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Garden State Pumpkins

One slightly used MTD tiller bought 7/15/02 used 3 months...
motor good rest is junk! 2 year warranty not worth the paper it's written on. manufacturer sez not meant to till backyard gardens was over used! Anybody even thinkin of MTD as a tiller better ask if they can use it on dirt apparently only made to turn over potting soil no deeper the 2 inches at a time....makes a great paperweight! Junk pure Junk....service worse....repair estimate 368 dollars..
new craftsman 6 hp briggs and stratton 323 bucks....Hmmmmm

4/23/2003 11:17:02 PM

Mastic Beach, New York

wow, sorry to hear that..its made by troy built?..because i have a troy built paid over $600 for it..it does a decent job.


billy

4/23/2003 11:35:16 PM

South Hill, Virginia

Not meant to till backyard gardens? To quote you Chuck....Yikes!

Maybe you could use it to toss salads:)

4/23/2003 11:38:49 PM

Indiana

Chuck,
Time to make some phone calls and start a bitechien! If you complain enought...they will probably make it right with you.

Tom

4/24/2003 12:17:48 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Threaten them with a web page describing your problems with them.

4/24/2003 12:47:11 AM

Puyallup, WA

Thanks for the warning!

4/24/2003 1:30:28 AM

Usa

Give us the information and let all of us e-mail them with complaints.

4/24/2003 2:10:25 AM

Western Pa.

Troy-Bilt MADE a quality product.A few years back, I bought one of the last 6 tillers made with a Kohler engine.(They switched because of California emissions). MTD of Cleveland also MADE a quality product. I own an 8 h.p. snowthrower and both machimes are workaholics! I guess the problem occured when MTD took on the Troy-Bilt line. Quality is a word that has been replaced by greed. I'm currently getting the run around from Poulan for a leaf blower I bought 2 years back that was never assembled correctly at the factory. I advise you first file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and Consumer protection agencies, if that don't work, maybe we should start a "watch dog" group and go out and lynch 'em! Remember Chuck, they're just not dealing with Alex's Dad, WE ARE BIGPUMPKINS.COM! Let's open up a can of (you know what) on 'em guys!

kilr

4/24/2003 2:38:56 AM

Billerica,Massachusetts

Chuck: sorry to hear about the tiller problem! i think it's BS that they will not fix it under warranty!! it's a tiller it's for gardens!!! it aint like it's a Mantis cultivator! the front tine machines are MTD products Troy doesn't build front tine machines, the troys are still available and sold under the troybuilt name see the following link -- http://www.troybilt.com/BrandHome.jsp
I have an old pony model which i bought 12 or so years ago it has out lasted the Briggs engine on it which i replaced last season for a little over 200 bucks.

Good Luck
Glenn

4/24/2003 8:21:07 AM

In the shade - PDX, OR

Sorry to hear that Chuck.

How in the world are you gonna get all of those leaves tilled in now?

Give them heck and keep after them. The persistance will pay off.

Good Luck.

4/24/2003 2:37:16 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Chuck, What model is it? The last time I checked, the Horse was still a worthy tiller. You just can't get the old K series Kohler motor anymore (unless you have some connections! ;-)) Piece if shot Briggs motors now.
I hate to admit it, but that's why I went jap on my tiller.

Steve

4/24/2003 6:02:33 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2317835125&category=29519

Chuck, Jump on something like this as soon as you can. I'll keep looking. You're after real cast iron here. No stamped steel. Check this one out.

4/24/2003 6:07:55 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2319071527&category=29519

Here's another one from the mid '80's. Before MTD. I doubt you'd want anything smaller than this. 8HP is even better.

4/24/2003 6:10:59 PM

Glenn Springs S.C.

I bought a Troy -bilt 3 years ago and after I figured out how to run it I love it ,You have to till a couple of inches at a time instead of digging deep the first time. Just relax and let the tiller do the work .
Jeff
P.S. It does hate rocks in the garden though and lets you know they are there.

