craftsman tillers any good?

[greenthumb]

I was at our local sears store and they have a year end clearance on a 17 inch rear tine tiller with a honda 5 h.p. engine for 499.00 I need a new tiller since the 24 year old j.d. has move on and I can't get a new engine for it. it seemed like a good price as I have seen the same size at the two big box hardware stores for 600 or 700 with maybe one more horspower. Anyone happy/unhappy with thier craftsman tillers

thanks

 

[Nasty135]

green, I have a craftsman 17"rear tine tiller that I bought 3 or 4 years ago for $599 or close to it. Now it depends on how big your garden will be as to if it will be good for you or not.
My gardens are 35'x20' and 50'x25' approximately.I would recommend tilling as deep as you can on your first pass because if a second pass is required you won't have the traction you need because your now tilling over loose soil. My opinion on the craftsman at this point is it doesn't have enough weight to get the traction needed for an easy second pass.Now when tilling that much not that its alot just that it wants to spin the tires and to keep it moving you must gently lift up on the handle to put more weight on the tires more than on the tiller so it will keep pulling through,Also make sure you get the one with the largest tires to aid in traction.
If your going to do a major garden you may want to spend the $2200. for a bolens or something bigger and heavier.
Mine is plenty good for what I do but if I had a huge garden I would buy a tiller for my tractor for $1200 or so and save the 17" for cultivating or planting flowers for the wife /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[hockeyhead]

I was at lowes Sunday morning and noticed a 17" rear tine troybuilt called a "tuffy" reduced to $499. Might want to compare or it might be the same tiller.

 

[Bird]

I had a Craftsman with the counterrotating tines. It was the biggest, most expensive one the store had in '95 and I liked it, but I only kept it a couple of years and sold it to a neighbor after I bought a tiller for the tractor.

 

[SageBrush]

So far, our 7 hp craftsman is doing fine. For $600 on sale, its not a bad deal. We have the red top of the line model. Thats the only one that has the tine direction option. It makes a big difference when breaking up hard ground. The forward and reverse counter rotating tines are a must have for me. I could not find any thing close in price with the same features and hp.

 

[frank_f15]

I DON'T REALLY KNOW ABOUT THE CRAFTSMAN TILLERS, but i have had very good sevice out of my GT. i guess a lot depends on how hard u are going to work it.