Hey, what's the best walk behind tiller?

[clarksvilleal]

Al, I'd like to see some pictures of your garden. Sounds super.

Here is another tiller besides the BCS. I think it has even more gusto. I've used this one.
Commercial industrial landscaping equipment - Tiller, Trenchers & More - Barreto Manufacturing, Inc. | La Grande, OR

RaT -

I looked into the Barreto on the web, because I heard it was the gold standard for Rental tillers. But I immediately eliminated it from consideration because it appears to be a single-purpose machine with no other uses other tnan as a tiller, and it only has a 20" tilling width. My 35 year old 5 HP Merry tiller can do a 26" width, although I can reduce it to 14" if the ground is really rock hard, but I almost never do. I could never get done with what I plan to do with only a 20" width. That's one reason I went for the BCS 853 rather than one of the smaller BCS units - I really wanted the 30" width. But with the BCS I also get a flail mower which is ideal for organic techniques such as killed mulch and cover-crop incorpation methods. I also plan to tow a chain harrow and lawn roller behind the 853, which will be useful for getting cover crops established after broadcasting the seed. And I get a bush-hog style mower for doing the really rough stuff in the back woods part of my property. And some day I may get a sickle bar mower and possibly the chipper (although I'd really rather get a bigger and heavier chipper if I can find one used in decent shape at a good price). And all with only one engine to maintain, and a lot less storage space to boot.

 

[_RaT_]

RaT -

I looked into the Barreto on the web, because I heard it was the gold standard for Rental tillers. But I immediately eliminated it from consideration because it appears to be a single-purpose machine with no other uses other tnan as a tiller, and it only has a 20" tilling width. My 35 year old 5 HP Merry tiller can do a 26" width, although I can reduce it to 14" if the ground is really rock hard, but I almost never do. I could never get done with what I plan to do with only a 20" width. That's one reason I went for the BCS 853 rather than one of the smaller BCS units - I really wanted the 30" width. But with the BCS I also get a flail mower which is ideal for organic techniques such as killed mulch and cover-crop incorpation methods. I also plan to tow a chain harrow and lawn roller behind the 853, which will be useful for getting cover crops established after broadcasting the seed. And I get a bush-hog style mower for doing the really rough stuff in the back woods part of my property. And some day I may get a sickle bar mower and possibly the chipper (although I'd really rather get a bigger and heavier chipper if I can find one used in decent shape at a good price). And all with only one engine to maintain, and a lot less storage space to boot.

Funny you mention the Merry tiller. I think the old Snapper I have sitting out back is basically a Merry tiller. I wonder if Snapper bought the company. My dad gave it to my mom for mothers day back in 1973. I fired it up and ran it a little bit when the chain inside must have broke. I have split the case once long ago and replaced the chain. There must be 50 bolts holding those two halves together. The tines are in great shape, second or third set but I'm thinking about tossing it. For a front end tine tiller, I thought it did a great job.

 

[milkman]

Wish me luck. I hope the 853 is as good as I think it is, based on all of the reviews and forum posts .

I think you'll be well served by the 853, and if you find that the 30" tiller is too wide, it will adjust down, I have the 26" and after the veggies get up and growing, it's plenty wide. Of course we want pictures, lots of pictures, help keep the Two Wheel tractor section alive.
I wonder what you will use the individual wheel brakes for, did you get a trailer or sulky? My 735 has brakes and even with the trailer, I don't use them that much, when I use the mower and sulky, they come in handy for turning, yours will probably work good with the bursh mower come to think of it.
Joel is about 2hrs from me and I would like to go spend the day there and see some of his equipment. Can't wait to see the pictures.

 

[Bird]

Yep, you guys are going for the big tillers and I just ordered a Mantis 2 cycle tiller today.

 

[hudlow]

In 2001, Tryobilt went bankrupt and MTD later bought the rights to the tillers, lawn vacs, and perhaps some other items, including the name... They did not buy the chippers for some reason, and those are now total orphans that aren't supported by anyone other than the aftermarket, used parts, old stock, etc.

Four years post-Port, Garden Way bankrupt - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

Since MTD bought them, you now see MTD mowers with the Troybilt name on them, in addition to all kinds of other L&G equipment. You also see one series
of tillers, at least, that are obviously not Troybilt, even though that have that name on them. It appears the Pony and Horse models are still Troybilt, though...

Where they are actually manufactured, I have no idea -- as far as I can tell the plant in Troy, NY, closed however...

Thanks,

I was wondering about my old Horse.

It's an early 90's model with the Kohler motor. Sometimes I wish I'd bought a size smaller......

hud

 

[_RaT_]

The TORO Dingo has a tilling width of 40"

Toro - Professional Contractor Compact Utility Attachments

 

[BrianW]

Yep, you guys are going for the big tillers and I just ordered a Mantis 2 cycle tiller today.

Love mine! It is an amazing little machine.

 

[Bird]

Brian, I ordered the aerator/dethatcher combo with mine. Have you used those or other attachments? And I ordered a "slightly used, completely reconditioned" one with the same warranty as the new ones.

 

[RickO]

I agree with those who mentioned the Older TB Horse. I bought one a couple years ago and was just amazed at the dif. between it and other rear and front tine tillers I have used. It Will bust sod, do hard pack, plow snow (they have snow blades), plow a furrow (they have single bottom plows). It is truly in another class as a tiller. I picked mine up used for $500. It has the 7hp Kohler I believe. Starts first or second pull.

You can still get them used - in fact there was one sitting by the road for sale for several weeks on my way to work. Not sure what they wanted. If your interested, the next time I go by I'll stop and ask. It was in decent shape.

My dad bought the newer TB, from Lowes, but it was a lighter model and I couldn't even stand to use the thing. It definately won't bust sod.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Dargo, I know you can buy what you want cuz you saved all that money on that Harbor Freght Claw hammer! So here's my story and 2 cents. I was like you skeptical over the small tillers. Wanted a big one for my tractor. TxDon bought a big one and I wanted to wait a while to hear his comments. In the meantime last year my brother calls and tells me he's bringing me his tiller. Not knowing what he had I just waited until he got here. I was halfway expecting a little Tanaka or Mantis Weed hopper or whatever. Anyway it was a like new front tined 24" Craftsman and you know what they say about looking a gift horse in the mouth...My garden is an evolving thing about 16 x 40, mostly weeds, not perpetual(summer only), needs compost and soil amending, so on so forth. I have a 4 shank pasture renovator I used to break up the hard clay soil first. I guess I made about 4 passes over each width. It cuts about 10-12" deep. Did great. Took 10-15 minutes. Then I fired up the small tiller to break up the soil into finer clods.

Initial tilling
1)round up 2-3 weeks in advance, tangled vegetation slows down tine cutting action.
2)wait 2 -3 days after a soaking rain
3)Either break new ground with your big tiller or other implement if you can or take smaller depth of cuts (bites) with walk behind and go back over deeper.
4)throw in some cow manure to till in
5)plant rows far enough apart to till weeds between rows. About 4' for tomatoes or similar stuff.

I highly stress as lightweight tiller as possible so you can manhandle it between rows of garden and shift it side to side to get as many weeds as possible close to your plants. I can't see most women doing this unless they are fairly strong and in good shape. The smaller Mantis type are good for weeding but not much else. My tiller is a decent middle ground able to till intially and for weeding a garden. I've put maybe 40 hours on it and for most of the year it sits parked under a lean to emptied of fuel. I think TxDon realizes that the big 3pt tiller is great for initial tilling and large plots but useless for weeding. I got mine for free so I can't gripe but I think a new one at Sears is around $300-350 ???