Tiller "DARK HORSE" Tillers

Farmwithjunk · Jul 29, 2008

OK...Bits and pieces of info. I talked to the TSC store manager. (NOT the asst. mgr. who I depend on for more accurate info) He tells my the DARK HORSE product line is Chinese made, licensed King Kutter knock offs. They now have DARK HORSE box blades, dirt scoops, rear blades, subsoilers, rear booms, and soon a 5' and 6' rotary cutter in addition to the tillers. Only size available SO FAR is the 6', but 4' and 5' soon to follow.

TSC is experimenting with this "new brand" as a way of boosting sales by offering the lowest possible price on essentially the same item. (in the words of that store mgr.)

The company producing the DARK HORSE is Chinese. The mgr. said he THINKS the brand is "Kwangsi" but not 100% positive. Google search produces nothing on that brand name. Part #'s in the part manuals are exact same sequence and description as King Kutter part #'s and parts are interchangable. From outward appearances, quality seems to be about the same. The KKII tillers are by far the best product KK markets IMHO.

I'll keep looking for any further info.

shvl73 · Jul 29, 2008

No gray tillers in the Merrimack or the Milford, NH store, just the standard yellow KK tillers.

SuperCobra · Jul 29, 2008

Our TSC has the Dark Horse BB. Quality looks the same as the Land Master BB I just broke in half.

Cyberroc · Jul 29, 2008

I was able to check one of our stores, nada. I have been trying to check the TSC site, however it seems to be down for me all day.

Strange... They did have some KK II Tillers..

*edit* Called other TSC, they have never heard of them, however did state that if they are going to get some, best chance would be on next weeks Gate Truck... Guess I have time to save...

trkbldr · Aug 4, 2008

Farmswithjunk, I was at the Tractor Supply in Shelbyville Saturday and those Dark Horse tillers caught my eye also. If my memory is correct, $1749.00 for the KK2, $1299.00 for the Dark Horse (6 foot). I see no difference in the two. There was a label on the Dark Horse that said made in China for distribution by Tractor Supply. They also had Dark Horse bush hogs and box blades that were clones of their KK counterparts, also at considerable savings. I am definetly interested and any further info you could get from your source would be greatly appreciated. I really don't want to be the "guinea pig"

and hope somebody buys one real soon and can give a positive review on the Dark Horse.

Farmwithjunk · Aug 4, 2008

trkbldr said:
Farmswithjunk, I was at the Tractor Supply in Shelbyville Saturday and those Dark Horse tillers caught my eye also. If my memory is correct, $1749.00 for the KK2, $1299.00 for the Dark Horse (6 foot). I see no difference in the two. There was a label on the Dark Horse that said made in China for distribution by Tractor Supply. They also had Dark Horse bush hogs and box blades that were clones of their KK counterparts, also at considerable savings. I am definetly interested and any further info you could get from your source would be greatly appreciated. I really don't want to be the "guinea pig" and hope somebody buys one real soon and can give a positive review on the Dark Horse.

I'm considering taking the plunge! My KKII is 7-1/2 years old. It is almost ready for a second set of tines. I've used this poor thing a BUNCH. A neighbor priced a new one, then offered me $1000, then later $1100 for mine. I MIGHT just sell it to him and buy a new DARK HORSE/Clone of KKII tiller for $199 difference. By the time I pay freight on a complete set of tines, I'll spend that much. This way I get "new". I don't use my tiller nearly as much now as I used to. Just an acre of garden every spring nowdays.

That TSC is Shelbyville should be the model for ALL TSC stores. They run that one like an old fashioned farm supply store. They actually HELP the customers.

Glowplug · Aug 4, 2008

I haven't seen these new tillers at either of the new two TSC stores within 12 miles of my place (in Georgetown and Paris, KY). If you find out if they have 7 footers please let me know. If I could get a 7 footer for around $1500-1600 that would be great. I know they don't have a KKII 7-footer but if they did it would likely be around 2-grand. The best I can do now is get a CCM 7-footer for $2700.

Skyco · Aug 11, 2008

Didn't see any tillers but lots of Dark Horse box blades, rear blades, and rotary cutters at the Lexington SC store this morning. They had stickers saying they were distributed by Homier

Aren't they one of the companies that used to go around with a truck selling out the back in parking lots?

Actually the stuff looked pretty good very slight differences from KK on the rear blades I compared. The KK had a round brace where the Dark Horse had a square tube brace, honestly the square tube looked more stout.. I also noticed the dark blue paint was already fading, sort of like the red Harbor Freight stuff that turns pink in no time outdoors.....

Baranx4 · Aug 23, 2008

Has anyone taken the dark horse plung yet? I'm surprised that our local tractor supply store didn't have one when I was there 2 weeks ago since it was a new store and had opened a few days before.