A Troy Bilt went home crying...

[farmerboybill]

Hey All,

Today was my first day out rotary plowing in the area. First job was a dream. 40 by 50 area, no rocks, no roots, just beautiful black soil.

Second job was NOT a dream. Guy had grubbed off some weed trees. He had rocks, roots, bricks, scrap metal, etc. His Troy Bilt was out hiding behind the barn, sucking it's thumb. My BCS was up to the task, though I did manage to kill the diesel 4 times on particularly nasty roots. I was BEAT after two hours of punishment. Here's a couple pics of the experiance.

BTW, I apologize to anyone on here who has a rotary plow. I may have never commented on how crooked your rows were, but I was thinking it. It's a real pain to keep a straight furrow.

Bill in WI

 

[wstr75]

Nice looking garden! Bill, how long are you getting out of your Berta plow points? Mine wear down after about two hours in our clay soil. I have two corners left on each plow point but it takes me a while to take off and turn eight plow points on my double Berta.
Bill in NC

 

[farmerboybill]

Hey Bill,

It's not really a terribly good garden spot - very sandy. I think a little work and a lot of manure and it will be a very nice garden. The two fellas who ran the place seemed very eager and willing to do the work.

So far, I've ran it two hours 15 minutes there, 1 hour 15 minutes at the first job, and about an hour at home while learning to use it. That make 4 hours 30 minutes run time and the point is just off the corner. I imagine I'll be flipping them in another couple hours. I think sand or rocks would be the hardest on them.

Bill in WI

 

[wstr75]

Bill, I found out today there are hardened versions of the plow points. I ordered a set of four hardened version today and will run an experiment to see how the hardened points last versus the standard points. The double Berta takes eight plow points. A four piece set of standard plow points is $30. A four piece set of hardened points is $70. (Each plow point has four corners and you remove the plow point and re-attach it with a fresh corner as the plowing point.)

 

[oldmech]

Hi! On my Gravely rotary plows. I weld a 1/4 x 2.in 5 or 6 in. long steel plate on the bottom of points. I use only two plows not four as usual. Work very well for me. I think rotary plows works better for unknow grounds . With a tiller. Tractor can jumps front very fast ten ft. when tines hit a large root. Never tolerate somebody near or front a tiller. Be careful! Oldmech

 

[2manyrocks]

Picking on Tbilts, crooked plowing....what have we come to in this forum?

Somebody I bought a Gravely from warned me that another guy really got hurt with a rotary plow when he was breaking a garden for someone and hit a tree root. He said, "don't put your body between the handlebars."

 

[farmerboybill]

Hey 2manyrocks,

I thought I'd throw that barb in there to see if anyone called me on it

The rear mounted rotary plow on a BCS or Grillo is easier to handle vs. the front mounted one on a Gravely, or so I've been told. There were plenty of chances for the BCS to jump in that mess, but it never did. I've always wanted a Gravely to play around with, but have never got around to buying one. Some day.

Bill in WI

 

[wstr75]

Here is a site with pictures of the Gravely rotary plow in action.

Gravely Garden Tractor Gardening

 

[2manyrocks]

Having broken a garden with a Gravely rotary plow and a T. Bilt, the rotary plow is definitely the way to go. For tilling, the T. Bilt is the ticket.

I can't personally say how a BCS rear rotary plow (or the BCS tiller) would compare to the Gravely, however. It would be great to see a side by side comparison.

I run across used Gravelys here and there, but I haven't seen many used BCS in Middle TN at all. I looked at buying a new BCS in the 1980's, but didn't because I was cheap. Not sure I'll ever get the opportunity to run a BCS.

 

[gravelymay]

What part of Mid Tenn are you from
I am in south East Tenn
bruce g

 

[jdboy4410]

both the BCS and the Gravely do a great job.I would have to say gravely has the advantage on two counts.parts for Gravely are everywhere,and you can buy an old Gravely for very little money.I have 2,a 62 L model 6.6 that a friend gave me,put a new head gasket on it,runs great,the other is a later model,never identified the particular model,has a 10 hp kohler on it.i also got that one for free.so,you can see,Gravely is it for me,lol ! I have cleared,plowed,tilled,and mowed for hours.the only money I have spent is on fuel and oil. :thumbsup: BCS machines are nice,but expensive to buy new,but so are Gravely's,and unfortunately,you can no longer buy the 2 wheel tractors from Gravely.you can still pick an old Gravely up,and attachments pretty cheap as I think most folks don't want to work that hard.they will give you a workout for sure.as far as tilling,the Troy Bilt is probably the best machine going in my opinion.I have two of those as well,an older Horse model with an 8 hp/elec start,and a Bronco 6.5 hp.nothing seems to grind that soil up like those bolo tines ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,