old troy-bilt horse....info?

[comfortablynumb]

I destroyed my old tiller digging a ditch the other day, and my neighbor just happen to have this old dinosaur in his garage...

from online searching I can tell it is a 70's made HORSE model troy built. It has a 6 HP techumseh engine on it (no carb, no biggie I can get one).

it looks sorta like this, but with a different engine;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...EBWA%3AIT&rd=1

on study of the pics its is ecaxtly like THIS;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...397592337&rd=1


NOW... having never owned a troy bilt dinosaur, other than "it tills" I dunno what else it can do. Ive seen some old parts online like a dozer blade for it and a wagon for the back ect. Now, can you use this like a "gravely" type walk behind thing and NOT have the tines running? Can you remove the tiller part and use it as a "puller/pusher" ?

I'm not even real sure how to shift the old thing... I have a while yet I have to dig up a carb. the engine has good compression, he said it ran good when he parked it and he "has the new carb someplace" (no, I dont plan on getting it from him). Another neighbor says he is trustworthy, so I will give him the benifit of the doubt.

As for engines, my brother and I have been debating on how the thing is bolted on there, I say most likely it can take any engine, and indeed I have tonight seen several old horse models with different engines old and new mounted on em. Will any engine of that size bolt on or does it have to be "compatable" (with an engine case with mount holes made for a trybilt?)

I really need a manual... If any of ya have one you can photocopy for me I'd gladly pay the shipping for it.

old parts catalogs i found online show it using a bulldozer blade in front and that sure would be handy but I cant figure out where they mount the darn thing if I had one...

Any help/advice on this old dinosaur?

I paid 200 bucks for it, because its all cast iron, he said he rebuilt the gearbox with new gears and the techumseh engine ( a cast iron XL one) seems in good shape... I figure with a minimum of parts I can have it running again.

Thats where you nice people come in... :haha:

Help!

(dammit these things wiegh a ton)

[I have the exact tiller that you are talking about. I bought mine new in 1983. I have just replaced the engine with a 51/2 Hp briggs engine. The only reason I changed to Briggs is that is the only one available locally when I went to get one. Paid $ 209.00 at TSC for the new engine. I have no complaints with these tillers. I garden about 3/4 acres and do it all with the Troy BUilt. Great machines. From what I have heard you are better off with this one than a new one. I have been told that they have been bought out by MTD and the quality is not near as good. If you take care of this tiller it will last you a lifetime.
Mike

[dale]

One the Troy bilt Horse you can put other makes of engines on them and they will bolt to the same mounting holes.. But here is the difference... The Troy Bilt uses one inch shafts coming out of the engine for the pulleys for the belts to run on.. So you have to watch out for that.. Most engines come with a 3/4 inch shaft. so you will have to be aware of that.

The older ones are tough and to put them in gear is easy.

MTD now owns Troy Bilt. Modern Tool and Die

You can download a PDF owners manual for a troy bilt free at this website

http://www.troybilt.com/manuals.jsp
dale

[Jan in CO]

We have tried and tried to download a manual at that site, but it only goes half way and stops. A call to the 800 number got the response that they are only an MTD site, and don't handle troybilt!! Still haven't gotten our horse running, but loved it before hubby left the gas in it year before last, and now it won't start at all! Good luck with it! Jan in Co

[Beeman]

I've got the same tiller with the 6 hp Tecumseh engine.
I'll place a large wager that it doesn't have an engine gaurd/bumper. Let's just say I know this because I too have replaced a carb on my tiller. And then installed the bumper.
Northern Hydraulics sells replacement engines that will bolt right on your tiller. Search the net for parts and manuals. Troy-bilt went bust and MTD bought it.

