Horses of a different breed

[Lee1977 6,643]

Had both Troy-biltt illers out today tilling the garden.  The big one is Horse and the small one is a Econo Horse. 

 

 

 

 

 

[tunahead72 2,407]

Those Troy-Bilts do such a nice job!  I have a late '70's Horse with a Kohler K-161 that I haven't used in over a decade probably.  My wife and I are going to start vegetable gardening again soon, and it's time to get it running again.  If past experience is any indicator, and I really hope it is, all I'll have to do is pump up the tires, check the oil and the spark plug, drain the old gas and fill up the tank with fresh fuel, and give it a couple pulls to get it started again.  Crossing my fingers. 

 

[peter lena 8,583]

yup that old steel from back in the day , was made to work , with little problems , just the opposite of today . most of us here can relate to using old iron that still lives on today . its good that we have a common  liking and interest in the past. pete

[Lee1977 6,643]

54 minutes ago, tunahead72 said:

Those Troy-Bilts do such a nice job!  I have a late '70's Horse with a Kohler K-161 that I haven't used in over a decade probably.  My wife and I are going to start vegetable gardening again soon, and it's time to get it running again.  If past experience is any indicator, and I really hope it is, all I'll have to do is pump up the tires, check the oil and the spark plug, drain the old gas and fill up the tank with fresh fuel, and give it a couple pulls to get it started again.  Crossing my fingers. 

 

Neither of mine have been used since 2013 .They didn't want to start pulled the breather off Econo Horse and pored a dose of Star Tron in the carb. and a little gas. It coffed,spit  chugged and settled down and ran.

I've used StaBil, SeaFoam and Star/Tron this way they all work, smokes like crazy for a little. Went and tilled with ithe econo first. t came back and changed the oil in it. THe horse has a side draft carb. hard to get any Star/tron in it. I pulled the plug and gave it a dose It fired on about the third pull. went over the garden with it. came back and changed the oil in it. They should be good to go now. The Horse is an 1989 you can put the tiller out of gear on it. The Econo belonged to my brother en laws father. 

 

 

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by Lee1977

[JCM 9,130]

Always admired those Troy Built tillers. My neighbors at my previous house were farmers and owned a Ford 8N  for many years and then scaled down their garden and bought a Troy Built. At that time my Farmall Super A was my tractor of choice for my garden that was 25' x 75' and I would use the moldboard plow to turn over the soil and then run the 6' disc harrow over it and then finish it off with an old RR tie as a drag to smooth it out before planting, boy do I miss watching that soil roll over from the operators seat. I all most pulled the plug on a new TB horse tiller to be able to keep the rows between the crops weed free but never did buy one and did it all by hand with a hoe like my neighbors did for generations. Thanks for the memories.

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

This is what dad used behind a Cub Cadet for weed control Brinly Cultivators (we never had a tiller until I bought the one for the 520 about 10 years ago)... 

[peter lena 8,583]

lee1977 really like the fact that you changed that old HOT OIL , that has a very positive affect on total operation. your fuel additive input is also very important , i would have done the same thing , stay safe , pete

[tunahead72 2,407]

On 4/29/2020 at 6:04 PM, tunahead72 said:

Those Troy-Bilts do such a nice job!  I have a late '70's Horse with a Kohler K-161 that I haven't used in over a decade probably.  My wife and I are going to start vegetable gardening again soon, and it's time to get it running again.  If past experience is any indicator, and I really hope it is, all I'll have to do is pump up the tires, check the oil and the spark plug, drain the old gas and fill up the tank with fresh fuel, and give it a couple pulls to get it started again.  Crossing my fingers. 

 

 

Just got mine started and running again yesterday, pretty much exactly according to plan, gotta love these old Kohlers!

 

@Lee1977 Have you done anything more with yours in the last couple of weeks?

 

[Lee1977 6,643]

7 minutes ago, tunahead72 said:

 

Just got mine started and running again yesterday, pretty much exactly according to plan, gotta love these old Kohlers!

 

@Lee1977 Have you done anything more with yours in the last couple of weeks?

 

No, been waiting for it to warm up.  Had some tomato plants up to transplant had them cover up, but the cold weather a week or so back froze most of them. 

[tunahead72 2,407]

I had mine out for several hours this weekend, and it's doing really well, knock on wood.  It has some minor issues that I'll address soon, and a more major leak that I think is coming from one of the seals between the engine and transmission.  It's not horrible, so it will wait a bit, but I'm wondering if you guys have any good sources for parts or information on the older machines, maybe a forum?

 

Troy-Bilt was bought by MTD probably 20 or so years ago, so parts are slightly more complicated to locate.  I did find a couple of sources that I didn't know about until last night:

Chalmers Industries (www.chalmersindustries.com)

Custom Parts (www.custompartsinc.com)

 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

Here's the FIL's TroyBilt B&S powered with electric and pull start...