What is a good brand of rear-tine tiller?

[lsg]

Can someone recommend a good rear-tine garden tiller? We lost our barn Sunday to a fire and the old tiller was in the barn. It was an old front-tine tiller which was cumbersome and hard for me to use. Please give me the pros and cons of the tiller you recommend so I can pass them on to DH.

[DM]

If you want the "best" one that will last about anything short of a barn fire it HAS to be BCS!

No belts, real bearings in the axles and everyplace else and they are really built tough... They offer better motors, and have more gears in the tranny too.

BCS also offers attachments to do other things like a sno-blower or a mowing deck that goes in place of the tiller. They go on and off easily too..

This is comeing from someone who has completely wore out a "real" Troy bilt tiller and i'm half way through my second one... Sadly, Troys today are owned and built by MTD!

I would have been waaaaaaay ahead to have bought a BCS in the first place, but these days i use a tractor with a 3 point tiller, so no more struggleing with a walk behind tiller.

BTW, i'm VERY sorry to hear you had a barn fire!! I lost my combine in a barn fire a few years ago and it's very stressfull!! And in the 70's i lost my home to a fire, so i know exactly how it feels!

DM

[shadowwalker]

I have a Husky I think 7 horse power. It has reverse and is belt driven. I think the only reason it still works is that when I till/dig rocks. It stops when a rock gets stuck in the tines and stalls. Not kill the engine but stops. I think with a gear drive it would have tore up long ago. I put sta-bil in every winter and change the oil. I have used this one for 150 to 200 hours a year. Going on third year now. It always starts by third pull.

[DM]

Shadow,

You won't tear up a BCS tiller, they really are built to last!! They have a real clutch, and gearbox like a small tractor. Even if you hit a big rock that stalls the motor it won't destroy the tiller...

If i didn't have a 3 point tiller for my tractor a BCS what i'd be useing...

Most tillers will last several years, but i want a tiller that will last the rest of my life, and if i have a "big" garden, it should beable to take that too... The real difference in tillers is after they are older with lots of miles on them!!

It's amazing how much abuse a well built tiller will take...

DM