So, what's the problem with Troy-Bilt tillers?

PA hayseed · Jul 13, 2007

I have owned a little 5hp troy tiller for about 5 years now. The only problem I have had with it is that the tires will no longer hold air. No holes in them, they just keep unsealing at the rims. I took it to a dealer, thinking he would just refit the tires and put that glue junk on the rim, and he said just put air in them. Now I fill the tires with air at the beginning of each run, and they are flat at the end.

The tilting trick, to turn the tiller quickly, works on almost every tiller I have ever used. Until you get sloppy or don't pay attention, then you get the extra special tiller treatment. Lost a few plants and got a few bruises over the years.

I had a little troy tractor before, thing just kept going and going, no matter how much I abused it. I traded it in on a FEL for my tractor, got 600.

Baucom · May 20, 2008

Dargo, Knight, and anyone else with a Cub Cadet tiller....

How are those Cub Cadets holding up for you? Any problems? Can you recommend the Cub tiller as a good, solid performer?

I've spent the past couple of days hunting for tiller reviews and came up with next to nothing for the Cub Cadet until I stumbled onto this while searching for info on a couple of Troy Bilt models. It seems for any given tiller model (except BCS and Grillo), for every review that sings the praises of that model, there is another that proclaims it junk.

Since I know someone will ask, I WANT a new rear tine tiller mostly to expand my current 20'x25' garden to about 30'x50' and then to break ground in the spring and mix in compost and till under dead vegetation as needed. I already have an older, small, Merry Tiller, which does a great job cultivating between rows, but beats me up severely when I'm trying to break ground in the spring (even a couple days after a good rain). I just don't feel like my needs justify buying something like a BCS.

Sorry to have dredged up such an old thread, but I just trust yall's input more that some anonymous person on epinions, amazon, etc.

ChuckinNH · May 21, 2008

I have an older (20 years) Troy Built econo horse, and it has been a solid performer. The trick with any forward rotating tine tiller is to set the first pass quite shallow to avoid having the tiller launch itself forward on you. Once you have some loose soil / sod you can set it deeper for the next pass. Be prepared to make lots of passes in soil that is now covered in sod! I've used a cheap middle buster on a tractor to break things up a bit at times, and that helped a lot!

Dargo · May 21, 2008

Baucom said:
Dargo, Knight, and anyone else with a Cub Cadet tiller....

How are those Cub Cadets holding up for you? Any problems? Can you recommend the Cub tiller as a good, solid performer?

Well, it doesn't handle anything like a high end BCS tiller, but I honestly can't complain. With my hard ground, I can't use the forward turning on the tines though. That just leaves me chasing the tiller. Running it in reverse works just fine.

I just tilled up my wife a garden this last weekend. I hadn't started the tiller in almost 6 months but it fired right up and worked just fine. I don't have a huge garden either though. I guess her garden is maybe 30' X 50' or something like that. If I were going for a serious sized garden I'd probably have to spend the money for a high end BCS with a real transaxle. At least the inexpensive Cub has reverse, which helps in turning it around.

Charlesaf3 · May 21, 2008

Given that this is a tractor forum I've got to ask - why aren't people using a 3pt rototiller? Seems easier - is there something I'm missing?

I've found my old gravely with a rototiller does a great job, but it does fight with you...

bontai_Joe · May 21, 2008

Charlesaf3 said:
Given that this is a tractor forum I've got to ask - why aren't people using a 3pt rototiller? Seems easier - is there something I'm missing?

I've found my old gravely with a rototiller does a great job, but it does fight with you...

I bought my old Troy Horse with the idea of doing other peoples' gardens and getting them to repay me for the tiller. Can't get a tractor w/ 3 point tiller into most garden plots in suburbia. The Troy-Bilt Horse model is essentially unchanged since the introduction of the PTo models in the early 1980's. Only the motors have changed, and on these machines, the engine is a replaceable wear item. I've done little 6 foot by 20 foot flower beds to as big as 150 foot by 100 foot areas with the Horse. If I'm starting in sod I go down about an inch per pass and let the machine do the work, I know of no walkbehind tiller that will let you go 8" deep first pass in sod. To establish the typical new garden in established sod seldom took me over an hour, even with as many as 8 passes, and after 8 passes, the sod is now just chopped up organic matter in the soil. Today, if I had up to a 1/2 acre garden, I'd be inclined to get a new Troy Horse model tiller. I just couldn't justify the cost of a BCS machine unless the area was bigger than 1/2 acre.

