6 ft Country Way Tiller

[TractorGuy]

I bought a 6 Ft Country Way Tiller from Rural King this week. This is their cheap "made in china" tiller. I think they may be phasing these out in favor of the King Kutter they have rebranded with their name on it. This one was $1500 before tax. It looks exactly like the no name "made in china" tiller sold by Agri Supply. Agri Supply stocks parts. The only reason I bought it from Rural King was because Rural King sold it for $300 cheaper. Agri Supply is about an hour and a half from me and this Rural King was a 3 hour drive so it added 3 hours round trip to my pick up. I'll save $100 per hour less a little gas any day.

When I picked it up the guy told me it was all serviced and ready to work. This was the furthest thing from the truth. They had put bolts in the 3 pt brackets and some oil in the gearboxes but no way it was ready to go to work. None of the bolts they installed were tight. The tiller gearbox was over filled. The PTO gearbox was under filled. Both vent plugs were stuck shut. The right side bearing had not been greased. The slip clutch on the driveshaft was tightened all the way tight and rusted together and the u-joints and safety cover had not been greased.

I don't know if any of this stuff would have been serviced properly from any other dealer. Probably not and i would never put anything like this in service without checking everything for myself even if it was.

I have only run it a short time but first impressions are it will do what i want done without breaking the bank.

This is a video of my walk around and comments.
Country Way Tiller Review Part 1 - YouTube

This is a video of it in action.
Country Way Tiller Review Part 2 - YouTube

 

[seville009]

i think in general it’s a good idea to go around new equipment and check as much as you can just as you did, even if you bought it from a dealer. Re-check bolts and such after using it a few times too.

Purchased a zero turn mower from a dealer a few years back. Had them do the annual servicing. Probably the third year, they charged me about $300 because a new guy did the servicing and said the deck wasn’t set up properly. Told them that the proper set up should’ve been done when I paid them for the mower. Didn’t pay it; never took it back again.

 

[Mat4644]

I bought the 48 inch Country Way tiller when they first came out for $899. Looks like an exact copy of the older King Kutters. I wonder how much of the King Kutter is Chinese made? Came filled with oil but many loose bolts. Good heavy duty tiller for small tractor. Much better tiller than the more expensive Befco it replaced. Estimated over 12 acres in deer plots, landscaping and garden tilled and zero problems.

 

[TractorGuy]

I ran into one other miscue on their part. They somehow manged to miss one of the loops when threading the rear flap hinge rod. I pulled up a root that caught in it and bent the rod. One of the tines was catching as it turned but luckily didn't grab it and wrap it around the shaft. I was actually able to straighten it enough to get the rod out, straighten it in the vise, and thread it back through properly.

Other than needing special attention to sort it out it has worked great. The last time I ran it I pulled up a pile of lighter knots and no damage occurred to the tiller.

 

[TractorGuy]

Just got around to using this. After the initial setup and first try I parked it out by the fence.

I made a couple laps around the field today and decided I should recheck the gear boxes. The PTO gearbox was about two inches deep in milky mud and the side gearbox was over filled again.

I assume the output seal in the PTO gearbox is leaking and causing the side gearbox to become overfilled. The manual says to fill the PTO gearbox to 1/2 full which would be 3 inches deep. I imagine the two inches deep will be good enough if it stays that full and doesn't get water in it again. Meanwhile I guess I will have to store this thing in the barn but at least I have room for it there.

I called Rural King and asked about the warranty. The guy said he thought it was a year but so far they haven't called me back to confirm. If I wanted it fixed under warranty he said I will have to take it to a RK tractor dealer. The closest one is about two hours away.

The parts list in the manual just has brief descriptions like "double lip seal". No sizes or part numbers. I suppose the parts are going to be interchangeable but so far all the chinese tillers I look up have the same brief parts detail which is useless for ordering repair parts.