Troy-Bilt Horse ID

[2manyrocks]

A bit more Troy Bilt history here: The Garden Of Oz . The author of this article says Troy Bilt is a descendant of the Watco Roto-ette tiller of 1937. He gives a bit more information on Garden Way and what happened later to some of the people in the company, including Dick Raymond.

Two other articles briefly discuss the closing of the Troy Bilt plant and Troy Bilt's 2001 bankruptcy.

This article Four years post-Port, Garden Way bankrupt - The Business Journal of Milwaukee: appears to say that Garden Way bought Bolens, headquartered in Port Washington, Wisconsin, in 1987. By 1997, Garden Way was reportedly having financial trouble, but no reasons were given in the article. In 1999, they got a government grant to keep their plant in NY. They filed chapter 11 in July, 2001.

Another article gives little more detail. Garden Way to close, lay off 550 - The Business Review (Albany): The article quotes from a prepared statement from Garden Way that a slowing economy and changes in consumer spending patterns " made further profitability improvements difficult to achieve."

The Troy Bilt tiller line was then sold to MTD in Ohio from the bankruptcy estate.

 

[WayneB]

Interesting reads! Thanks for posting them. As for calling tillers "Big Red", most of my gardening friends refer to their tiller as "Horse"

Wayne

 

[2manyrocks]

The demise of Garden Way is still hard to swallow for us loyal Troy Bilt tiller owners.

Part of me wonders if they'd have made it if they had stayed a custom mail order maker of tillers (they made them when a customer ordered them) like they were when I bought mine or whether their purchase of Bolens and their expansion into retail sales at dealers contributed to them not being able to make it.

 

[WayneB]

I think that the one belt -two belt thing has been discussed here in another thread before. Pictures are always good.

Before I ask a question I do as much research, searching, that is feasible. In this case, several hours. I did not think it was rude nor ignorant to ask this question, nor to much to have it answered or at least to paste in the thread where the answer would be available.

I do not have a camera available to take a picture at this moment. I thought that a description of what I have, a 79 Horse, would be adequate for experienced folks that might know.

Two simple questions:

1. Does a B&S use 2 belts, or does it use a pulley system that is more or less stepped to control output speed of the shaft, fast and slow.

2. Does a 79 Horse have a Tines/PTO clutch lever to disengage or engage the PTO.

Thank you for your time and consideration........I find that my reply is perhaps rude, but actually I got offended and answered in kind. This is a far different reaction than I have become used to on this forum. Neighborly, kind, patient, and considerate....I don't just post questions/statements to increase my thread count.....Thanks for the help.......God bless.......Dennis

Iam not sure if these pictures will help anyone, but I thought I would give it a try. When they introduced the PTO model it was because they were also marketing additional equipment that could be used with the Troybilt tractor. One was an AC generator, which would be connected to the PTO assembly. Not sure if they sold any or not? Another item they offered was a 15-ton wood splitter. A few of those were around, although I never used one. They also had an Schrader that ran off from the PTO connection.

Most people I know that had Troybilt wanted them for the garden tilling.

My Tiller is a 1981 and it was from the first build of the PTO style tillers. It has a single belt pulley system with two slots on the pulleys. By changing the position of the belt I get two speeds out of the drive system. There is also a shift level that gives me slow (tilling speed) and fast (for moving speed). I know some people use the fast speed for tilling, but I cannot run that fast anymore.

The PTO style tillers have a lever on the left hand side of the transmission housing to engage or disengage the tines.


This picture shows this lever

Other pictures of interest

This picture shows the tine assembly removed from the tiller. Note the location of the pto connection and you will see there are two swing out bolts that hold the tine assemlby on. The PTO models have a transmission case that is full of fluid and then there is a separate oil reserve just for the tine assemlby. The older models have a fixed tine assembly and the oil is feed into the tine unit via the transmission housing.

This is a BS 6 hp with electric start. At one time Troybilt had three or four different motors they offered with the tillers to meet the customers price and needs.

Set of tines that seem to be in fair shape.

Older Troybilt Horse with attached tine assembly. You can see the connection to the tine assembly. The two straight bars connect to the tine assemlby and is not a PTO model.

 

[2manyrocks]

Thanks for posting the picture of your PTO model Horse. If those are current pictures, it still looks great. Even the tines look good.

I threw out my Troy Bilt sales brochures some time ago, and never thought I'd see a picture of a PTO model again.

For some reason, I thought the PTO model came out later than 1981. I don't remember knowing that you could even get a PTO until after I bought mine in 1982, but then there are lots of things I don't remember right.

I got my manual out to see if it said anything about the PTO model, but the PTO model must have been covered in its own manual.

I did notice something I had overlooked about the 4 speed model Horse. Changing the belt position also increases the tine speed.

