Compared with conventional tillage, conservation tillage promoted soil structure stability and soil erosion resistance. For soil disaggregation mechanisms, the relative importance of slaking breakdown was much larger than that of mechanical breakdown under all tillage treatments. Tillage practices also exerted substantial influence on maize yield. Specifically, the STS and PTS both induced the largest maize yield. Therefore, the STS treatment could be suggested as a potential tillage practice to optimize maize yields while maintaining soil structure stability. This indicates that practitioners should consider the impacts of tillage operations on soil erosion control and maize yield when implementing sustainable tillage management strategies in the wind-water erosion crisscross zone of China.