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Garden Gate:  Resurrecting the old tiller  |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 09 2006 : 04:09:41 AM
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When hubby and I were first married, we decided we wanted country life. We bought a house out in a strip of country land shared by a dozen or so other houses, and our house had two lots. We decided to put a big garden on the second plot, and hubby went back to grad school while I tended the home place.
Our first big investment, other than our home, was our tiller.
We chose a TroyBilt tiller. In those days, being the late seventies, you could only buy TroyBilts through the mail. They were luxury tillers then, costing almost four times what the front tine tillers cost. But we had heavy clay soil there, and they seemed like they'd be so good at chopping along through the dirt, mixing in our compost, and helping improve the tilth. So we had it trucked in.
I think of it as my first horse, as that was he name of the model.
It served us exactly as represented in those days. We used it hard, as a tiller and a cultivator. We fired it up about once a week. It was everything the company had represented, and more.
When hubby finished his grad work, we sold our starter home, and moved to our country property here. That was 23 years ago.
We turned over new beds, and were astonished at the richness of the soil here. It's loamy and black, rich in organic matter, bursting with earthworms and life. We made strip type gardens and used the French dynamic/biointensive method, and grew most everything we ate.
Time wore on. The tiller needed things like spark plugs and new tines, which we replaced; and more time wore on, and we used the tiller less and less. Until about ten years ago, when my involvement with the horses grew so strong that I no longer had time to garden.
Two years ago, when my oldest grandson was four, I decided to see if the old tiller would still run. I went to the shed where it's stored, depressed the choke, opened the throttle, and pulled the cord. It coughed. One more pull and she jumped to life. After sitting for about eight years. I took it out, and with worn tines and two partially flat tires, and opened up new sod. It performed extremely well.
Last year I didn't put out a garden, because I was still working as a trainer at another barn. So many horses to work! But last fall, things changed and I left that job. I began to dream again of a nice little garden, and looked about for someone to bring my tiller back to new life. I'd looked about at new ones, and was not pleased. The TroyBilt company had been sold some time ago, and the quality had fallen a great deal.
Out here in the middle of nowhere, it's often difficult to find people to do certain kinds of work. You have to know someone who knows someone or has dealt with someone. I called my friend who was a hair stylist for many years, and asked her. She had some people there who all suggested the same place in a little town of about 400 people, about twenty miles from here. I called them, they said they'd be happy to work on my tiller, and bring her back to her old working self. I loaded her in my horse trailer and shipped her down.
When I unloaded her, she was dusty and dirty, but the mechanic's eyes lit up. "Oh, the old TroyBilts! You can't get machines like that anymore," he said. He said someone recently gave them one like mine, just because they didn't want it anymore. They cleaned it up and got it running, and were able to sell it to someone who knew the old ones, for what it cost new. He said my tiller's a beauty. I thought so, too.
He called a few days ago, and said she was ready. I went to pick her up yesterday, and he showed us what he'd done. New tines, new tires, a tune up, new spark plug, new air filter and fuel filter, cleaned out, etc. She was an old girl, but when he pulled the rope and she sprang to vigorous life the very first time, I was so glad to hear her strong and ready to go!
I turn over our new little garden this morning. Seeds and plants will be ordered in the next couple of days. It feels so good to have my old dependable partner back!
Oh, and I found out reverse can't work, so I can't get her up in some of the tight places close to the house. So I bought a little Stihl tiller. It's much like the Mantis. He assures me I can get it to bite into new sod if I take it slow. And if I have any problems or don't like it, to call him.
I can hardly explain how much I'm looking forward to summer. And I've got my old girl back! |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2006 : 10:35:06 AM
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Mary Ann -- what a wonderful story!! So glad that you got your girl back and that you'll be able to get that dirt turned over soon! There's nothing better than that!
http://therusticcottage.etsy.com
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2006 : 12:27:16 PM
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I agree with Kay...what a fabulous story. You should submit it to some gardening magazine or such...great heartwarming reading.
http://www.daisyfarm.blogspot.com |
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sonflowergurl
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
Katee
Tampa 'Burbs
FL
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2006 : 2:55:53 PM
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What I wouldn't do to have an old tiller....."sigh" :)
Awesome story! My granddaddy had a TroyBilt, and that baby could turn the soil!!! Thanks for sharing!
Katee
The end will justify the pain it took to get us here.
"Looking Toward the Son"---- http://sonflowergirl731.blogspot.com
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2006 : 04:40:37 AM
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Aww, thanks so much! It's good to know there are people who understand. And turning over the garden was glorious! She sounded strong and ready to go, and never hesitated at the sod I started into when I enlarged the old plot. It's so fun to see how it turns and fluffs the soil, and leaves a beautiful, smooth seedbed behind. The older part of it is ready to plant! I'll remove some of the bigger clods in the new part, and maybe enlarge it some more. It's so easy with the old girl helping! I feel like she was just waiting for me to come home. 