 

[WayneB]

I have to say I am totally wrong and actually purchased my tiller in 1982. It is a memory problem, blame it on age I guess!

My manual is brown in color and has four pictures on the front, one of a guy changing oil a woman running the tiller with one hand, a younger guy running the tiller with one hand and and Dean Leith harvesting the fruit of someone's labor. (I am pretty sure he was not the gardener.)

On the back page is a picture of Dick Raymond tilling his garden up in Vermont. I know that is a picture of Dick and his garden.

These are not my troybilt, just some off the internet. Mostly it is pointing out the PTO model and showing people the shifting lever for that. Also the older style (yet pretty new) horse without the PTO capabillities.

As for the tines I thought for guys going out and looking at tillers this is what one would like them to look like. Some of the tillers I have looked at the tines were completely worn and totally pointed! The seller was saying "I think my DAD changed them last year"? Let the buyer beware!

The picture of the tiller with the battery (electric start) is an older model without the PTO option so it would be pre 1981 I would think. Again I am not sure if Troybilt stopped building the other model when they introduced the PTO Horse.

So I hope I did not mislead anyone. I guess my thoughts were if people saw pictures of the old horse models it might help them a bit in figuring out what they have.

Wayne

 

[DennisArrow]

Wayne........THANKS for the research........I have the one belt 2 pulley, NON-disconnect PTO, electric start, and 8 HP B&S model.......My serial number stamped on the right side top of the transmission housing is for sure.......083 58..........any ideas of when it was manufactured?????????

Replacing the tines made a huge difference in how the machine works. Yes, looking at the pointy things one would not really realize how worn they are......BUT THEY are........The manual shows a pic of good tines being about 3 inches apart at the gap and worn ones being 5 to 6 inches.........

What to do with the old tines???......Make some kind of ninja throwing weapon out of them????????

Thanks again for the help GUYS......Dennis

 

[WayneB]

Hi Dennis,

The only thing I can tell you are that your tiller was built after 1971 because the serial number is engraved on the right hand side of the transmission housing. How much after I am not sure. The serial number sequence for the Troybilt tillers really don't seem to have any date association. If Garden Way was still running the show I am absolutely sure one of the office women could take your serial number and tell you the day, month, and year it was produced and who assembled it.

Not sure if the new owners have that ability or would even care to check and see for us.

The BS engines are fine and work great on the Troybilt horse tillers. Having electric start is certainly a luxury item. With my tiller pull starting it has never really been a problem.

I make it sound as if I have one of the great machines with no problems, trust me I have had my share, mostly caused by me, but troubles anyway.

Three items I think everyone should pay close attention to are:

1. Tines: Once they start wearing down the tillers ability to turn the soil properly really degrades quickly

2 The drive belt wear: Once it starts slipping it is wise to do an adjustment immediately, as it will cause the belt to wear rapidly. I maintain a belt on hand and as soon as I replace it I buy a replacement.

3 The reverse disk: I have replaced my several times over the years. I guess I am hard on them, but there is nothing worse than not being able to back the tiller out of a bad spot.

Other things are to keep an eye on the tine assembly for any signs of oil leaking.

Check the crank case oil every spring and often during the season. I usually will change it in the spring before I start using the tiller. Although the past couple years all I did was check it because it hasn't been used too much. I have found that water seems to get into the crankcase and if I notice the oil has a milky color to it I go ahead and change it out.

Not every time, but most of the time I will wash off the tine assembly after tilling to get the dirt and weeds that they have picked up.

I think the jury is still out on how best to handle the gas situation in the fall and winterizing of the equipment. Here in the north we know it is going to get really cold and when I put the yard items up for the winter I usually run them out of gas in the carburetor and then add stable to the tank and leave the gas in. I will pull the spark plus and spray into the cylinder some WD-40 then screw the spark plug back in.

Wonder what other people do with their engines for winterizing?

 

[rec3490]

Well, I've done a search here and found several places to look, but. We just acquired an older Troy-Bilt Horse with a 7HP Kohler K161T engine. The thing runs and works great. It has the 2 belts. I have found both the owners and service manual for the engine, but I can't find any model or serial numbers on the tiller itself. I've looked all over the castings and there aren't any numbers stamped anywhere. The serial number from the engine indicates it is a 1979. Also, the labels on the tiller shroud look different from all the others I've seen. It doesn't say Horse on it anywhere. It does say Garden-Way...

Any ideas?

Where did you find the manuals..I just bought the exact same tiller. Runs and works great but I want to have the manuals just in case.
Bob

 

[honorbound]

View attachment TroySN.pdf

A list of serial numbers and dates. I have a larger list that is to large to upload. Email me and I will send them to you.