rear tine tillers????

[highwayman]

what would be a good rear tine tiller to buy?

[Old Syko]

Bought mine 2 years ago from Sears.  6.5HP with 17" counter rotating (only) tines.  Dad has the 8HP with reversing tines.  I've used both and honestly see little difference.  I will say that for the money they appear to be the best quality offered and super simple to operate.  I've either owned or operated many other brands and these are the best of the best.  Troy Built was an expensive and hard learned lesson I would suggest left unlearned.

[jvs]

Years ago a Wheel Horse was the best quality Tiller to get.  Alot of those machines are still in service.  If you can find a used Wheel Horse tiller, that tiller would be the best to buy in my opinion.

I have a Craftsman rear tine tiller, and the only reason I have that one because I found it at a garage sale.  The family was moving out of state and didn't want to take the tiller along.  Supposedly, that tiller was only used twice, and I believed it because the factory paint job was still on the tines.  It was a one year old $999 tiller and I got it for $325, or there is probably no way I would own anything Craftsman, except hand tools. 

Old Soyko is right bout Troy in my opinion.  Troy-Built tillers are expensive and are no more reliable than any other brand.  Even Craftsman.

[highwayman]

what about a cub cadet???

[nodlenor]

I've got a Troy Bilt Pony. I bought it in the early 80's so it is at least 20 years old. The only thing I've replaced is belts. It still has the original spark plug. It uses some oil now but I can't complain. I have a large garden and it gets used a lot. It still starts on the second or third pull when cold. Don't know if the new ones will compare but mine has been a good one.

[jvs]

I can only give you my personal opinion here about Cub Cadet. 

Cub Cadet WAS a very relaible producer of engines and gadgets for work around the house.

MTD was also a producer of those same type of machines, but at a much lower level of quality.

I heard that a few years ago MTD bought out Cub Cadet.  So whether MTD still uses the same Cub Cadet standards to manufacture Cub Cadet machines is still a main concern I have about buying a Cub.   My guess is that MTD uses the MTD standards now to make Cubs and a Cub of today is not the same Cub of yesterday.  Personally, I would not buy a Cub Cadet by MTD.  If anyone here has a different opinion about the newer Cub Cadets, they can express that opinion.

Right now MTD makes alot of different machines under alot of different names.  Cub Cadet is one of them.   If it is important to you to buy a Cub, you can be the Guinea Pig and let us know if it really holds up like the old Cubs did or if it will wear out like the some old MTD's did.

Right now if I needed a new Lawn Tractor, I would definitely be considering John Deere above any others. 

As for a Tiller, I wouldn't expect anything available on the market to hold up for years and years of use without long term quality problems.  Chinese and World Market Bearings, Bushings and other Parts just aren't the same as the economic conditions permit.

The short answer is:  Buy on Price and see if it works out.  Old Cub Cadet, Simplicity and Wheel Horse quality are technically... gone.  A Troy-Bilt 8 hp tiller is about the only Tiller I would buy new, regardless of my garden size.  But they can be VERY VERY pricey.  A reputable dealer with top notch employee, maintenance and repair facilities is the second thing to look for... Just in case.

   

[nodlenor]

Don't know for sure if it's true but I've heard that MTD bought Troy Bilt also.

I have a Cub Cadet that I bought about 4 years ago. It is made by MTD. So far it hasn't given me any trouble. There are a few things I would do differently if I were building one but all in all it isn't too bad.

[Graybeard]

MTD owns ALL the various names now and makes all the tillers and riding mowers and such regardless of the brand name on them. Does that apply to John Deere? Dunno but I suspect yes as they are looking suspiciously like all the rest these days. Even the Husky's are now MTD.

I'd have argued about the Troy Bilt tillers untill a couple days ago. Mine is really not that old perhaps a coupe years or so and until then it had cranked first pull and worked fine since I bought it even tho I'm not a heavy user of it. But the other day when I needed it badly it refused to even attempt to crank. I'm no mechanic and have no clue what's wrong but it's now at most two years old out of warranty and must go to the shop for repairs. I'm not a happy Troy Bilt owner any more. My old Sears Tiller worked for a lot of years and completely wore down the first set of tines on it and almost wore out the second set before I let it go and while it didn't run real good it was still running when I gave it to my BIL after getting the Troy Bilt to replace it. It probably still runs which is more than I can say for the Troy.

[Old Syko]

MTD builds under a lot of different names for sure but they don't have them all.  ACI out of Raleigh still does some of them as I understand it.  BTW ACI used to hold Kabota until the Scaggs family bought up the final shares and separated them.  There was talk some time back of John Deere absorbing ACI also but I quit trying to keep up at that point.

