I have looked on You Tube for a couple of years for an instructional video on hilling with a tiller, and now you have posted one. Thank you. I need the wings.
I stopped hilling my potatoes. I till the ground, plant the seed potato a couple inches deep, then immediately cover with old hay. If its from an old bail, I layer leaves so that each one is covering the previous leaf by about half. If its from a round bail, I just get it about 3" or 4" deep. At the end of the season, I pick the entire plant up, roots and all. Lay it on the ground and pick the potatoes off. No hilling, no digging. The hay does a great job of keeping the weeds down and holding moisture in the soil, and it's easy enough to plow it into the ground as compost (along with mulched leaves) next spring.
I get mine out of the shop tomorrow afternoon. I purchased mine second hand, the paint looked great, no real noticeable wear, and no noticeable leaks? I used it about an hour and the transmission seized up. Anyone considering purchasing one of these second hand, always carry an adjustable wrench and check the transmission oil. If they seem nervous and asking over $1,000.00, please consider that a bearing/ seal replacement can be over $600.00! Please take a fools advice, look before you purchase! I paid the guy $1,500.00 and now a repair over $600.00! I could have bought a brand new Horse for $2,800.00. Check it out and don’t be afraid to go home without it!
Sorry to hear of your bad experience. I’ve never needed to add transmission oil in the main transmission. I replaced the tine shaft seals in the tine unit transmission a couple years ago when I noticed oil weeping around the tine shaft. That was a straightforward fix and didn’t take long. Not bad for a 35 year old machine. Just watch for oil weeps around the wheel shafts, tine shafts, input shaft with the belt pulley at the front, and the PTO shaft to the tine unit. If oil is in one of the gearboxes and you are losing it, you’ll see it. Troy-Bilt tillers are solid units if well maintained. Pretty repairable too.
Troy-Bilt does recommend high gear. I’ve tried it. If you hit a rock and get off track you do a lot more damage before you stop. The advantage of more speed is the momentum reduces or eliminates the need to push the tiller along, and keeps it from burying the attachment as deep so the machine can’t pull it. I prefer a little more hand effort and better control in these soils. That’s just me.
It came from Troy Bilt back when it was owned by Garden Way. There used to be other attachments for these tillers as well including a PTO log splitter, PTO generator, a sweep cultivator and a front blade. Now that the brand is owned by MTD I’m not sure if they still make and sell any of the attachments. I think the Horse tiller may be one of the only original Troy Bilt machines that was carried over. The hiller/furrower is a nice attachment if you can find one.
@@ProductiveRecreation "including a PTO log splitter" - I'd love to see that and how it works. Don't forget there was a snowplow attachment as well. Just got mine tiller and it's in great shape - always garage kept - for $200 :) End of season like now is when they get cheap.
30”-36”. Here are the stats on the machine: tilling width = 20”, tine housing width = 22”, tip to tip of the hiller wings = 27” at the widest point. 30” row spacing is a little close and hard not to catch plant branches in the bar tread tires or bounce off course and get too close to plants. At 36” spacing the hiller may not fully close the hill gap on the plants, but at least it’s easier not to hit the plants!
@@ProductiveRecreation that's the problem I run into. The machine wants damage the plants. If there was a shroud that starts like a snow plow then has sides that tie into the tiller shroud. It would be just above the dirt
@@ProductiveRecreationI only use one of the wings, (go down one side of the row and then reverse and get the other side) I can control how close I get to the plants better and don’t have to worry about the distance between the rows as much.
I can't do that with my tiller. I have a rear blade troy tiller and no matter the level I set the blades once they hit the dirt the wheels go up and I'm off. No joke I travel about 20 feet in less than 10 secs, I get whiplash and must use both hands. I said to myself "well this is bs" watching this guy one hand his tiller. I bought it at a pawn shop, anyone have any tips?
Do you have the drive wheels engaged (not in free wheel)? The horse is a pretty heavy machine and only lunges forward if hitting a big rock, or trying to work too deep in hard soil. I’ve never had an issue guiding with one hand in an established garden. My soil is sandy loam though, clay may be different. Breaking new ground is a little different too. Takes many passes with gradually increasing the tilling depth. Still can be done with one hand, but there’s no need. I only care about doing one hand guidance for the final pass so I don’t leave footprints in the prepared bed.
@@ProductiveRecreation this is my 1st tiller and I got it from a pawn shop. I have no clue about the drive wheels being engaged or not. Would there be a switch to engage/disengage? I can tell you if the motor is off, the wheels don't move and it takes 2 people to carry it. If it's running, the wheels move at a nice slow pace but the second I drop my blades the wheels lift and the blades act as the wheels but much faster.
@@seansean7643 Your drive wheels are engaged then. If it is a Troy Bilt horse tiller, it has two levers beneath the handle bars. The large center lever is for forward/neutral/reverse. Pull down for forward, push up for reverse. Neutral in the middle. To the right of that is a shorter lever which shifts speed from high (up) to low (down, lever close to tiller hood). In between high and low is free wheel, which lets the wheels roll freely. Sometimes shifting this lever and you get stuck in free wheel, but moving the tiller forward or back while applying pressure to the lever will get it to slip in. As for your jumping issue, try to start with the tiller tines just barely skimming the surface, and don’t push down. Slowly work it deeper over several passes. In new ground, overlap each pass by half because the center where the gearbox is doesn’t get tilled.
I have looked on You Tube for a couple of years for an instructional video on hilling with a tiller, and now you have posted one. Thank you. I need the wings.
