when? could possibly do Saturday morning.
How is this price wise?
That one is overpriced about $300. The reason is because the new motor only costs about $400 and is on a $200 tiller. More important, that is the old 2 speed tiller which has an inherent flaw that the tine rotation speed is not quite synced with the wheel speed. It tends to run away very easily. How do I know? I have one and have used it quite a bit. The newer 4 speed model is a better tiller.
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So ideally what to find?
4 speed horse with elecstart?
Ideally, find one that is not overpriced regardless of other issues. That can be difficult in early spring.
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@Fusion_power Iām sure that I have the 4-speed model.
I still have not fixed the throttle. Been too busy with other stuff.
But the problem is that now I canāt get motor to start. I have pretty much read thru the manual. It is not firing at all when I pull the cord. What should I look for?
Mine has a switch that grounds the ignition when you move the throttle to minimum speed. Itās built onto the top of the carburetor linkage. Check that out.
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I donāt know enough about BCS to say for sure, but I did investigate BCS tillers about 4 years ago when I was considering purchasing one. Find out what year it was made. Find out if there are ANY mechanical issues particularly with the gears and with the tines. Then consider carefully the cost of a new BCS tiller with similar configuration. If the used machine is more than 5 years old and the asking price is more than 50% of a new machine, you might be better off buying new.
Also, BCS are good machines, but relatively costly to maintain. Keep in mind the long term cost of ownership. Motors wear out. Gears have to be lubricated. Seals go bad. All of these are common among machines that are heavily used.
This one showed up today and appears to be in fairly good shape. Troy Bilt Garden Tiller - farm & garden - by owner - sale I would ask about the tines and reversing disk just to be safe. Note that it does not have the tine disengage lever indicating it is about 25 to 30 years old.
IMO, this one is a pretty good deal though likely a long way from your location. Troybilt Rototiller - farm & garden - by owner - sale
Well, it ended up being that I had the fuel valve turned off.
Ran the tiller in my small garden today. It worked okay I guess but at the end the engine seemed to lack power. I know that I still have to fix that throttle and watch the gear lubeā¦
That thing really goes fast in hi-speed. I have to run to keep up.
To tell you the truth, I was having some buyers remorse but now I am feeling better about it. At least i am ready to set out tomatoes.
I use high speed only when transporting my tiller from the garage to the garden. I tried tilling in high speed a few times. It is marginally useful when working loose soil that needs refreshing. Guess Iām getting old and slow. I donāt like high speed on my tiller and I sure donāt like high speed women.
High speed women pass you on the interstate at 8:00 a.m. doing 90 mph in a 55 mph zone with their mirror flipped down, makeup in one hand and lipstick in the other, racing to fix their face and get to work on time because they left home 20 minutes too late.
Soil type and condition have a lot/everything to do with what speed to use. Here in Tennessee I only use low. When I lived in North Dakota we had very loose soil and your second pass could be done in high gear. Also our heavy soil requires a lot of horse power so it feels underpowered. I think you will grow to love your tiller. I replaced the wheel seals in mine a couple of days ago. It was something I was putting off for a few years. It really was an easy job.
Five years ago, right after I bought a new Ariens rototiller, a friend asked me if I was interested in her 25-year old Troybilt. I declined. Iāve regretted it. Ariens only put its name on the machine built by the Husqvarna Group and a year later discontinued it. Itās fine for most things but is not as heavy-duty as I wish.
This is why my three Horse tillers all have 7 hp or higher engines. You can easily purchase a cheap 5 hp motor that will fit and will work up to a point, but will never be satisfactory when heavy tilling has to be done.
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This one wonāt last long. Needs thorough investigation, but if I am correct, it is a bargain.
Not much for sale on horse tillers these days. How often can you find reasonably priced parts for horse tillers?
I have two troy bilt Horse tillers. One is totally worn out that i have been using as a parts backup. The other just went down on me. I am putting this here to let you guys with Horse models know about what not to do.
I bought a really nice Horse with a 8hp Briggs I/C engine and metal gas tank a couple of years ago for $250. It has been an absolute great tiller.
Since i bought it the clutch was messed up on the pull startā¦ I had to manually spin the engine with my fingers to get the ball bearings to fall just right to pull start it. (it would start on the first pull) so i lived with that.
This month i was tilling a row and i guess the clutch failed and one of the ball bearings or multiple ones fouled up in the clutch and the engine made the god awfulest racket. The clutch siezed and sheared the snout of the crank offā¦
I have been looking at tillers to replace this oneā¦there isnt one. Looks like not only is there a shortage of them in the market but they are all junk.
I am going to try to weld the crankā¦but i will likely end up having to just get another engine.
If your pull rope clutch starts acting up on youā¦replace itā¦ i learned the hard way.
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Can empathize with your tiller problems.
I could not get my horse to start this year. Had to ask my nephew to till my garden with his tractor attachment thing to be able to plant it. Did a good job but of course it canāt be used in the rows. Iāll be working on my tiller tomorrow to see what gives. I have a new spark plug. Also have drained the old gas and replace with new. Not sure what else to do.
Thanks for the warning about the clutch
Get a can of carburetor cleaner spray and clean the carb. Also, be prepared for fuel line problems. They get old and crack after a few years. Replacement fuel hose can be purchased at many auto parts stores, or an just about any small engine repair business that sells parts.
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I put a $15 ebay carb on my 7hp last year and it ran better than it ever did. My 8hp came with the same cheapo carb and it ran like a swiss watch last year and this year.
I put a fuel shutoff and a filter in the main line and i shut off the fuel and run it dry each time that i am done so that no gas is left in the carbs. (learned that on bobistheoilguy).
If you left it outside all fall and winter you may want to pop off the starter housing and check the flywheel for built up rust if you arent getting fire. If so then sandpaper it down to get better contact.
With that being said i think my two are going to be sold or kept for parts. One needs either a new crank or the crank weldedā¦and the other needs the whole rear tine area rebuiltā¦bearings are shot and seals are shotā¦probably some gears too. The owner before me ran it without oil and dirt got up inside because the seals were shot.
I see that Troy Bilt sells one called Big Red ($2500). I think i will keep buying $500 ones that last a few years hoping for a gem that will last longer. I have little faith in the newer ones.
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