Back in about 1985 after buying my second house, I purchased a Troybuilt Pony tiller direct from the old Gardenway Company. I still have it, now on it's second engine While I've always loved it, I've wanted to find the much bigger Horse model.

I've had a few slip out of my hands, either too slow to jump when one came along or unwilling at the moment to part with the funds for one.

Came across one last fall sitting in a barn not far from where we live. told the owner (an older retired school teacher) should he want to part with it, I'd be very interested in buying it. We talked a few weeks ago and he said if I was still interested, come and get it. We agreed on a price and today I went and picked it up. He had it all set to load with a chainfall in his machine shop. I backed in and we set it in the bed of my truck. We sat in the barn and enjoyed a beer and watched it rain for a bit. My fellow "old Farts' will smile that the beverages were ice cold Hamms from his barn fridge.

When I got home, I unloaded it with the truck backed up to a hill and rolled it into my barn. Only took a couple pictures as it was raining when I got home.

I'm tickled to death that I now have this piece of machinery in my barn to use on our garden. It's well cared for, starts right up and is in overall great shape.


Barn find Troybuilt by Brad Benzing, on Flickr

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Spent many hours behind one in the mid and late 80s tilling my parents garden. I loved the freshly plowed rows.

Good luck with your new toy.

Those are one of the mechanical marvels the 20th century. A "real" Kohler engine. Congrats brad.

My horse lasted over 30 years. Bullet proof. I ran premium and changed the oil once a year. I think I spent $600 on it.

As a bonus, I received a free Squeezo.

My Dad had one that he used forever. I made the mistake of selling it to one of his neighbors when he died 30 years ago. Now that I am an old fart curmudgeon, sure wish that I had it for my gardening!

Nice score! We used to rent those out at the company I worked for in college. People beat the crap put of rental equipment, but those things took it in stride. They're easy to use, too. IMO that's the best walk behind tiller on the market, and I wish I owned one. Treat it right and you'll pass it down to your kids some day!

Years ago, when I was gardening on a fairly large scale, I had a Pony that I used as a "power hoe". Major tilling was (and still is) done with my 60 inch Howard on the tractor, but weed control between rows was done with the Pony.

As my gardening efforts dwindled, I sold the pony.

Now I'm regretting that decision. I have a MUCH smaller garden and a MUCH larger damndeer problem. I have to plant between rows of cattle panels set just far enough apart to allow me to walk between the veggies and the panel. Too far apart, the damndeer just jump them and chow down.

The downside of that is that the initial Spring tilling requires me to remove the panels and T posts and then reinstall them. I had to hire that done this year as my hands and shoulders are no longer up to the task of pounding in the T posts. If I had a small tiller, I could leave them up and just till between them.

The problem with THAT is dropping several hundred dollars on a tool I'll use once a year for a no doubt limited number of years.

Maybe I can luck into a used one like you did. Pony size would be perfect.

That's when they knew how to build stuff. Great find.

Dad got a rear tine after he retired and a
two stage snow thrower.


He did three or four neighbors gardens for a few years.

Then it got to be too much,
And since the neighbors were all his age they quit putting in gardens.

Then the lawyer neighbor told him to quit moving snow w/o a signed contract to avoid law suits.

Looks like a nice unit. I have a buddy that probably has a dozen or so in varying states of completeness and operational capabilities.

I just did a bunch of work on one from the early 1970's that had a Tecumseh engine on it. I would have much preferred that it had a B&S like you have.

I believe the unit I was working on has since been swapped over to Predator power which sounds like a popular swap.

When I was a teen in the 80’s I dreamed of having one of those. Not sure why other than seeing the commercials and wanting one. I mowed lawns for money and built and repaired mowers. I still Ike to mess with stuff like that and fix things people dump. Usually it is pretty easy to fix them.

I have one, it was my grandfathers. I'm not sure when he bought it but he died in the early 60's.

I used it for several years then it just sat outside with a cover over it. My Son needed it so I installed a new HF Predator engine because I didn't think the Kohler was worth putting money into.

You won't find any thin metal or plastic on that thing, its a beast.

Bought the original two speed model Horse in late 1970s. Wore out the tines, welded them back up with hard surface rod and wore them down again… Added DIY lead wheel weights a wrap around bumper and a 40 or so drop on or off weight to that. Overhaul the transmission when the worm gear wore out. I hated the 6HP Tecumseh engine, even with the brand new factory carburetor and a fresh rebuild I could never keep it adjusted or where the engine wouldn’t honey terribly. Life finally got busy and I disassembled it dumped it in the corner of the garage…. So I couldn’t use it in the case I got the urge to use the damn thing! It’s still sitting there. I might restore it someday but for now I have a 60 inch tiller on my John Deere tractor! I’ll make do with that!

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Your engine problems are the same as I encountered and the reason I replaced the Kohler engine with the HF.

Nice! Brings back memories. My in-laws had one decades ago and we borrowed it every year to till our garden. Truly a great piece of machinery.

Dad had one of them beasts back in the 70s. It did a wonderful job on our 1/2 acre garden.

Grew the family vegetables after preparing the soil with a Troy Built. Made it easy for the plants to grow roots quickly and deep into the soil. A marvelous machine.

quote:

Originally posted by abnmacv:
Made it easy for the plants to grow roots quickly and deep into the soil.

I agree completely. It's funny, though, almost all gardening "experts" nowadays do not recommend tilling as they say it somehow damages the soil.

I think that is BS. Which, by the way, is wonderful when it is TILLED into the garden!

For anyone who is looking for a used Troy Bilt there are tons of them for sale on Facebook marketplace. There are different sizes and different engines over the years.