I stopped hilling my potatoes. I till the ground, plant the seed potato a couple inches deep, then immediately cover with old hay. If its from an old bail, I layer leaves so that each one is covering the previous leaf by about half. If its from a round bail, I just get it about 3" or 4" deep. At the end of the season, I pick the entire plant up, roots and all. Lay it on the ground and pick the potatoes off. No hilling, no digging. The hay does a great job of keeping the weeds down and holding moisture in the soil, and it's easy enough to plow it into the ground as compost (along with mulched leaves) next spring.
Nice job. I have the same tiller and have never used my hiller attachment. This year I will try it out.
Great video 👏👏👏
Great channel 👏👏👏
I get mine out of the shop tomorrow afternoon. I purchased mine second hand, the paint looked great, no real noticeable wear, and no noticeable leaks? I used it about an hour and the transmission seized up. Anyone considering purchasing one of these second hand, always carry an adjustable wrench and check the transmission oil. If they seem nervous and asking over $1,000.00, please consider that a bearing/ seal replacement can be over $600.00! Please take a fools advice, look before you purchase! I paid the guy $1,500.00 and now a repair over $600.00! I could have bought a brand new Horse for $2,800.00. Check it out and don’t be afraid to go home without it!
Sorry to hear of your bad experience. I’ve never needed to add transmission oil in the main transmission. I replaced the tine shaft seals in the tine unit transmission a couple years ago when I noticed oil weeping around the tine shaft. That was a straightforward fix and didn’t take long. Not bad for a 35 year old machine. Just watch for oil weeps around the wheel shafts, tine shafts, input shaft with the belt pulley at the front, and the PTO shaft to the tine unit. If oil is in one of the gearboxes and you are losing it, you’ll see it. Troy-Bilt tillers are solid units if well maintained. Pretty repairable too.
Looks like rich loamy soil. Nice
You may want to try the high range to hill them. If my memory is right that's what troy bolt recommeded . When I had mine forty years ago.
Troy-Bilt does recommend high gear. I’ve tried it. If you hit a rock and get off track you do a lot more damage before you stop. The advantage of more speed is the momentum reduces or eliminates the need to push the tiller along, and keeps it from burying the attachment as deep so the machine can’t pull it. I prefer a little more hand effort and better control in these soils. That’s just me.
Where you find that Troy bilt attachment?
It came from Troy Bilt back when it was owned by Garden Way. There used to be other attachments for these tillers as well including a PTO log splitter, PTO generator, a sweep cultivator and a front blade. Now that the brand is owned by MTD I’m not sure if they still make and sell any of the attachments. I think the Horse tiller may be one of the only original Troy Bilt machines that was carried over. The hiller/furrower is a nice attachment if you can find one.
@@ProductiveRecreation Thanks,I will look. My Horse needs work and my option was the engine guard.
@@ProductiveRecreation "including a PTO log splitter" - I'd love to see that and how it works. Don't forget there was a snowplow attachment as well. Just got mine tiller and it's in great shape - always garage kept - for $200 :) End of season like now is when they get cheap.
How far apart are your rows?
30”-36”. Here are the stats on the machine: tilling width = 20”, tine housing width = 22”, tip to tip of the hiller wings = 27” at the widest point. 30” row spacing is a little close and hard not to catch plant branches in the bar tread tires or bounce off course and get too close to plants. At 36” spacing the hiller may not fully close the hill gap on the plants, but at least it’s easier not to hit the plants!
@@ProductiveRecreation that's the problem I run into. The machine wants damage the plants. If there was a shroud that starts like a snow plow then has sides that tie into the tiller shroud. It would be just above the dirt
@@ProductiveRecreationI only use one of the wings, (go down one side of the row and then reverse and get the other side) I can control how close I get to the plants better and don’t have to worry about the distance between the rows as much.
Hola amigo tengo 70 tareas de tierra y es tratando de conseguir una maquina por favor donde puedo comprar una de segunda mano por favor
Lowes
I can't do that with my tiller. I have a rear blade troy tiller and no matter the level I set the blades once they hit the dirt the wheels go up and I'm off. No joke I travel about 20 feet in less than 10 secs, I get whiplash and must use both hands. I said to myself "well this is bs" watching this guy one hand his tiller. I bought it at a pawn shop, anyone have any tips?
Do you have the drive wheels engaged (not in free wheel)? The horse is a pretty heavy machine and only lunges forward if hitting a big rock, or trying to work too deep in hard soil. I’ve never had an issue guiding with one hand in an established garden. My soil is sandy loam though, clay may be different. Breaking new ground is a little different too. Takes many passes with gradually increasing the tilling depth. Still can be done with one hand, but there’s no need. I only care about doing one hand guidance for the final pass so I don’t leave footprints in the prepared bed.
@@ProductiveRecreation this is my 1st tiller and I got it from a pawn shop. I have no clue about the drive wheels being engaged or not. Would there be a switch to engage/disengage? I can tell you if the motor is off, the wheels don't move and it takes 2 people to carry it. If it's running, the wheels move at a nice slow pace but the second I drop my blades the wheels lift and the blades act as the wheels but much faster.
@@seansean7643 Your drive wheels are engaged then. If it is a Troy Bilt horse tiller, it has two levers beneath the handle bars. The large center lever is for forward/neutral/reverse. Pull down for forward, push up for reverse. Neutral in the middle. To the right of that is a shorter lever which shifts speed from high (up) to low (down, lever close to tiller hood). In between high and low is free wheel, which lets the wheels roll freely. Sometimes shifting this lever and you get stuck in free wheel, but moving the tiller forward or back while applying pressure to the lever will get it to slip in. As for your jumping issue, try to start with the tiller tines just barely skimming the surface, and don’t push down. Slowly work it deeper over several passes. In new ground, overlap each pass by half because the center where the gearbox is doesn’t get tilled.
Do you have the counterweights inside the wheels?
Your tines are improper you need too change your tines around