[dale anne]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

I destroyed my old tiller digging a ditch the other day, and my neighbor just happen to have this old dinosaur in his garage...

from online searching I can tell it is a 70's made HORSE model troy built. It has a 6 HP techumseh engine on it (no carb, no biggie I can get one).

it looks sorta like this, but with a different engine;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...EBWA%3AIT&rd=1

on study of the pics its is ecaxtly like THIS;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...397592337&rd=1


NOW... having never owned a troy bilt dinosaur, other than "it tills" I dunno what else it can do. Ive seen some old parts online like a dozer blade for it and a wagon for the back ect. Now, can you use this like a "gravely" type walk behind thing and NOT have the tines running? Can you remove the tiller part and use it as a "puller/pusher" ?

I'm not even real sure how to shift the old thing... I have a while yet I have to dig up a carb. the engine has good compression, he said it ran good when he parked it and he "has the new carb someplace" (no, I dont plan on getting it from him). Another neighbor says he is trustworthy, so I will give him the benifit of the doubt.

As for engines, my brother and I have been debating on how the thing is bolted on there, I say most likely it can take any engine, and indeed I have tonight seen several old horse models with different engines old and new mounted on em. Will any engine of that size bolt on or does it have to be "compatable" (with an engine case with mount holes made for a trybilt?)

I really need a manual... If any of ya have one you can photocopy for me I'd gladly pay the shipping for it.

old parts catalogs i found online show it using a bulldozer blade in front and that sure would be handy but I cant figure out where they mount the darn thing if I had one...

Any help/advice on this old dinosaur?

I paid 200 bucks for it, because its all cast iron, he said he rebuilt the gearbox with new gears and the techumseh engine ( a cast iron XL one) seems in good shape... I figure with a minimum of parts I can have it running again.

Thats where you nice people come in... :haha:

Help!

(dammit these things wiegh a ton)

hubby said you can try going to troybilt.com...you might be able to get the manual on line....hope this helps

[HermitJohn]

The best Troy horse had the Kohler all cast iron 8hp engine. But if you have good compression on your Tecumseh just put on another carb. In my experience, the only hassle with Tecumseh was continual adjustments and aluminum ones didnt last any longer than Briggs. I swear I ran into couple cast iron 7hp Tecumsehs that I had to set carb one way to start/run cold and another to run well hot (back when carbs were adjustable). Never sure why, not clogged air filter and I tried rebuilding carbs. Briggs didnt take all the fiddling, but life was not super long unless you got the commerial version. Any 6 to 8hp engine should work. I like Honda and older all cast iron Kohler and I guess commercial version Briggs if cheap enough. Robin and Kawasaki engines good also but pricey and rare. Onans good but rare. Kubota makes some small equipment gas engines, cant remember what they call them. They dont go under Kubota name. Imagine they are good. There are some China clones of Honda design. Some I guess are suppose to be good as a Honda, some are not. You can however get one far cheaper than a true Honda and parts are interchangable with Honda. You pays your money and takes your chances. If you can afford it, buy the Honda, you wont regret it assuming you actually change oil frequently in your small engines and dont leave gas setting to gum things up. If you just add oil and treat small engine as throw away, get a Briggs.

[comfortablynumb]

never trust your neighbors...

the engines compression is 47... ok for a minibike (maybe) not something that take a load... oh and the oil was fill of silver dust.. SURE... it runs fine.

I got really PO'ed looking for a decent engine and gave up, as i didnt feel like being lied to again, and bought a NEW 5.5 (all I could afford at the time, and my garden is already tilled it just needs "weeded"). If it took a 6 originally a 5.5 B&S isnt that far off.

ah what a nice feeling to start on a half of a first pull... If I babay this one it may last a few yrs or till I find a nice 8 HP in good shape.

actually it kicks arse with the 5.5

other than the engine fiasco its a great toy!

no reverse wheel, its a 39 buck part... another days investment.

bet it will work better with sharp tines... I'm happy. It ended up a 500 buck tiller, and HD sells new troys for 575... but they are junk.

and I noticed right off why a bumper is a must.

you learn stuff every day.