I was in a hurry yesterday when I posted and now see that I didn't post what intended to relate. I should have taken the time to explain that, when I bought my big tiller, I was still doing mowing and landscape work and was bidding on doing a couple of soccer fields. To be more clear, I compared the KK tiller to far heavier commercial grade tillers and, in my opinion, I thought that the KK tiller would be marginal for what I needed to do as compared to how the heavier built (and more expensive) tillers would do. Reading my previous post now I can see where it can easily be interpreted that I said that the KK tillers are not so good. That was not my intention. My fingers didn't poke the right letters to express what I was thinking on that matter.
I am a tight wad in some respects though. I have learned that I generally don't do well when I rush out and buy something with no track record. A quick 'for example' would be my first zero turn mower. I bought based on price alone and put the machine to heavy work. Let's just say I ended up not liking the mower and I'm sure it didn't like me. It seems that I'm better at sitting back and taking notes on how something performs for others and then comparing those results to other known results. Based on that known fact, I feel that I'd be better served to sit back and 'wait and see' how an unknown brand performs rather than go for the potential bargain. Make more sense?
Better.....
A couple things come to mind as I read the earlier post AND this latest one. I'd be "cautious" with ANY brand, ANY model, at ANY price, when it's new to the market. Maybe MORE SO if it were relatively expensive. All things being equal, if a person has time to watch, listen and learn before jumping in the fray, there's a better chance of NOT getting burned. As far as "track records" go, my KKII got a working out far beyond what would be considered "normal" when I first bought it. My old farm was in an area where rocks outnumbered grains of dirt. I was re-doing a couple hay fields when I stumbled on to the KKII tiller at an auction. It was used, albiet ever so slightly. My thought was, if rocks will destroy a tiller, why trash an EXPENSIVE new one when I can beat this cheap-o into the ground, toss it, and not be out a small fortune. Much to my suprise, it withstood the torture of tilling a total of 48 rock infested acres, 2 times over, hooked to a 60+ hp tractor, tilling at ground speeds far above "recommended speed". From there, it's spent another 7 years of being hammered, abused, and used with more input HP than suggested. My opinion after 7+ years? There's a vast difference between inexpensive and cheap.
If I buy Widget A @ $100 and Widget B @ $500 and Widget A ends up being the equal of Widget B in performance and longevity, Widget A is the BETTER WIDGET in my estimation.
I'm an advocate of spending whatever it takes to get products that are more than adaquate for the task at hand. Any "bargain" isn't a "bargain" if it doesn't do the job and still have life left for another day. Bargains aren't always the least expensive item. By the same token, quality isn't indicated by the biggest price tag.
But back to the DARK HORSE tillers. If they prove to be "90%" of what the KKII "yellow" tillers have proven to be, I wouldn't hesitate for one second. And MAYBE soon, someone from TBN will step up to the plate and buy one. Hopefully soon, so we can quit speculating and start evaluating.
From what I'm hearing, the "mechanics" of the DARK HORSE tillers are still the very same items as were used on the yellow KKII models. (gear box(s)/drive shaft/slip clutch) Final assembly is done elswhere. No way of substanciating that at this point though.
