Which Tiller

[RSKY]

Which tiller would you recommend, a Troy Built or Craftsman? Tiller is for occasional use. Only must have is a reverse gear.

[Bird]

I think Troybilt was sort of the "industry standard" for many years and hard to beat. However, weren't they bought out by Toro? or someone a few years ago. Anyway, I don't know whether they're any better now than a lot of others. About 15 years ago, one of my brothers bought a used Craftsman rear tine tiller for our dad and we thought it was great, but dad was accustomed to his old cheap front tine tiller so he didn't like it. Then in 1995, I bought a new Craftsman counterrotating rear tine 17" tiller and the only thing I've used that was any better was the 3-point tiller on the tractor.

I don't think you can go wrong with either one and if it were me, I'd probably go with the Craftsman because they come with a manual, parts list, etc. and I suspect parts will always be available (although I never needed any parts for mine). If you have a Troybilt dealer that you can depend on, then that might be best.

[AndyF]

I've had a Troy Bilt Pony for almost 10 years now and it has done a good job for me. It gets between 20-50 hours use every year and I've never had any problems with it - just standard maintenance - changing oil, adjusting linkages and giving it a good cleaning.

[robertn]

We are looking too. The local dealer carries Troybilt; said they are now owned by MTD. He said that they have kept them up so far; some were worried they would start cheapening them up.

He said he recomends Troybilt, which he carries, or BCS. We have looked at both, and they are sweet! But, they come with $$$ too...

[Fawteen]

I work as a mechanic at a tool rental place. We're finding that the BCS simply aren't up to snuff for rental use, keep tearing gearboxes out of them.

Our troybilt stuff is vastly more popular with the customers, and just keeps on ticking. Tines and an occasional seal in the tine shaft gearbox and belts. That's about it.

[poorboy]

We are also looking. I have heard the same story about mtd. I actually have been looking since last year. We waited too late to decide at the local lowes and they were all sold out. It was the same day that we picked up a repaired ac unit. When we walked back into the repair room there were about 20 troybuilt weedeaters. The manager said that didn't look good. I think this was the first year for the model line. As far as the tiller I will probably still pull the trigger on one this spring but I am still looking at the local dealers. I checked a husky at a local. The guy said it was a pretty good one but it wasn't as good as the troybuilt and that one was the only he sold. But I did notice he was an authorized repair person for lowe's.

Sometimes you can dwell on something too much.. But with any small engine purchase I always try to find someone t fix it even before I buy it.

Let us know what you all finally decide and what you find out.

Patrick

[herbenus]

I really wanted a Troybilt when I bought last year. The one I wanted was about $1000. I wound up buying a Sears on sale for $600. It works good for me. But I only use it 2-3 times a year and keep it in garage (after cleaning up) when not in use. So with my use I expect it to last a while.

[fivestring]

I have an MTD rear tine that I bought ten years ago. It has forward, reverse, neutral and forward, tines off. I use it several times each year, usually for an hour or two at a time.
The only repairs have been: 1 belt, i tire tube and re-weld the handle stem.

[carb454]

rsky: Tillers are like tractors in that the more they weigh the easier it is for them to do the work while you guide them.
I believe you are talking strickly rear tine unless you are a masocist, front tine will beat you up if you try to man handle it.
You can also look into the rotation of tines ,because the ones thats lowes sells (i believe 6hp)you can change direction of tines as well as direction of the tiller .
The sears I bought 6hp belt and gear driven only has the counter-rotating tines ,which when your digging deep tends to spin tires trying to pull you through ,so you have to gently lift on the handle to maintain traction,also it has the taller tires that help to do just that pull it through, but its light enough to manuver when not running.
I have a buddy that swears by troy-built because of durability hi-usage issuses (heavy duty cast iron) lots of weight to push around if its not running,but will work great for a long time if you putting in large garden or use in a small land scaping business.
The troy-built pony is a bit smaller if I'm not mistaken than the craftsman 6hp (smaller tires etc.)not real knowledgable on that unit
I put in a small garden and corn patch approx.500 stalks for family consuming, we like it fresh.(the sears works good for me)
But hopefully that will help to give you a little information to help make a decision one way or another?
Happy tilling! [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[robertn]

We finally went with a BCS 722 8hp, with 20" tine setup, expandable to 26".

I called and visited a number of places. All said either the Troybilt or BCS were the way to go, unless you want to spend $4000 for a Baretto hydraulic driven unit.

The Troybilt "Horse" and BCS-722 are very evenly matched. I like the clutch setup on the BCS. Mostly, it came down to have a good dealer and service dept, where we had had good dealings before.

I have about 3 hours behind it so far. It works really well!