Whats the verdict on Craftsman tillers?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Whats the verdict on Craftsman tillers?

Posted: 1/12/2013 5:50:08 AM EDT

I saw today they are having a sale on 25% off outdoor equipment. You can pick up their cream of the crop Craftsman tiller for around $700. How do these shape up compared to other tillers? I couldn't find much info on them online.

Tiller in question. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07129932000P

Posted: 1/12/2013 6:00:59 AM EDT

[#1]

I've got one and love it. It's a hoss and will do whatever job you have.

Posted: 1/12/2013 6:04:04 AM EDT

[#2]

I've got one I bought new about 20 years ago, and it's still going strong. And ours gets used heavily. Hard to judge the quality of today's models vs. 20-year old, but ??

Posted: 1/12/2013 6:10:16 AM EDT

[#3]

I have one and i use it for tilling between rows. My gardens are about 1.2 acres each and that would take forever with that thing. Its nice for small stuff but i used my 35 horse for the big stuff. I have not had any problems with mine other than a dirt dauber getting in the intake...sneaky lil bastards.

Posted: 1/12/2013 7:19:06 AM EDT

[#4]

I've got one. Came with the property. It is a reliable starter, and does what is supposed to!
It's tines do get bent if there are significant stones in the soil. Once they are bent, efficiency and depth are reduced.

Ray

Posted: 1/12/2013 7:23:08 AM EDT

[#5]

Mine is about 4 years old and does a great job except that it's lean and surges under load.

Anybody got an easy fix for this?

Posted: 1/12/2013 7:42:48 AM EDT

[#6]

Well I pulled the trigger on it. Thanks for the advice!

Checking out online saved me another $40.

Posted: 1/12/2013 12:54:28 PM EDT

[#7]

We've got some of the old front tine Sears tillers. The one I have is the first one dad bouht in 1974. He got another one off my uncle and another one from a friend of his. Same models, same vintage.

If these ever wear out I might have to buy another one.

Posted: 1/12/2013 4:54:10 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
Mine is about 4 years old and does a great job except that it's lean and surges under load.

Anybody got an easy fix for this?

Running well at full throttle or idle, but bogging and surging under load in my experience was usually a carb problem, usually too lean. Perhaps varnish in the carb?

Posted: 1/12/2013 8:15:49 PM EDT

[#9]

OP have you had the chance to give it a try yet?

bfb

Posted: 1/13/2013 4:12:11 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
OP have you had the chance to give it a try yet?

bfb

No, probably won't get a chance to use it for a month or two.

Posted: 1/13/2013 5:07:10 AM EDT

[#11]

Do the tines cover the full 18 inches with no gaps when it tills? I have a the base model of another brand tiller that the tines leave a 2 - 3 inch gap in the middle when I till. It drives me crazy to have 16 inches tilled with a two+ inch center piece of dirt not tilled in each row. I have to make another pass on each row, but offset a few inches to cover the whole row. I think the depth bar in the middle of the tines causes the gap.

It's getting close to plowing time down here and I would like to upgrade the tiller.

bfb

Posted: 1/13/2013 5:48:40 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Do the tines cover the full 18 inches with no gaps when it tills? I have a the base model of another brand tiller that the tines leave a 2 - 3 inch gap in the middle when I till. It drives me crazy to have 16 inches tilled with a two+ inch center piece of dirt not tilled in each row. I have to make another pass on each row, but offset a few inches to cover the whole row. I think the depth bar in the middle of the tines causes the gap.

It's getting close to plowing time down here and I would like to upgrade the tiller.

bfb

I would be happy to tell you when I pick it up. Its was raining all day yesterday and supposed to rain again today so I can't pick it up in the truck. I will let you know as soon as I can go get it.

Posted: 1/13/2013 7:48:14 AM EDT

[#13]

I have a 25 year old 7hp Troy and runs great. My 87 Dad uses it as well and he has no issues handling it...

Posted: 1/14/2013 8:52:29 AM EDT

[#14]

Grandparents gave me theirs. It's probably between 15-20 years old. Starts like a champ and runs well. I love the counter-rotating tines. My garden is so small, however, than I can do it in about 2 minutes with a bunch of basically donuts. One day...

