Troy Built Rototiller

CaseChev

Member
I may be looking at a Troy Built horse rototiller. It is 8hp with elec. start. Don't have any other details from the ad. What can you tell me about them ? Pros and cons ? What price range should it be in ?

Thanks
 
Look at the tines and see how worn they are and if anything is wrapped around the center ruining the seal. Kohler, Briggs, or Tecumseh and size? I have one with a Kohler and no complaints. Bought new 30 tears ago, discounted to $1200. One on local craigslist for $600. Non running Tecumsehs 1-200 dollars. Most parts are on ebay, local ace hardware has parts. $3-400 will buy most of them. Small lever to disengage the tines should move easy, older units don't have this. Look for leaks drive gears are brass and don't work without oil. A 3/8 and 5/8 wrench should remove plugs to check oil levels.
 
You can do a little Google research.
The "horse" model was introduced in the late 1960's. I don't think that an 8 hp engine was offered until the early 1980's when a Briggs engine was offered. I think that the Briggs was replaced with a Kohler later in the 1980's. I'm not sure when an electric start engine was first offered as on option, but I know they were offered in the early 1990's. The company was owned by Garden Way by that time. Garden Way went bankrupt and the Troy Bilt name was acquired by MTD in 2001. I think that they stopped advertising their tillers by hp ratings several years ago.

The TroyBilt Horse was known as a large premium rear tine tiller back many years ago. The pre MTD tillers seem to have a "cult" following, but are getting old. I don't know much about the MTD tillers, but they aren't the same as the earlier ones. A lot of the older tillers have had replacement engines installed.

Value depends on age, condition, and location. Large rear tine tillers take up a lot of storage room and are meant for large gardens. They do a good job with decent soil. No tiller is going to do a great job in rocks and hardpan.
 
Couple of other things. The Kohler came with and without starter. Mine is starter equipped. What ever you do, WATCH THE OIL LEVEL!!! The big letters show how important this is. On my machine I run the engine just a little over the full line. When you are tilling really deap the oil is all of the way to the rear of the oil pan. No splash of oil, no lubrication and BOOM no engine. I stop maybe every 8 - 10 feet and lift the machine up to level. Couple of seconds and then go again. My machine came factory with one set of tines BACKWARDS. If your machine pulls nice and straight you are OK. If you vear left or right when tilling then you have that problem. The PTO Disengage leaver is a wonderful thing to have. My machine is older. There was also a commercial Horse machine. Has a metal formed cage around the front of the machine and I think a 10hp engine. Real monster. Another thing is do not dig deep !!! Set the rear foot thing and dig maybe 1 or 2 inches per pass. Go back and forth four or five times till you are at the maximum depth. Till in as much compost as you can lay your hands on. It will pay off over the years with easy tilling and better produce. Learning how to adjust the belts is another whole story. Let us know when you get that far. Just a hint. Use Real troy belts, not after market.
 
I have my dads old Troy built horse tiller. He got it new in 1972 and has had the transmission rebuilt a couple of times plus the engine has been replaced once. Good old machine and back in the day he would till and area that was 100 foot wide and 200 or so feet long. Things to check is play in the tine area etc. The reverse function on the one I have went bad years ago
 
If the 8 HP Briggs is original, it has to be a model made between 82-87. One-belt drive Horse III model. First Horse had twin drive belts an only came with a 6 HP Tecumseh. I still have my 1967 Horse. Cast-iron Tecumseh is long gone and I replaced it with an 8 HP Briggs.
 
The Troy Bilt Horse is a rugged machine. Check the tines when new they were cut square on the ends, with wear they will eventually become pointed. New tines are probably close to $100 a set now. Tilling with it is fairly easy, just guide it along and let the machine do the work. The operator's work comes in when you turn it around on the ends. Check the transmission oil regularly because the axle seals will probably leak. I was asked to till a garden a couple of years ago on a little side hill. I told her when I was done, next year she would have to get someone else because it was my last garden to till and the tiller would not be going back to my house. I drove it right to my daughters house and unloaded it and told her Happy Birthday here's your troy bilt tiller. 75 years old is to old to be tilling on a side hill. We now have some nice raised bed gardens.
 
I agree with everything said so far. I would only add that it is a mistake to buy one that needs very much mechanical work. Patience and careful shopping on CL and other like places will yield a nice one for less money than it takes to fix one that needs tines, bearings seals etc. Dont let paint fool you, lots of worn out ones with good paint but also lots of them around that were used little but left outside. Paint is much cheaper than tines, gears and bearings and you can even get decal sets on fleabay for cheap to finish them off. I buy and sell a few each year but quit buying any that are not in real good shape on the digging end, it costs too much to repair them right. Early ones are called single speed, they have two drive belts. The later ones are referred to as two speed, they drive with one belt that can be moved to two different pulleys. Most people will pay a bit more for one of the later ones.
 
Forgot to add prices. Asking prices are of course all over the place but with diligent shopping you can purchase a later two speed model that is running and both nice looking and not worn out or leaking for $4-600. A few around that are like new, add $1-200. Worn out tines, sloppy bearings and leakers and units that have never set inside $2-300. This is for the Horse model, I dont fool with or keep track of the smaller ones.
 