KentT · May 21, 2008

Charlesaf3 said:
Given that this is a tractor forum I've got to ask - why aren't people using a 3pt rototiller? Seems easier - is there something I'm missing?

I've found my old gravely with a rototiller does a great job, but it does fight with you...

The read advantage of a smaller walk-behind tiller is NOT in the ground breaking or seed-bed preparation, though they'll do both with some time and effort, but when it comes time to cultivate. My 20 year old TB Pony is small enough and light enough that I can till shallowly right up next to established rows of plants -- within one to two inches -- greatly reducing the amount of weeding and manual cultivation required. If you're careful, you can go close enough to toss fresh dirt up into the row, between the plants.

I use the 46" tiller on my garden tractor to prep the garden -- after that initial tilling it is put away until fall comes and it's time to till the whole garden under. The little TB gets used weekly almost all summer long...

Charlesaf3 · May 21, 2008

yeah cultivation makes complete sense - its the putting in I was wondering about.

Tractor size also matters of course, but I think I could get the b3030 with a tiller in anywhere that was big enough to have a garden, unless there was only a small gate access.

Knight9 · May 21, 2008

I'm still happy with my Cub. I only use it for the areas that I can't get the Kubota/tiller into. Thus, I tend to mainly use it around trees I've planted in rows too tight for the tractor, and in my orchard. My only complaint with it probably is that it is pretty big and pretty heavy duty. That's good, unless you are doing a lot of turning around trees.

Dargo · May 21, 2008

Charlesaf3 said:
yeah cultivation makes complete sense - its the putting in I was wondering about.

Tractor size also matters of course, but I think I could get the b3030 with a tiller in anywhere that was big enough to have a garden, unless there was only a small gate access.

Yeah, I drop my 7' tiller to it's fill 8" depth behind my 80 hp tractor and rip in her garden to start the season. I just use my little 18" Cub to clean the edges now and then to keep it weeded as the season progresses.

Baucom · May 21, 2008

Charlesaf3 said:
Given that this is a tractor forum I've got to ask - why aren't people using a 3pt rototiller? Seems easier - is there something I'm missing?

I've found my old gravely with a rototiller does a great job, but it does fight with you...

Some of us have no tractor with a 3pt to use a 3pt tiller; those who have a tractor with a 3pt do use a 3pt tiller in many cases. Due to lack of funds or lack of sufficient need, some of us on TBN have no "real" tractor on which to use 3pt implements. Plus, many people with tractors and 3pt tillers still have a need for a smaller unit for flower beds and other tight spots.

Personally, with only 1 acre, I simply can't justify the expense of a tractor, though I tried, so I happily bought a very nice lawn mower/garden tractor. I could buy a tiller to go on the back of my mower, and am researching that option too, but with no larger garden than I intend to have, I'm not sure it's worth the additional cost (similar to my feelings about a BCS tiller). Any decent rear tine will be more pleasant to use than my current front tine tiller.

Oldtrout · May 21, 2008

For what it is worth I had 2 troy built tillers one was a hores and than I downsized to a pony...would I buy another....Nope. I now use the ck 25,and a hoe,rake works for me

DeNiro · May 6, 2009

I have two troybilts and a rear tine tiller for a three point hitch. I find use for them all, but if left to only one it would probably be the TB horse.
It gets into small areas and in places I can no or do not wish to takle the tractor. The tractor tires are pretty hard on a yard that I have to cross to get to the garden.
One thing about a three point tiller is that it will not work well on all tractors. The small tractor that I have handles the 60" tiller just fine because it has "creeper gears" that allow the tractor to go very, very slowly. My larger tractor will not go slow enough to allow the tiller to work at the proper rpm to do the job well. If you have the hydostatic trasmission the problem is solved. Before you invest in a three point tiller consider the fact that most gear driven tractors will not work well with them.

