A Sampling of Rear-Tined Tillers

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THE TROY-BILT HORSE

The Troy-Bill (Garden Way Manufacturing Company, Inc., Dept. TMEN, 102nd Street and 9th Avenue, Troy, New York 12180) has, as a result of its great (and deserved) popularity, become almost everyone's image of a rear-tined tiller. For our tests, we chose the 7-HP, Kohler-engined "Horse" model. Weighing in at approximately 286 pounds, the machine is only a little heavier than is the Ariens, but gives an impression of far greater size.

All of our testers had used Troy-Bilt machines prior to meeting the Horse, and many of them had actually owned tillers manufactured by the New York firm. Despite such familiarity, though, there were a few criticisms.

For one thing, several of the people who used the tiller were disturbed by its front-heaviness... finding that the tool "wanted" to tip forward. Furthermore, those who'd enjoyed the reversible depth bar on the Ariens and Yellowbird, and the ability of the Ariens to keep its wheels running while the tines are disengaged, were disappointed that the Troy Bilt lacked these two features.

Finally, the Horse incorporates an "automatic clutch" that causes the machine to shift into "neutral" automatically when the tines encounter hidden rocks or unusually hard ground ... a feature which prevents the tiller from running away with its operator. On the unit that we tested, however, the safety mechanism appeared to be too sensitive and shifted the machine into neutral at the slightest lurch. (This problem could certainly be handled by a not-too difficult adjustment.)

Again, however, the tiller's good points overshadowed its bad ones. Everybody was impressed by the quality of the Troy-Bilt's construction ... andevenmoreby the fact that the design allows adjustments and parts replacement to be easily handled by the owner. The machine has a good range of speeds, too, being able to hunker down at 0.5 MPH for hard work or roll along at 1.72 MPH when the job's done and it's time to go home. And, in our "unbroken sod" tests, the Horse opened an (adjustable) 20"-wide, 4-1/2"-deep seed bed in three passes.

Perhaps the single best quality of the Troy-Bill tiller, however, is the manufacturer's commitment to wholistic gardening, as represented by the incredibly detailed owner's manual (which not only covers almost any maintenance chore that the owner might have occasion to perform, but even gives detailed instructions for everything from tilling on slopes to green-manure cropping and wide-row gardening) and the information-packed, five-issue-a-year owners' newsletter put out by the company. Garden Way really does seem to try to make its customers feel part of the "Troy-Bllt Family" ... and, when the careful instructions that the firm provides are heeded, the sturdy machine should give years of versatile and productive service.

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