(quoted from post at 11:35:28 03/30/18) Forgot to add prices. Asking prices are of course all over the place but with diligent shopping you can purchase a later two speed model that is running and both nice looking and not worn out or leaking for $4-600. A few around that are like new, add $1-200. Worn out tines, sloppy bearings and leakers and units that have never set inside $2-300. This is for the Horse model, I dont fool with or keep track of the smaller ones.

Hello: I have a Troy-Built Pony that was my father-in-law's. It ran when I needed it last summer. I think I need a few small parts (and advice) regarding drive belts and such. I will probably post here in a few days; I am glad I found this forum, I had not noticed it before.

Dennis M. From W. Tenn.
 
The tine speed is much faster than on a front-tine style. The advertisements showed how "easy" they were for a woman to handle. That's mostly true if it's moving in a straight line, BUT it eventually has to turn and turning is a PROBLEM because there isn't a differential in the drive mechanism to the wheels. That means it wants to continue in a straight line and it takes some powerful dragging sideways to get it to turn.

I owned one for about one season and hated it so much I sold it and bought a front tine Ariens which does just as good a job of tilling as any Troy rear tine. Before buying the Ariens, I did some "research" and concluded that the Ariens are considered the best of the front-tine style tillers.

I would NOT recommend Troy unless in later years they have added a differential to the wheel drive.
 
I guess I have never found the Horse to be that difficult to turn. I was operating my dad's 7hp Kohler model before I was a teenager and I definitely wasn't a big kid. Turning does take a little persuasion but I never found the machine to put up much of a fight.
 
Having run a few of these for years,to the current time, I would differ in opinion in that, these can be turned easily. The handle bars make it easy to raise up the tiller assembly, orientate yourself to a 90 and just walk it around, low speed of course.

Throttle control also ones friend with these, just throttle them down a bit as needed, when turning etc. Sure they can be jerky, a bit rugged to use, there is no doubt, just engage the tines on sod or unworked ground, they'll take right off when it hooks up.

However, in experienced hands in the right conditions, they are very effective and reliable. One can make a nice soil bed for many years at a low cost. These were proven in the same soil conditions I plant in. Definitely not the friendliest of soil given the rocks, but once improved, deep with organics, these are a breeze to operate. I have re-worked a section of an old garden let go to sod, took a few passes to get to full depth, but a little at a time it worked well.

They are built well, rugged for a lot of work over the years, reliable, especially the 7HP Kohler K161T engine.

I've seen a few BCS tillers locally every so often reasonable. Tempting to try one out. They look to be easier to run on some of the ground I work. Having dealt with a bit of a sidehill, some decent size rocks, with Horse models, a good size patch can wear you out, but if you prepare a nice soil bed, it's so much easier. I had one patch of deep black old manure, loam etc. just works so much easier in it.

Conditions, operators, soils etc. will all vary with ground engaging equipment such as this, but a Troy Bilt Horse is a pretty good value for the buck bought used.
 

Troybilt Horse is built very well, but can be a real bear to handle. The first few passes on previously untilled ground need to be very shallow, or that Horse will live up to its name and turn into a bucking bronco. Tilling a previously worked garden patch is very smooth though. I owned and used a Horse for several years. I grew older, and finallt gave up trying to fight that thing. Bought a brand new Craftsman. Gave the Horse to a much younger man, and I've never regretted that decision.
 
Dad has one. I wasn't impressed with it. Get on a slight side slope and in the soft dirt it will flop over on you because they are so top heavy. always leaking oil too. I'd look at a BCS I never ran one but they look built like a small tractor !
Now I will tell you they best thing for tilling ground is a small compact tractor with a hydro and a 3 pt tiller !
Mom has one of those Mantis tillers uses it all the time. For an existing garden plot you just go in and do the area you want to plant. Great for cultivating too !
 
My neighbor had a horse. I tilled a few passes with it. No trouble. I have the poney about 40 years. I cleaned the carb once. Its nice to operate and very reliable. I also have a Honda. Beautiful machine too. It's about 35 yrs now. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a horse. Check condition.probably get a deal around $400. Ed Will Oliver BC
 
I think they are a well built rototiller. I bought it for my wife about 13 years ago, as a Mother's Day gift. She actually wanted a rototiller! I took it in a couple years ago due to the carburetor needing some attention and the "owner/operator" didn't heed my suggestion about not letting vines build up around the shafts. The seals started leaking as a result. The carburetor needed some attention, too, so I had it gone through by a Troy Built dealer/small engine mechanic. She likes running it as she is the gardener, rather than me. I prefer to work the ground with a 200 horsepower tractor and plant with a 12 row planter instead.
 
OK, my opinion. The biggest thing I find wrong with the Troy-Bilt tillers is that the tines turn the wrong way.

I have two rear tine tillers. One is a Craftsman, the other is an MTD model. The Craftsman has counter rotating tines. The MTD allows the operator to control the direction of the tines. It may not seem like much, but the counter rotating tines will dig into hard sod with little effort. Does a wonderful job on it. MTD recommends using reverse tine rotation for harder soils and forward tine rotation for softer soils and for cultivation.

Until you have tried reverse rotating tines, you will never know how much easier a tilling job can be. Troy-Bilt engineers apparently don't agree. Try it for yourself.
 

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