Thanks again for your kind comments! It's nice to know you understand this. |
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coconutcakes
True Blue Farmgirl
52 Posts
Emily
Summerfield
NC
USA
52 Posts |
Posted - Apr 11 2006 : 2:39:17 PM
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My father got his first Troybilt 'Horse' in 1981. He still uses it but does heavier work with a newer tractor. When I started my first garden a few years ago, I started researching good tractors, and just like you said in your post, Mary Ann, Troybilt was sold off and quality is now inferior. A farmer friend of my fathers told him that I ought to look for an old 'Horse', and they are difficult to find because they get bought up quickly.
My father bought a 1982 model last year from a farmer, but it's got to have some maintenance and repairs before I can use it. My father's been working on it some in his spare time, and I hope to get it by next year.
Do you have a copy of Dick Raymond's Joy of Gardening book from the Troybilt people? I love how he shows you how easy it is to use the 'Horse'. . . My neighbors get all jealous when they see my father over here prepping my garden with it.
You too, Mary Ann, are fortunate to have an 'old girl' like that!
I loved your story, and I'm going to tell my father about it.
Emily
"After a long period abroad nothing could make me more homesick or emotional than an American magazine ad of a luscious layer cake, except one, and that was a pictured lemon pie." Irma Rombauer, Joy of Cooking (1943) |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Apr 11 2006 : 3:36:14 PM
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Hi, Emily! No, I never got Dick Raymond's book, but I clearly remember him. I also remember Dean Leith, who was their sales manager and their spokesman. I remember the ads where they showed a front tine tiller, and beside it they wrote the word "Torture" and beside the TroyBilt tiller they had the word "Joy." Used to make us laugh, but it was effective advertising; we used to go down the road and pass someone wrestling with a front tine tiller and say "Torture." It's true, you really can till a beautiful fluffy seedbed with just one hand, walking beside a TroyBilt tiller.
We used to get a seasonal newspaper from the TroyBilt company, and I used to save canning recipes written by Janet Ballantine. I also got her book, which was a sort of counterpart to The Victory Garden one. The newspapers used to be frequent and regular, and then they became irregular, and then infrequent. And then they stopped. I really miss them; they had all sorts of information geared to the homesteader.
Please pass along my greetings to your father. It's nice to know of someone who appreciates quality equipment, even when it's old. And when you get yours, you're going to fall in love. |
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coconutcakes
True Blue Farmgirl
52 Posts
Emily
Summerfield
NC
USA
52 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2006 : 12:00:14 PM
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Mary Ann, it seems to me that I can find more practical, to-the-point basics on gardening and such if I look for old, out-of-print books. I had bought a number of newer regional books written by ag experts and experienced gardeners in my state, but that Dick Raymond book is really the only one I've needed for dealing with the soil, composting, setting my garden up, taking care of various plants and their common pests, etc.! There's even great 'tricks' in it.
We had to take our Mantis tiller in for repair the other day to a local feed and seed, and I saw a man picking up his newly repaired 'Horse'. After he left, I asked the repair guy, a young fellow in his early 20s, how old the man's 'Horse' was. The repair fellow didn't know, but he started telling me (and I quote): "They still make that same exact model. . . It'll run you about $2200, but you can get the same thing now."
And I immediately knew the repair guy probably didn't know as much as he thought he did.
I can't wait to have my own 'Horse'. . . even if she is old.
Emily
"After a long period abroad nothing could make me more homesick or emotional than an American magazine ad of a luscious layer cake, except one, and that was a pictured lemon pie." Irma Rombauer, Joy of Cooking (1943) |
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sonflowergurl
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
Katee
Tampa 'Burbs
FL
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2006 : 12:31:12 PM
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"sniff, sniff" (in my best whiney voice)....I want a tiller!!! (any tiller will do at this point!) I want to have a garden, but I don't want to dig it all up by hand! LOL "sigh" hehe
Katee
The end will justify the pain it took to get us here.
"Looking Toward the Son"---- http://sonflowergirl731.blogspot.com
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akcowgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
296 Posts
Valerie
Homer
Alaska
USA
296 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2006 : 1:48:25 PM
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Ok this sounds really stupid but your story made tears come to my eyes. I grew up in an area were we just did not go out and by new things, we had to fix what we had. This story reminds me of that and it is true "they just done make things the way they used too" I want a tiller like this, i have very hard clay soil and this would work great on it.
Valerie
Alaska Girl all the way
Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
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Garden Gate: Resurrecting the old tiller |
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Resurrecting the old tiller