Posted: 1/14/2013 11:52:33 AM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
Do the tines cover the full 18 inches with no gaps when it tills? I have a the base model of another brand tiller that the tines leave a 2 - 3 inch gap in the middle when I till. It drives me crazy to have 16 inches tilled with a two+ inch center piece of dirt not tilled in each row. I have to make another pass on each row, but offset a few inches to cover the whole row. I think the depth bar in the middle of the tines causes the gap.

It's getting close to plowing time down here and I would like to upgrade the tiller.

bfb

Check your tines... when they get bent they can do this.

Posted: 1/15/2013 11:46:25 AM EDT

[#16]

Thanks I will have a look.

Posted: 1/15/2013 2:27:56 PM EDT

[#17]

I have one that is around 20 years old as well. It has a stamped steel gearbox so I always make sure it is stopped and I am easy on it when shifting. It has never given me a problem. I use it between the rows in the garden to keep the weeds down.

Posted: 1/20/2013 8:11:15 AM EDT

[#18]

We have a craftsman tiller, a few years older than the one pictured, but it looks similar to the one pictured, and was the heaviest one sold by Sears at the time. It works well, however, our soil is rocky and although we pick the rocks each year, they are still multiplying, and we break a lot of sheer pins. A lot meaning several a day (we have a really big garden though). I would order extras if you have rocky soil.

Since then we purchased an old troy built and loaned the craftsman out to a family that has better soil. The Craftsman still works fine for them, and the troy built works better going through our rows. We use a different pto tiller for the entire garden.

Posted: 1/20/2013 6:58:52 PM EDT

[#19]

Thanks for all the input, guys. We picked our new tiller up the other day. Got it out of the box and threw it together in about 30 minutes. Ran it for about 10 minutes and put it in the shed. It will probably be a month or so before I can give it till any ground with it. Ground is pretty wet and its going to freeze again soon. It seems to be built pretty well. Started up on second pull. Its pretty hefty and I think it will till fairly smooth.

If anyone else is interested in buying this tiller and want some specifics about it just post and I'll see if I can answer them for you.

Posted: 1/20/2013 7:30:49 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
I've got one I bought new about 20 years ago, and it's still going strong. And ours gets used heavily. Hard to judge the quality of today's models vs. 20-year old, but ??

this is exactly what i was going to post. except it was my dads. ran great from the 80's, up until i got ahold of it, and unfortunately didn't keep it covered like i should have. but man what a beast it was.

today? hard to say.......

Posted: 1/21/2013 10:23:27 AM EDT

[#21]

I can't say for certain, but I've heard that those made within the last 10 years have bearing problems in the gearbox. Bearing replacement is an "all-winter" type of project because the only way to split the gearbox is to mostly disassemble the entire tiller.

I have one of that vintage that has some bad bearings in the gearbox and I've been dreading and putting it off for a couple years now. The bearings only make horrible noises in reverse so I will just put up with it for now. I have too much other important stuff on my list of things to do. I only have a small garden and the tiller only passes over it once a year.

Posted: 1/21/2013 4:20:03 PM EDT

[#22]

Dude seriously, check craigslist first. I just scored a 26 inch, 5 hp Poulin with a Briggs and Straton motor for 150 bucks. Saved my ass like 700 bucks.

I've already tilled about 4000 sq ft to a depth of about 12 inches, and I only got it acouple days ago.

Posted: 1/23/2013 5:07:07 AM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
Dude seriously, check craigslist first. I just scored a 26 inch, 5 hp Poulin with a Briggs and Straton motor for 150 bucks. Saved my ass like 700 bucks.

I've already tilled about 4000 sq ft to a depth of about 12 inches, and I only got it acouple days ago.

This is definitely good advice, I scored my Craftsman tiller for free on craigslist.... guy said the transmission went out of it... I got it home and played around with it a little and found out the shift pin backed out and it just wasn't shifting into gear. 5 minutes and zero tear-down involved and I had the thing up and running. Carb rebuild and a little work and it's all good except that bad bearing in the transmission.

Posted: 1/23/2013 4:43:29 PM EDT

[#24]

for others that are considering a tiller... also check out tractor supply. I picked up a really nice honda powered tiller on sale from them in november. I have used it to till a 50" garden plot and it works like a champ. The honda engine is so smooth and easy to start. Makes tilling actually a pleasant experience.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Whats the verdict on Craftsman tillers?

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