Troybuilt

[fluffyone]

Are the troybuilt tillers at Lowes any different than the ones you buy direct from Troy built? Also what is the advantage to the counter rotating Tines?

Thanks
DeWayne /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[SteveM]

Troy built went bankrupt in 2000 or so, garden way (the parent company) is gone. Now the troybilt name is part of MTD - so I dont know that you can buy direct anymore. Either way, you are buying from MTD. Some of the tillers have been cheapened in my opinion, and the current Horse model ($1800) is not at rugged as my 20yr old Horse.

 

[EastTexFrank]

SteveM is correct, Troy Bilt is now made by MTD who build a whole range of equipment ranging from the cheap and nasty up to the expensive and good. I don't know anyone who has used the new tillers but I looked at them and they are not as robust or well made as my 25 year old Horse. The counter rotating tines give a finer finish to the soil exiting the back of the machine and are less likely to pull your arms out of their sockets when they hit a rock or a root. They make it a much more manageable to use and is the way to go on bigger machines if you can afford the price difference. The price difference between the bigger walk behinds and 3-pt mounted tillers isn't much and the tractor mounted are so much bigger and easier to use.

 

[slowrev]

Troy built names are now rebadged onto other items as well. I have a "Troy Built" 5500 watt generator. It was actually built by Generac I believe. The tillers are not as good as the older ones, MTD is just marketing the name. Not to say they are bad, just not the quality of the older real Troy Builts.

 

[Buster57]

Troybuilt owned by Murry is a tragedy.
Horse used to be a real animal (no pun intended!)
Now that MTD owns them, the only things that are sure are that; (A) The new models will be made in South China, (B) The quality will go to H _ _ _, and not due to the Chinese but rather MTD cutting corners, (C) No one will be expecting the quality of the past, and they will not be disappointed.
This is too bad. I have worked a lot with the old Troybuilts, and unfortunately, owned too may MTDs. I will never own another MTD product.
I know this is a family site, but MTD really sucks.

 

[RalphVa]

I found out about the takeover when I went to order new hammer replacements for my Troy Bilt Tomahawk around 2001. I got all the parts except the hammers. I've heard that MTD is back making the spare parts now. Haven't tried to get the hammers, as I got some from my Dad's old Sears machine that he'd torn apart. Those hammers only have 2 sides though. The Troy Bilt hammers have 4 sides (e.g. cutting edges); you can keep turning them until you eventually get them all worn down to a rounded edge. It's a chore to even turn them though.

So far, I haven't needed to replace or turn the hammers. Haven't used it as much here as in Baton Rouge where trees seemed to drop limbs all over the property.

Ralph

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

We well troybilt / MTD stuff. Your all right, its not what it used to be. The equipment needs a good inspection before going out the door. Tillers come with their engines mounted wrong, no oil or grease, etc,etc. We don't have many problems cause we know to go over it well, but I would be scared to get anyting from a big box store.

 

[bontai_Joe]

I was just looking at new Troy-Bilts last week at a dealer. The big red Horse looks pretty much the same as I always expected from Troy-Bilt, but the little guys sure look like MTD stuff as far as fit and finish. I had heard that towards the end of GardenWay's reign, that they had some stuff manufactured undercontract by MTD, so the transition was not as abrupt as most think. I was quoted a price of $120 for a new set of tines. I guess my old ones will last another season.

 

[Junkman]

MTD is doing a good job of suppling parts for the older Troy Built units as well as the Bolens units of years gone by. I have been able to get parts for my Bolens that I was unable to get when Troy Built had taken over Bolens. Troy Built ruined the Bolens name and they also ruined their own good name, so I think that it isn't quite right to be damning MTD for everything that goes wrong in the low end garden tractor and implement products. They are just picking up the pieces of companies that self destruct and try to make out of the pieces what ever they can to keep the names alive. The one thing that I can admire them for is that they seem to be committed to suppling parts for older products. Sometimes those parts are expensive, but at least you can get them. Sure beats having to throw it away because you can't get the part at all. Think about that next time you need a part for the 20 year old Troy Built Horse rototiller. If it wasn't for MTD, you wouldn't have a snowballs chance in H-ll of getting any part for it!!!!!

 

[RiverV]

Junkman,

How old is the Troy tiller that you were able to get parts for from MTD? My Horse Tiller is about 25 years old now. Bought it when I was just a young pup. It has the soild shaft rear end (not PTO rear), 7-horse Kohler K161 engine. Still starts on the first pull most times.

I am wondering about parts availabilty for these old machines from MTD.

It's like an old friend, we've been through a lot of gardens together. I kinda want to keep it around for another 25 years or so.

Dave...

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

I dunno but maybe people are a little hard on the critsicism of MTD. They have a complete range of stuff from the cheap, but utilitarian, to the full blown "Cadillac" of lawn mowers. All depends upon what you want to spend and how you plan to use it.

 

[KENSFM]

Dave, I recently repaired a Troy-Bilt horse tiller that was about 30 years old. I had no problems getting the parts that I needed direct from MTD, but they were quite expensive. Luckily my customer did not mind he just wanted his machine fixed. They have a toll free number direct to their parts dept. 1-800-269-6215.
Ken /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[RiverV]

Thanks for the info. Ken. Nice to know that MTD is supporting the older models.

Hopefully I won't be needing any major parts soon. Just before Troy Bilt went bankrupt I had to replace the drive shaft and rear gears in my tiller. Bearing in the back went out and everything in the rear end got chewed up by the shaft. Rebuilt almost the whole transmission while I had it apart. Parts were expensive then also.

Dave...

 

[Libertine]

Junkman:

<font color="blue">MTD is doing a good job of suppling parts for the older Troy Built units </font>

Really? Must be different in your part of the world, but around here MTD doesn't "support" many Troy built products. Couldn't even get replacement blades for a 10hp Tomahawk 4" chipper-had to have them produced by a machine shop. The thing isn't that old (late 90's). I sold it cheap. There's certainly no "pride of manufacture" from them. Get bigger, sell more, make more money, etc. There are still some companies that have pride of manufacture (Danuser in Fulton Missouri is one-been run by the same family for going on 100 years). - MTD isn't one of them.

JEH

 

[fishman]

Libertine,

I think someone else posted that MTD didn't purchase the Tomahawk brand when in bought Troybilt. I could be wrong but that would explain your difficulty.

 

[Tvern13]

I think IHCrules hit it right on the head. MTD makes a range of products from economy to top end. Take a look at their website at www.mtdproducts.com. I just recently had the mower deck in a Yardman lawn tractor go down. The mower is right at 3 years old. Engine still runs fine. I don't hold the failure against MTD. I was mowing 2 acres with a lot of stumps roots and uneven ground. I'm going to buy a small gray market Yanmar this year to handle the chores but the green stuff won't wait. Looked around and found a new MTD garden tractor 800 series with 25HP B&S engine, 46" deck, cruise control. Cost me $1998.00 (saw today now on sale for $1798.00 /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif)and was able to move the grass collector from the Yardman over to it with no problem. For the money I am amazed at the quality of this unit and will probably be mowing with this one a while longer than the Yardman.

 

[GerardC]

I think your link is bad. Try this. MTD web page