A few strange notes about my Tarter (NOT County Line) tiller purchase from TSC

strantor · Apr 22, 2019

The story:
I borrowed a friend's tiller yesterday (Easter Sunday) to till up my garden only to find that it was broken, so I decided to purchase my own. I remembered seeing an email from Tractor Supply saying their County Line tillers were 10% off and the sale ends today. But today I had to leave early on a business trip to Houma LA so I was bummed about missing the sale. Until I realized they have TSC here. So I went in with the intention to purchase the County Line 6ft tiller, just pay for it, and pick it up at my local store in TX.

Strange thing #1: Apparently their pricing in LA (at least this part) is way different than in my area in TX, and I'm not talking about taxes. The county Line 6ft tiller in my local store is $2,200. Here it's $2,000. He said if I wanted to pay for it here and pick it up back home, I had to pay the back home price. So I decided to purchase it here in LA and haul it around in the back of the truck for the rest of the week. Combined with the 10% discount, I was going to pay $420 less.

Strange thing #2: right before paying he said "we're in the middle of switching over from County Line to Tarter. All we have right now in 6ft is the new Tarter. It's the same exact unit as county line but it's black. Do you mind?" I said absolutely not; I don't like yellow anyway, and every TSC has yellow County Line stuff in the lot with the paint flaking off. Hopefully the black stuff is better.

So I bought it and sure enough it says "TARTER" in big letters, no county line. For everyone who speculated county line was rebranded Tarter, I think this serves as confirmation. And if you want to save a few hundred bucks, wait for the next sale and drive to the TSC in Gray, LA. For some reason significantly cheaper.

P.s. the website still shows County Line, but look what's in the truck.

P.p.s. if you do go to the location in Gray LA and the guy about to load your tiller looks like an idiot who is probably high, trust your gut. Insist someone else load it. He did a number on the bed liner.

Stimw · Apr 22, 2019

If the gearbox takes oil make sure it has oil before using it.
Some have made that mistake.

TheMan419 · Apr 23, 2019

I have a county line badged 5 footer from a couple years ago. My local store did not have it. I drove to one 20 miles away and it was $100 cheaper despite what the sticker said. I also had a 10% coupon.

Put oil in the gear box.

WM75Guy · Apr 23, 2019

For big ticket items I check the price of all the TSCs around me. There usually is a difference in prices for stores in the next county over, usually lower as they have competition. I print it out and my local store will match the price.

Fallon · Apr 25, 2019

TSC uses Tarter & King Kutter to OEM their house County Line brand at various times and/or various parts of the country. Lots of the owners manuals are actually not labeled County Line but for the OEM.

buckeyefarmer · Apr 25, 2019

When i bought a RFM from quality farm, which later changed to TSC, i bought at a wv store, and they shipped it to my closest store no cost, so i could pick it up there. I have not seen different prices between stores, but dont shop there too much any more.

Texasmark · Apr 26, 2019

Looks like my yellow Bolens. I bought a TSC supposedly County Line 6' in N. Texas 3 years ago for $2k. No marking on unit but in the operating instructions tube on the unit was a Bolens instruction guide. Seems all the gearboxes (both) on most available tillers around here are the same Chinese built boxes. Differences are cosmetic as to how they brace the moving parts. Main thing is the 54 tines on the 6'HD like the TSC units. I did find a Tatar red one at aAtwoods Farm store that had different 3 pt connections, like used with QD couplers....Pat's and such.

I like mine just fine and it gets serious about chewing up hard, dry clay soil.

strantor · Apr 28, 2019

A few notes about the black Tarter tiller I bought, after first use.

1. It's a beast. I've never used another PTO tiller so I have no comparative experience, but I was in awe at how it chewed up packed earth like it was nothing.
2. It does NOT till 6" deep as the website says. 4" is all you will get. If you till a large plot and then go back over the whole thing for a 2nd pass, it goes a little deeper, maybe 6", hard to tell.
3. It's black. That means it gets hot in the sun. I knew this, but I wasn't prepared for just how hot it gets. Really hot. Like you can't touch it with an un-gloved hand.
4. The specs on the TSC website say it's good for 25-50hp tractors but down in the q&a section the product reps on the TSC website say that is in error (but they don't fix it). They are saying it's only good for 45-60hp tractors, and directing people with 40hp tractors to the 4ft tiller.

I didn't see this until after I bought it drove it home to Texas, and was worried that my 40HP LS would have problems. My concerns were unwarranted. The 40hp tractor didn't even know the tiller was back there. Like it literally didn't even burn any more fuel than does just sitting there idling not doing any work. Didn't bog down one little bit. No change in motor sound or RPM when lowering it down into the ground.
5. The PTO shaft was way too long in my case and I had to cut it down. The instructions say to fully attach the tiller and couple the PTO shaft before measuring how much needs to be cut. I couldn't even get the thing attached and coupled because it was so long. Follow the directions for cutting the PTO carefully. They don't seem to make sense at first but after a few reads it did. Not hard job. Portable bandsaw makes it easier.

Overall I'm happy with the purchase and would recommend to others. Keep in mind that's after just one use (tilled about 1/2 acre twice). If something changes I'll post an update.

P.s. yes, I put oil in it. Thank you for the reminders.

aczlan · Apr 28, 2019

strantor said:
4. The specs on the TSC website say it's good for 25-50hp tractors but down in the q&a section the product reps on the TSC website say that is in error (but they don't fix it). They are saying it's only good for 45-60hp tractors, and directing people with 40hp tractors to the 4ft tiller.
View attachment 602409 View attachment 602410
I didn't see this until after I bought it drove it home to Texas, and was worried that my 40HP LS would have problems. My concerns were unwarranted. The 40hp tractor didn't even know the tiller was back there. Like it literally didn't even burn any more fuel than does just sitting there idling not doing any work. Didn't bog down one little bit. No change in motor sound or RPM when lowering it down into the ground.

A 4' tiller on a 40HP tractor? They must be confused.
We run a 5' tiller on our B7500 and it runs it fairly well (could go faster with a few more HP, but it gets the job done), IIRC, it is 19HP at the engine and 16HP at the PTO.
The general rule of thumb is at least 5HP at the engine per foot, so a 6' tiller should be on at least a 30HP tractor.

Aaron Z