Its hard to choose....

[Ncage1974]

Hey guys, i have been trying to find a used old type toro style tiller on ebay/craigslist for the past 4 months. Haven't had the best luck. I'm to the point where i need a tiller and i can't wait.

I have a relatively small garden compared to most of you i'm sure. Its about 20x12. I'm only going to use the tiller probably twice a year. In the spring and in the fall. It seems like 99% percent of the consumer grade tillers these days are made by MTD: Troy Built, Polan, Huskavarna, Cub Cadet, Crafstman...ect. So i would think these things are almost identical but just rebranded.

I have pretty much lowes & sears locally. I was looking at the following unit:
Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

The thing that really scares me is the numerous reports about transmission problems. I would think since all the mtd units are rebranded you would hear the same things about huskavarna, Cub Cadet, ect...that you would hear the same thing about the other units but i've only heard it about it about sears. Apparently it hasn't been fixed also because ive heard reports all the way back to 2005 and still see reports recently about the same problem.

Are these reports the norm? I don't want to pay $700 for something thats going to be nothing but problems. And of course i can't afford to pay $1000+ on one of the high end units. Especially for the size of my garden it would be overkill.

I also looked at these two units:
Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

Shop Husqvarna 14" 9.0-Torque Rear Tine Tiller at Lowes.com

Which don't seem to be as heavy duty as the unit i linked above but have counter rotating times (don't know if i need that or not).

 

[Angelus]

I know you said you did not want to spend $1000+ on a tiller. But since you are considering spending about $700 on a single-purpose machine, you might want to consider something like an old BCS walk-behind tractor. At Earth Tools - Walk-Behind Tractors - (502) 484-3988, on their bulletin board, there is a used BCS 735 walk-behind tractor with tiller implement for sale for $1200. It is an old model, but these things are really built to last, and the Earth Tools guys provide great support.

You can buy it for the tiller to use now, and, if you can think of other uses, it will also accept all the garden implements available for that type of tractor, like a chipper, a mower, or a rotary plow. Much more economical that buying a single-purpose machine, in my opinion.

 

[Ncage1974]

I know you said you did not want to spend $1000+ on a tiller. But since you are considering spending about $700 on a single-purpose machine, you might want to consider something like an old BCS walk-behind tractor. At Earth Tools - Walk-Behind Tractors - (502) 484-3988, on their bulletin board, there is a used BCS 735 walk-behind tractor with tiller implement for sale for $1200. It is an old model, but these things are really built to last, and the Earth Tools guys provide great support.

You can buy it for the tiller to use now, and, if you can think of other uses, it will also accept all the garden implements available for that type of tractor, like a chipper, a mower, or a rotary plow. Much more economical that buying a single-purpose machine, in my opinion.

Thanks for replying but its not really an option. My wife would kill me if i would spend that much. Its hard for her to agree with the possible $700 i might spend. I thought i hit a lucky streak tonight. I have this service which emails me as soon as something is posted with "tiller" in my area. Most of the emails i get aren't relevent. Tonight i got a perfect match:
http://springfieldil.craigslist.org/grd/2059504958.html

It was $110 for a rear tine tiller so of course i jumped and called the guy immediately. Someone had already beat me . The guy said within 10 minutes of posted someone had already called him and told him he would pick it up in 2 hours. Oh well i guess.....

 

[Ncage1974]

Well hopefully i have luck. I just got the following tiller:
Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

I was also considering the following tiller:
Shop Husqvarna 14" 9.0-Torque Rear Tine Tiller at Lowes.com

But the sears unit is bigger by a little bit and i got a total of about 15% in discounts. Since they are both made my mtd i decided to go the sears route. Also this unit doesn't appear to have any transmissions issues. The one that seems to have the issues seems to be this one:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07129932000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2

 

[mojoinco]

You can find Troybilt tillers pretty regular on Craigslist. Prices are all over the board. The Horse is the traditional model (and largest). Easy to work on.

I had a Pony, not positively impressed. Got Dad's old early 70's Horse (G'Dad's old machine) and re-engined it. Ahh, back to a good tiller.

The rear tine Troy Bilt machines are NOT the generic MTD models.

Rear tine tillers are best when used on long/narrow gardens with open ends for turning around. Pretty easy to do, but takes a bit to 'get a rhthym' (sp) as Cash would say.

The Pony was just too narrow and light. They do make a reverse direction tines model. That I would be interested in seeing work. That way the tines don't throw you forward as they grab.

 

[skipmarcy]

I've had my Craftsman 5 hp rear tine tiller for 20 years now - the new ones I've seen in several brands have the exact same transmission, I think Sears has a 6 hp engine on them now. The only trans. problem I've ever had was when I turned-up a full sized 12" concrete block that was fully buried in a new garden spot I was doing about 15 years ago - it broke one or two teeth off of one of the main gears (it brought that block completely up out of the ground though !!). I bought the parts from Sears and rebuilt the trans and have been using the tiller ever since and our gardens are fairly good-size. My house garden is 50'x100' and I till it several times a year between rows. I also have a 100'x200' cash garden now too. Up until last year when I bought my tiller for the tractor, I tilled the whole garden with it a few times a year. I've used that tiller enough over the years to go thru 2 sets of tines - I'm on my third set now. If you buy used, make sure the tines are still relatively square on the business ends - when they get shaped like a knife blade they are worn-out and won't till worth a crap. If they are worn, be sure to price tines - they can get pricy for some models/brands. My 5' Kubota tiller I bought used last fall had to have tines and Kubota wanted over $600 for a set !!! Luckily my Co-op found aftermarket for about $300.

 

[Ncage1974]

Thanks for replying but its not really an option. My wife would kill me if i would spend that much. Its hard for her to agree with the possible $700 i might spend. I thought i hit a lucky streak tonight. I have this service which emails me as soon as something is posted with "tiller" in my area. Most of the emails i get aren't relevent. Tonight i got a perfect match:
http://springfieldil.craigslist.org/grd/2059504958.html

It was $110 for a rear tine tiller so of course i jumped and called the guy immediately. Someone had already beat me . The guy said within 10 minutes of posted someone had already called him and told him he would pick it up in 2 hours. Oh well i guess.....

Well i put it together today and tilled my garden. So far i'm extremely happy. Granted i'm used to a REALLY OLD (Made my Montgomery wards if that tells you) front tine tiller that was probably a good 20 years old. Anyways the feel of the rear tine and my front time was night and day. I wanted to test out breaking up new ground so i went to the edges to see how it would go. Well it was almost effortless. I couldn't even break up ground with my older tiller without turning the ground over first and then leaving it all winter (freeze/thaw) so it would loosen the soil a bit. Even then it beat me to death when i was tilling.

The transmission problems seem to be for people who hit big rocks when they are tilling. I won't ever have that issue. We don't have rocky soil where i live. So like i said so far extremely happy.