4/24/2003 6:35:30 PM

Walton N.y.

chuck, troy built was bought up last year by mtd (mow twice and die) and suposedly the troy built stuff will sat troy built by mtd while the mtd crap will just say mtd or white or cub cadet or yard man all owned by mtd the craftsman tillers are made by american yard products the 3rd largest mfgs of lawn mowers mtd #1 murray #2 and can be bought under names like poulan pro, husquvarna,craftsman still a low quality product even if you look at the low end of troy built they're crap the smallest i like is the proline with 5.5 hp honda engine and is very close to the horse and big red models

4/24/2003 7:16:35 PM

Walton N.y.

otherwise your looking at honda or bcs even though i'm starting to like the dr line don't look to john deere for tillers either as they were made for j.d. and haven't been profitable for them and will be discontinued this year also for all you looking at j.d. tractors at home depot they have the now disc. sabre decks on them

4/24/2003 7:19:56 PM

Schenectady,New York

Chuck, I bought the Troybuilt 5.5 proline directly from Troybuilt factory. It's the same size as the pony model and it has a Honda commercial grade engine.I tried mine out in the patch and love it.The factory gives you free shipping direct to your door until June 30.Check out Troybuilts web site. www.Troybuilt.com Ray

4/24/2003 7:32:06 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

Traded the motor for an old ariens tiller....needs work but is built solid..gonna go for the craftsman 6 hp anyway...but not going to stop pursuing MTD for such shoddy treatment and outright misleading practices...Just wish I could quote them that the machine is only meant for pre tilled gardens not for tilling new ground! Yikes sorta makes it a cultivator not a tiller! and can't find anywhere now where they still sell front tined equipment? Maybe no parts are available for them? I don't know but watch your back if they say they own troy bilt! Count your fingers when your done shaking their hand!!!

4/24/2003 7:35:32 PM

Walton N.y.

it's hard to find a front tined tiller as most folks want rear tined as they are a bit easier on the user i'm not sure but think merry tiller is still in business they made a pretty good front tined tiller fairly reasonable priced
to all you ford lovers out there mtd owns 49% of ford as well if you look at new fords they come standard with mower mounts for mtd decks and make most of the injection formed plastic parts on most makes of cars as you can probably figure out i'm with chuck on this mtd thing and feel that they have bit me in the butt as well the fun thing is figuring out what brands aren't mtd as they will make product with any name on it if you pay the price and order enough

4/25/2003 7:51:50 AM

Garden State Pumpkins

Update on MTD...They responded that they called the service center and said I even had bent tines!! My response was if ever tiller blew up with a bent tine they would be selling us new ones every day...I was a little stronger then that..
"that's even better a bent tine destroys your cultivators! Never heard of such junk!....." anyway they said they wouldn respond to me anymore "Sir, your obviously looking to attack"....oh if they only knew..said i was given my options..waiting for them to reply as to what my options were? ask them for a catalog on 5 hp front tine tillers since they no longer advertise them on the site?? wonder why? Yikes!

4/25/2003 7:55:15 PM

Walton N.y.

hey chuck,
i bent a tine on my 8hp. troy built horse when i found a peice of pipe that was in my garden down close to 7-8 inches in the same area that i had tilled with my 5hp rear tine mtd for 3 years and had never came close to hitting that pipe as the mtd never dug down that deep the repair to the tb tiller was under $50 when the mtd's internal drive chain stretched and wore a hole in the drive case the assembly (had to buy whole assy no individual parts avail)was a bit over $300 plus labor that unit new sells for around $800 needless to say it went to the dump
sure sounds like you're getting nowhere fast with them at mtd the best thing we can do is boycott their products stay away from cub cadet,yard man,white,agway.huskee if you look on riding mowers behind the seat and below the rear fenders you should see a tag that shows who it was made by and a good bet if the tractors are made by mtd so are the push mowers and tillers

4/26/2003 8:23:02 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Good point regarding depth of till.
Chuck, you had drainage issues last year right? Perhaps that "shallow cultivating" has been a part of the soil borne root disease issue.

Steve

4/26/2003 11:10:57 AM

Buffalo,Minnesota

If any of you guys want a tough little tiller that does a great job, buy a Mantis. I got mine off of Ebay last summer and have nothing but good things to say about it. It is a small 2HP tiller that is intended for small gardens. I have about 500 square feet of garden space, and I can do it in about a half hour. It also has attachments to aerate and dethatch your lawn.

Dan

4/26/2003 10:43:45 PM

Walton N.y.

dan ,you're right about the mantis but with the 7000sq ft i till even the troy built horse is a bit small but still like the mantis

4/27/2003 8:40:35 PM

Montoursville, PA

Where I live the rental centers have different sizes and makes of tillers. Suggest renting to find size and tiller you like. Then deal for an "end of use period" piece of equipment. Most major rental center places replace equipment on a regular timed period. Some of them offer service and instock parts for the brand of their use.

If anyone is interested offering Ariens Rocket to Google Search gets pleasing results and avenues of consideration.

4/28/2003 9:21:50 AM

Walton N.y.

if you've got a rental center close by chuck that's a good idea as you can try before you buy the worst your out is a days rental fee good idea docgipe!!!!

4/29/2003 8:48:51 PM