Tiller ???'s

[oz in SC]

There is a Troy bilt Econo horse tiller for sale locally(a rare occurrence) for $350.

I have sent an email asking age,general condition,accy's but is there anything else to look at?

Also is this a good first tiller?

We rented one two years ago and it was quite handy but we just couldn't see spending the $$$ on a new one.

Thanks oz.

The 8 horsepower econo horse. It is a very good tiller, it is the kind that I have and have used for 10 years now. I bought mine just after they came out with that model and gave around $1300 for it brand new. Since then, they have quit making that axact model but have similar models with different names. $350 wouldn't be a bad price if it is still in very good condition. Mine however has been well used, in fact I'm going to have it worked on and have the govenor replaced and probably go ahead and have new carb put on it. I've already overhauld the carb twice in the past 10 years. I have used mine on two gardens every year, one about 30' X 60' and another about 25' X 80'. So I've worked mine purty good, I probably should have boughten one just a little bigger for the amount of gardening I've done.

Check to see how good the tiller blades are on it. They're expensive to replace. I think I paid about 80 - 90 dollars for the last replacement on mine. They maybe a little cheaper now days but not sure.

They are well worth the money if you can afford one. I've had the best gardens then when I used rear tine tillers and so much easier to use.

[diane]

We also have that model and dearly love it. Depending on it's condition, I would think it was a real buy. I have a great deal of muscle problems at times and I am still able to manage it.....unless we are breaking new ground and there are a bunch of rocks. It really wants to buck on those bigger rocks :haha: I would go look at it and look it over and start it up.

I forgot to mention that the $1300 consisted of delivery charge also. I bought the machine directly from Troy built and they tacked on shipping charges from New York to Oklahoma. So that was probably the $300 dollars itself. So to be truthful the tiller probably only cost me about $900 or little more then they added taxes, shipping and handling charges which beefed it on up to around $1300. That was a purty penny back in 93' but I could afford it then. I would have a problem paying that much now.

My kids have used them for years in their lawn and garden business- in the spring they have more work than they can handle.And, for what it's worth- you might be better having a kid do your garden-$30-$50 or so.Even buying a tiller for $350- you still have to maintain it, buy gas and oil,tune ups etc.My kids look for older tillers in good condition in this price range- they often have very low hours, even 10 years old.A couple of hours in the spring- a couple of hours inthe fall-10 year old tiller can still have less than 100 hours on it unless it was owned by somebody with a garden business

[Runners]

Dittos to R.H. - we paid $1400 for our 8hp horse in 1984, direct from the factory.
We got 5 of them between my sisters & brother... 2 electrics, 3 pull starts.

Pull the dipstick on the tiller, located behind the handles - it's a little square 1/2" 'nut' with a hole in the middle. See if they EVER changed the oil, or if it has any.

Don't be turned off by hard shifting from forward to reverse - just needs grease on it or a minor adjustment... that's common. But, if the PTO it shifts hard in and out it's $$ to fix (the little lever on the left side that engages the tines). If that bugger moves hard, beware, it's a $350 fix to tear down the transmission and replace parts.

Bolo tines cost us $90 about 10 years ago, and have easily outlasted the regular tines, doing our gardens and custom tilling now and then.

If I didn't own one already, and I knew it was one of the older, better built ones, $350 sounds hard to pass up, even it I had to invest another $200 to get it running good.

[Beeman]

Troy Bilt went bancrupt and was bought out by MTD. Have had a little trouble getting parts because of changeover. I've had a Troy-Bilt horse for about 15 yrs. It's a love hate relationship! Every year I swear I'm going to sell it but end up keeping it. All I can say is you have to use one to understand. The TV commercials are tilling in VERY soft ground. If there is one rock your tiller will find it and if it doesn't break your arms it will leap out of the ground like a submarine surfacing, you will then be chasing it while it runs across the ground on the rear tines. It's usually at this point you turn it loose and find out why the frt. bumper is necessary.

[oz in SC]

Well around here you would be VERY lucky(??) to find a pebble, let alone a rock.

We have ABSOLUTELY nothing but sandy soil(mostly sand).

Thanks for all the replies,we are going to try and get over there this week.

Here in Oklahoma we have a lot of clay soil which is what is in my gardens and no matter what tiller, rear tine or front tine, you have to periodically keep tilling your garden space or it will compact to cement. I usually try to till everything under in the fall just so the ground will not be so hard come spring. But once you get a ground broke the first time the troy tiller works like a charm even with one hand, even with rocks so long as they are no bigger than a golf ball. Just make sure you run the tiller over your garden bed often and it will handle like a charm.

Also, I forgot to mention that if breaking a new ground be sure to adjust the tines to the shallowest setting for the first round and then increase the setting a couple more inches deeper until you get all the way to 10" deep. If you have it set for 10" and try it on new ground then "Ditto" on what Beeman says about looking like a submarine breaking surface. The first day I tried using my new troy built tiller I must have run off 10 pounds of fat. Then I read the direction that came with the tiller and I haven't had any problems with using it since.