TroyBilt 8HP Horse Refurb

[Lefty7]

I wore out the original hard faced tines, then re-hard faced them, and wore those out.
I installed a new set of hard faced, and wore those out.
Last year, I installed a third set of hard faced,, so the tines are now new.

The eBay seller had one more set of hard faced, he was a dealer going out of business, and was only charging half the usual price, delivered.
I went back, and bought the last set he had,, that set will patiently wait on the shelf.

Besides the TroyBilt, I also use a Gravely cultivator,, but, it is a little wide, for some things,
Cultivator on the left, rotary plow on the right,,

I even hard face welded the cultivator tines, and the rotary plow points,,

Wow, you put in a lotta tines, but I applaud your hardened effort. So you either do a large amount of tilling with self-powered units, or have a lotta rocks, or both. Nice pile behind the rotary; I got a few like that around the property from the decades of previous field work.

Yeah, I can see the cultivator might be a bit wide. Good for tending agave. Love the flames on the other; never seen one of those. I'd be interested in what powers these, and what HP rating.

Can'tcha just see the version of Pickers or Antiques Roadshow in 2071?:
"We're unsure, and our reseachers are still trying to determine when Gravely introduced the Flames Model Rotary Plow, and what was its significance. Sign up for insertion of the trans-dermal chip app to find out..." Maybe not.

I know my Kawa-powered Gravely Z-turn is one working mow-sheen.

 

[CADplans]

"FLAMES" started out as a junkyard pick,, it had 61 actual hours on it, and a school simply parked it.

A lot of cleaning, and some paint later,,

The hood had a dent in the side that I just could not get right, so the hood went to a local hot rod guru that makes a living painting,,

I had seen his paint, and his flames before, actually, I had him do a flame paint on my wife's Hobart,,

So, the 12HP Kohler powered Gravely was FLAMED!!

Right above the muffler tip is where the dent had been,,

The machine with the cultivator is a 10HP Kohler,,

I have one other Gravely, an 8HP Kohler powered one, almost identical to the TroyBilt engine, except it is a "K" engine, instead of a "M".

The problem with having a 57 foot long shed,, is finding enough machines to fill it!!

 

[Lefty7]

Beauty job ya did on that Gravely!

...and the mixer: gotta love it! Hope the cakes and cookies don't have flames on 'em.

I hear ya, RE: shed size.

I was putting up a building a few years back, and my elderly friend and neighbor told me, "No matter how big you make it, it won't be big enough."

 

[CADplans]

...and the mixer: gotta love it! Hope the cakes and cookies don't have flames on 'em.

No flames in the cookies,, but, one year, we did find multi-Christmas colored chocolate morsels,,,

That Hobart is for times that only a few of the family is visiting,,

If EVERYONE shows up,, Mom uses the REAL Hobart,,,

We used to make cookie dough, wrap it in wax paper, and freeze it,
WAY before anyone could buy cookie dough in a store.

 

[Lefty7]

Mmmm. Good stuff - I can almost taste it - and a fun post.

My Mom was always coming up with innovative stuff like that. Home Ec teacher, before starting the postwar family - and all us kids got the benefit.

On my screen, that cookie looks like it's about a foot across. I'll take one. Great with milk or coffee, but I bet it goes good with a brewski, too.

P.S. My wife got a kick out of the custom car flames on the mixer...

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

Just completed a planned-for and long-awaited refurb on my TroyBilt tiller. More than just a tiller, it’s become part of an important wintertime lifeline here for heating our old pre-Civil War farmhouse.

I first became acquainted with Grandpa’s TroyBilt, years ago. It was 6 or 7HP, and by then was too unwieldy for him to use, much less my 5’2” Mom, who wanted her garden and raised beds done each Spring. So, as a young one, I’d happily do them, at which time I became familiar with the basics of these machines.

Years later, I bought an 8HP electric start Horse model (with the PTO) for my own home use. It had the Briggs&Stratton, which eventually blew up after years of hard service, which was my fault: it had developed major ring wear, and I rushed to the job without checking the oil. Bango. Traded it in - replaced it with the Kohler-motored version and never looked back.

From owning 2 of them, I guess I gathered up almost all of the attachments: front bumper/guard, plow, tire chains, V-sweep cultivator, hiller/furrower and, most important of all, Didier hydraulic woodsplitter. This pooch keeps the home fires burning…

It had been going downhill slowly and gradually over the last 4 years or so. The starter stopped starting, (so it was pull cord city), had a slow, steady trans lube leak from the axle on one side, the tires were checked and rim-leaking air whenever the seasons changed, etc., etc.

I studied the available exploded parts diagrams to figure out what this 25+-year-old mechanical equine might need. The effort wasn’t ever at the top of my list, and it ended up taking several years to gather stuff, but before going into firewood processing time in late ‘21, the time had come.

The unit as shown now has new: tires (with tubes, this time!), original-type spirol pins to secure the wheels to the axles (because bolts will eventually shear), starter solenoid, battery, battery cable and key switch, axle seals, (both sides), full synthetic engine oil and tranny oil.

I didn’t do all the work myself – I farmed some of it out to a local power equipment shop, but had made serious in-person inquiry ahead of time to make sure they were up to the task and willing to take it on. As stated elsewhere, these things ain’t rocket science – much less anti-grav – but a lot of places these days can’t cope with a starter that comes apart when you remove it. (They’re not modular like modern automotive stuff.)

It was a cold Nov. day when I brought it home from the shop, and wifey was amused but tolerant when I off-ed it from the pickup and brought it into the house to let it warm up for a wax job. I don’t know who else out there is nutty enough to wax a rototiller, but I did it when it was new, like I do with most of my stuff. Wife said the TroyBilt “looked like it was smiling”. ~Lefty

My brother still used his from the 80s. Has a new motor, but it’s in good shape still. The Tecumseh seemed like we’re either really good or junk.

 

[CADplans]

Mmmm. Good stuff - I can almost taste it - and a fun post.

P.S. My wife got a kick out of the custom car flames on the mixer...

That Hobart was a "retired" US Army mixer, that had a dull battleship gray paint that was pretty beat up..

Both of our daughters received a new N-50 Hobart when they each got married.
Those two mixers cost me right at $4K,, for the two of them,,
Both of our daughters wanted the same mixer that their Mom had,, they grew up using them.

And, both of them use the Hobart often.
Our one daughter has 4 children,, I bought her a "pastry knife" attachment for her Hobart,,
it makes the best pie crust on earth!!

 

[Lefty7]

My brother still used his from the 80s. Has a new motor, but it’s in good shape still. The Tecumseh seemed like we’re either really good or junk.

I've had a couple of Tecumsehs, (but not on tillers). They were both junk.

Did your bro replace it with another Tecumseh - or something else?

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

I've had a couple of Tecumsehs, (but not on tillers). They were both junk.

Did your bro replace it with another Tecumseh - or something else?

Kohler

 

[Lefty7]

Kohler

Good move. I've never had a complaint about my Kohlers, an 8HP on the tiller, a 12.5 on a TroyBilt/Simplicity mower/tractor, and a 25 Husky Suburban tractor. But we now know you can put a Honda on the Horse tiller - with added weight.