83 TroyBilt Horse with 13 HP Honda

[Crazy like a Horse]

Hi Crazy,

You did a very nice job with the Ol' Troy-Bilt. I almost bought one at an estate auction before I bought my first BCS, but quit bidding at $300 and the winning bidder got it for $325. It was an older Horse, but I have no recollection if it was a Horse, Horse II, or Horse III. At that time, I didn't even know they had PTO models.

I know very little about Troy-Bilt tillers, but had thought the engine had to be 3/4 inch shaft to fit a special pulley made for the reverser. How did you get around this? Are you planning on building a bigger tiller to accommodate the nearly double HP you now have?

Thanks Farmerboybill. You are correct, the engine I have has a 22 mm shaft but it came with the mounting plate and pulley so it was for the most part a simple swap.

As for the HP difference, the 13 HP Honda is actually an 11.7 HP engine. The 13 HP rating is gross HP and the 11.7 HP rating is Net HP. Basically gross HP is measured with the air filter and muffler removed and net HP is measured as the consumer would expect to use the engine. Take into account that for every 1000 feet in altitude you lose about 3.5% power and at my elevation of 1200 feet I'm now down to 11 HP.

Peak torque for this engine is 19.4 ft lbs at around 2600 RPM and that is where I'll be running it. At that RPM the HP is about 10. Peak torque is where the engine is designed to run most efficiently dictated for the most part by the cam dynamics and valve timing but piston size, stroke and compression also factor in. The bottom line is get a big torquey engine, use synthetic oil, and run it at its torque peak RPM and it will last a long time. The GX390 engine is legendary for reliability and durability which is another reason why I selected it.

I'm also making a modified tine cluster. I will be combining some tractor tines sistered up with the original tines which will allow me to get down another 2 inches. See the attached prototype. I have yet to add the remaining 15 tines.

CLAH

 

[farmerboybill]

The second picture of yours is a rotary hoe wheel. Looks to be from a John deere 400. They are for blind cultivation on corn and beans before the seedlings emerge. They're also for breaking crust if you get a hard rain after you plant, but before the plants emerge. They are not meant to be powered, but run at around 5 mph with no down pressure. I have a 400 and use it as such.

I'm curious to see what your plans are for these.

 

[Crazy like a Horse]

The second picture of yours is a rotary hoe wheel. Looks to be from a John deere 400. They are for blind cultivation on corn and beans before the seedlings emerge. They're also for breaking crust if you get a hard rain after you plant, but before the plants emerge. They are not meant to be powered, but run at around 5 mph with no down pressure. I have a 400 and use it as such.

I'm curious to see what your plans are for these.

Farmerboybill,

Thanks for the heads up. I noticed when I was drilling the JD tines they weren't hardened and figured they would break off pretty easy if I subjected them to hard use. I use a lot of home made compost in my garden to help break up the native clay soil and I'm hoping the JD tines will reach down furthur into the soil. The plan is to use the JD tines after I perform the initial spring till with the regular heavy duty tines.

CLAH

 

[BCSSHOP]

CLAH,

If you ever get to try a BCS with the rotary plow you will be impressed how easy it goes down 10" to 12" even in hard clay. Secondly be careful adding more load to the TroyBilt tiller drive as the brass gear wears rather quickly in really heavy going. They even have been known to split in two. I used to rebuild the TB transmissions every year for someone who tilled gardens for hire. The life in his usage was about 400 hours using three set of tines and two or three belts. He charged over $40 on hour while tilling so he considered the $1000 he paid me for a rebuilt tiller with a new engine was a bargain.

 

[2manyrocks]

If you get too much more bite with different tines, the tiller may propel itself forward on the tines.

 

[stihlman]

I bought a new Horse in 1993 with he 8HP Kohler Magnum. It has been great and still runs and looks like new. The old cast iron Kohlers were super engines

Steve

 

[BCSSHOP]

Least I was loosing my mind on what engines were used on the PTO TroyBilt Horse I dug out my sales records of PTO Horses. The Horse models I bought from GardenWay through most of 1984 had Kohler 7hp engines like yours. But by 10/15/84 the PTO Horse had 8hp Kohler engine. The lowest serial number I have that had the 8hp Kohler engine was 750485. I picked it up in Troy along with the next three serial numbers on 10/15/84. They were used exclusively from 1985 to late in 1988 when Troybilt also sold them with 7hp Briggs IC engine. Those were good times when supplying good engines were part of what TroyBilt stood for.

 

[pat59]

Hey crazy, just a few questions about the swap. What Honda engine was used? Did the Kohler pulley fit the Honda crank ? Was any fabrication of mounts required? Thanks, pat59

 

[Crazy like a Horse]

pat59.....The Honda engine is a 13 gross HP GX390 I bought from the Small Engine Warehouse. It came with a pulley and mounting plate already installed. The installation was fairly simple and all I had to do was adjust the engine pulley slightly to line up with the transmission pulley. I don't think they still sell this engine but you may be able to find a different one.

CLAH

 

[kcmccombs]

hello this is my first post and want to say hey to everyone. i am looking to do this exact thing so my question is for (crazy) how good is the Forced splash system and is your tiller already setup for the electric start if not did you incorporate it in.thanks