2manyrocks · May 8, 2009

I have a TB horse I bought in the early 80's and a newer smaller MTD model that I bought to cultivate between my rows later in the season.

Other than replacing the drive belt and the tires on the horse, it has had no issues. I have already broken two tines on the smaller MTD unit plus the MTD design has no reverse on it, and the forward motion is engaged via a cable arrangement unlike earlier models (Troy Bilt Junior) which had a steel rod which engaged both a forward and a reverse. Unfortunately, I sold my Troy Bilt Junior some years ago and wish I had kept it.

I'm a little surprised at the earlier posts saying that the newer units are better than the older ones. That has not been my personal experience.

greenmule · May 9, 2009

You don't need a hydro[hst] trans to use a tiller on your tractor,thats a mith being pushed for some silly reason? I got a ck30 kioti gear,just tilled my 1/2 acre garden for 2nd time,works great,those using creeper low to till are either using to small a tractor or just don't know you can go faster,some are just using to big a tiller.

Those new troybuilt things are junk,got an old horse tiller,still use it to go between rows,just put new tires on it this year going to put new tines on it soon,its not a disposable thing like many of the new anythings. Worth spending 1,000 dollars to fix up,[can't say that about many new tillers,none as matter of fact].

Like the dummy I am,in last 3 years,needed a new trim mower,so bought a troy bilt,didn't even use it,took it back after starting and pushing it for 10 feet,and bought a troy bilt pressure washer,it lasted about 6 hours,brought it back,[thats the good thing about lowes,they sell some junk,but they take that junk back!} Thats the reason I wouldn't buy a new cub cadet lawnmower,same people that makes those new troy bilts makes them,that crossed them off my list.

DeNiro · May 9, 2009

Greenmule, perhaps your soil or tractor is a little different than mine. My experience has been that in our hard clay soil the tiller will bounce up out of the ground at the higher ground speeds. The larger tractor just will not slow down enough unless you take very shallow passes while the little fellow will cut down 6-8'' in a single pass at the slower speed.
Perhaps on soil that has been tilled regularly it would work fine, but on ground that has not been broken in many years it is hard on man and machine.
That is why I has some reservations about a standard geared tractor.
I also agree with your accessment of the newer tillers. They may look very similar, but they do lack the guts of the old cast iron Troybuilts. The vast number of Troybilts over 30 years old and still running well speaks volumes about their quality. Once you operate one of the old ones, you know the difference.

greenmule · May 9, 2009

Have you ever used a 30-35 hp tractor and 5 ft tiller with gear?
If not,than....
I have used that set up,plus a 25 hp tractor with same tiller and creeper,I'm talking from experience here,are you?

Now after saying all that,will admit I ain't tried tilling virgin hard from no rain soil,but thats what turnover plows are for,you plow it first,than till.

But on even hard ground have noticed no bouncing of tiller.

DeNiro · May 9, 2009

Yes my tractor is similar to yours a Kioti 30.5 hp and my creeper is a 24 hp and my experience is still a little different than yours. I believe it is the harder ground that is the difference. I have tried to till food plot areas in hard clay soil that probably has never be cultivated and it is difficult. After that experience I never tried to use the Kioti with the 60" tiller that I have. The smaller tractor did a better job for me.
Again I believe in different soil or soil that has been tilled before it may be different. The problem was transporting the tractor a 150 miles and not being able to carry a breaking plow along.

greenmule · May 9, 2009

Well,we got the same experince than.

All new ground should be first turned over with a plow,to protect the tractor/tiller,in my opinion,you don't know whats under that grass.

You turn it over,even 6 inches or so,tiller will work just fine with low/1st gear,really fast,as a matter of fact.

I can till in 3 hours what it used to take me 6-8 with tractor, 25 hp,using creeper.In my garden,last fall it was dry as bone and hard as cement,went over it once,tilled it to 3-4 inches deep,planted greens and winter rye.