Advice on a new tiller?

My old tiller is about played out. Looking at a number of rear tine tillers, ie: MTD, Craftsman, Husquavarna, Troy Bilt.
Want a chain or directdrive, electric start. Am puzzled about the preponderance of 205cc engine sizes, statement "1000 sq ft??"
I have three plots about 1500 sq ft of loess (finer than sand) soil, will only rarely break sod.

Anyone have experience with this size tillers in above brands, good or bad. Thanks. Leo

Troy Bilt Horse 305cc, 20 inch width. you need it for your size. Prices vary widely ($1899-2699)

I have an Aerins, rear tine - drive shaft runs lengthwise, powering the wheels, tines. Motor belt drives the drive shaft. 5hp, 18". I have been very happy with it.

Don"t know if you can find that model now, but similar from other brands ought to be much the same. I do not recommend chain drive.

One note, I welded a skid on the bottom of the spear behind to keep it floating on the bottom of tilled ground, and not digging in for all it"s worth. Skid is about 5 inches long, 2 inches wide, front tipped upward like a skii.

I have an old Troy Bilt I bought used for $100.00. It had a 6hp Tecumseh engine and I sold the engine for $65.00 and bought a 10hp B&S engine from smallenginewarehouse and it has electric start. I replaced the tines and seals under the tine holders. I used my garden tractor for plowing the garden and the garden had a cover crop of rye. I use the tiller for cultivating. I use to buy and repair these tillers. I've probably had 30 over the years. Even had 2 black Troy Bilts. Hal

I have a Scotts rear tine made by Artisam (spelling?). I really like it, its shaft driven. It replaced a chain driven craftsman, which Id steer clear of (broke a chain at least once a year). Id recomend the troybilt. The next I buy will have counter rotating tines. The only thing I have against the Scotts is it running off without you when it grabs a rock or root.

Been looking at rear tine tillers, I dont have as much ground to cover as you, kind of like the Husquvarna's. A lot more features than the Troybuilt for the same money. 17" cut in both brands, about 700.00.

Husqvarna, Poulan and some Sears are made by AYP (American Yard Products) Troybuilt,Mtd and Cub Cadet are made by MTD. Buy one that the tines turn in the opesite direction of the wheels. That is the thing I have aginst the old Troybuilt. The old troybuilt were very quality built. I doubt that is the case since MTD bought them but, they would drag you instead of tilling in hard ground. I have a Husqvarna that I have had for 10 yrs that I am very happy with.

Be aware that Troybilt isn't Troybilt any more. They were bought out by MTD, with predictable results.

T'was me, I'd be looking for an older REAL Troybilt in good shape.

I have an old 22" rear tine reverse rotation machine with a Briggs 8hp engine. its clutching was pushing idlers against a vee belt, both drive and tiller belts very short, easily burned up when a jam occured (rock, junk, root) and took a lot of time to disassemble and replace. No more belts. From one post no more chains either. I am too old to be jerking on a rope, so 110volt start for me. This old one would mill the earth just fine but the footprints...! It had a shift to the side handle that helped but the handle bars were down at knee level when doing a good dig. The problem was the tractor type tires would slip into the nearby tilled path and while the wheels were alway slipping against the reverse rotating tines pull, the tiller would slide down into the last pass with the tiller tilted nearly 40 degrees and not tilling a full width, resulting in a two handed struggle to keep it up on the untilled path. I had a an extra pair of tractor-type wheels "dualled" onto the existing ones and that helped a lot but it was all I could do to turn 180 on the sod as it had no quick release hubs or a differential. I only use the thing maybe one hour a year and I am getting dam tired of working an hour or two to get that tilling time. Just like a Lawnboy snowthrower I had years ago! Sorry for the rant. Looks like if you want a civilized machine, you have to pay 2k or more. Makes you want to buy canned vegetables!

Used a Troy for years, but got a BCS in settlement of a debt a couple years ago, and love it. It is heavy, and a bit of a workout, but it sure does the job. Gear drive, 3 speed transmission, forward/ reverse "shuttle". Don't get the early one with the Ace engine- later have B & S.

I enjoy the "tractor" way of gardening. I have a couple of these old 2 wheelers. Here's a little patch I plowed last fall and a few pictures I took when I worked the ground today. When conditions are right the ground works nice without rotating tines. I didn't use a leveling blade on this yet, I wanted to loosen this patch before predicted rain. In a couple weeks I'll use a leveling blade and the ground will be "fine". I've done some big patches with these and like them for working around pumpkin plants, since it can turn in its own tracks.

I have a BCS with the Acme engine.Ive replaced the carb drain and fixed the rewind in 20 years.Never got that use out of a Briggs engine.

I have a 1984 Troybilt horse with a Kohler 8hp engine. Troy went bankrupt and they were purchased by MTD. But, on the horse tiller, the only difference I can see is that they now use Briggs engines. The rest of the machine appears to be the same as the one I have. I do know that they're excellent for parts service.

You can't go wrong with the old model troy bilts. I have 2 horses and a pony. The horse model is my favorite. The smaller pony is nice for tight spaces. I haven't had any experience with the MTD versions but I'd guess they aren't built quite as well as the Garden Way version. Parts are easy to find but most of the shops around here don't fool with them for repair. They aren't very complicated machines though. Anyone with basic mechanical skills and a manual could keep one running forever.
If you piggy bank is really full those BCS machines look nice.

I had not heard yea or nay about quality of the engine, just hard to get parts. But then, if you never need parts because it never breaks, pretty much of a moot point.