[gypsyman]

Highwayman, might be late, probably bought your tiller by now. But,here's my .02. I bought a Troy built, I believe, about 4 or 5 years ago. Couldn't be happier with it. Didn't get the biggest or the one with all the bells and whistle's. In fact it's one of the bottom end one's. 5.5hp. Bronco model. I figured that for 40 years or better, I used a front tine tiller of 4 or 5 hp., why do I need something with 12 or 13hp., 3 forward speeds, 2 reverse, and a whole bunch of other stuff I don't need. The only thing I've had to do is replace the drive belt on it twice, and I had on another post here, found out there is a difference in v-belts.(always buy a green one)It has a Briggs engine, starts and runs just like it's suppose to. BUT, to relate to you, what just happened to my neighbor. He ordered the top of the line Troy built, from a mail order house.(Northern Tool I believe) He ended up waiting over a month to get it, and it didn't run right from the beginning. He ended up calling the company, and they sent a truck to his house to pick it up.(It took over a month for them to pick it up!!) It was over $2,000. He was told by his credit card company, don't pay for it. He was, needless to say, very dissapointed. So for what little bit of advise I can give you, buy it locally if you can, and don't get a machine 3 times over what you need. And Greybeard is right on MTD. Don't know if they build the machines to different spec's, but they own/build, Troy Built,Cub Cadet, Husky,John Deere, and a few other outdoor equipment company's. gypsyman

[Cornbelt]

I've used several tillers: Mantis,  Sears, Troybilt, Hawn-eclipse, Allis-Chalmers (Simplicity), but the one I liked the best was an Arrends(sp?). Anyway they were designed on the order of a  Troybilt, but had some better ideas, such as lug tires instead of knobbies. Counter-rotating tines on any tiller makes for a nicer swath, but takes a bigger engine. Neighbor has had one since '76, and when I'm serious, I borrow it. Otherwise, I use my old 3.5 hp Briggs on an I don't know what. The bigger stuff is starting to out-grow me, and it, I can still handle, but tines spin forwards, and wheels just pinwheel, but its light enough I don't need a ramp to get in the pick-up, and comes in handy for digging trenches, since it ain't too wide. I think age probably should be more of a consideration in making a good choice, and I'm not talking about the age of the tiller, if you know what I mean.

[hillbill]

i bought a smaller troybuilt with the counter rotateing tines and really like it. it wont take off and head for the woods like the forward rotateing tine models will but they do have detriments.with the tines throwing the tillage forward, if yu are in sum soddy ground or jus basically any un broken ground, they will plug up a lot.you will end up pushing it alot thru what your tilling even tho the wheels do drive it.they are not the best for breaking out a new patch of ground.however mine is fairly narrow and im setting my garden up to till in between the rows with it. i keep the garden tilled year round and never really let it get growed up with weeds so they work for me.

[wgr]

JOHN DEERE TOO BILL

[mirage1988]

It all depends what you are tilling. I have nightmares still of trying to till a garden in a patch of woods when I was about 10. My dad thought he was on top of the world when our farmer neighbor told him we could put in a garden on a hilltop on his land.
  Anyone here tried to till a patch of sumacs? Dad had a monster tiller (for a 10 year old) craftsman 8 horse with forward rotating tines and since I was the oldest boy in the family, I got to do the tilling. I tell you what, bull riding is nothing compared to a 60 pound kid tilling sumacs with a 300 pound tiller! That thing would jump at least 10 feet when it hit a good root.
 
  Those here knocking troy-bilts bought the ones with tecumseh motors (junk), the ones with briggs & strattons were and are the best tillers made!

[Graybeard]

Those here knocking troy-bilts bought the ones with tecumseh motors (junk), the ones with briggs & strattons were and are the best tillers made!

Mine has the B&S and has given me nothing but trouble so far some of which I'm sure is my own fault. Still compared to my first Sears tiller it's a loser anyway you cut it. I doubt I'll ever have another Troy-Bilt but do need another when I can round up the bucks for one. I'd really like to get one to use with my JD but for sure the bucks are not there for one.

[John Y Cannuck]

Well, I'm not into gardening anymore, thanks to the danged walnut trees in the back yard. But, a few years ago, before we moved here, I ran an MTD front mount tiller. That thing was murder on a guy when the ground was hard. Once it loosened up, it did as good a job as any rear tine. But, the pounding it took, was apparently worse than the pounding it gave me, and eventually, it plain destroyed the big worm gear in the gear box. Not worth fixing. I knew we'd be moving soon, so I rented machines for a few years. The rental company was using all Honda machines. Very reliable, do a nice job, but are a bit of the pricey side, is what I was told, when I asked how the rental guy liked them.
I rented the rear tine model, and it was everything he said it would be. Started one pull, did a nice job, and no issues. So, I continued to rent them, even rented them for work, on the big floral gardens at the cemetery. Never had an issue.
Don't know how you feel about Japanese stuff, but these machines work.

[John Y Cannuck]

Those here knocking troy-bilts bought the ones with tecumseh motors (junk), the ones with briggs & strattons were and are the best tillers made!

Mine has the B&S and has given me nothing but trouble so far some of which I'm sure is my own fault. Still compared to my first Sears tiller it's a loser anyway you cut it. I doubt I'll ever have another Troy-Bilt but do need another when I can round up the bucks for one. I'd really like to get one to use with my JD but for sure the bucks are not there for one.

you mention a John Deere?
If that's a full size model, you could look at the 3pt hitch tillers out there. Landpride is a US company, that makes good heavy tillers. They are available at many farm equipment dealers up here. Probably the same down your way.