 | Brand Troy-Bilt Model TB144 Listprice $299.00 Price $335.00 |
This newly designed 2-in-1 machine cultivates your garden AND makes a crisp bed edge. The versatile design means you can convert it quickly from a cultivator to an edger with no tools. Plus, it is lightweight for easy maneuvering. Thats why it is a favorite of gardeners with small vegetable, flower or herb gardens. Front bumper and border edger attachment included. 2-year limited warranty. U.S.A. ....read more
Not Bad for a Bumblebee
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this cultivator for my wife to use in keeping her 1st year garden void of grass. This little machine is fantastic, as long as it’s used for the purpose it was intended to do. Once my wife became familiar with it she has no difficulty useing it. It is not a big time tiller, even though it will handle some larger tilling jobs. If you use it for it’s intended purpose this cultivator works just dandy. It’s easy to start and easy to use. The only drawback I see is it’s tiny, super small gas tank. It needs a larger gas tank. I recommend this cultivator.
Don’t buy Troy Bilt!!!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
This is the worst piece of equipment that we have ever bought. We purchased it 3 1/2 years ago from Lowe’s. Took it home and it wouldn’t start. Took it back to Lowe’s and they would not replace it. They said it had to be sent for repair. The Lowe’s man could not start it either. Came back from repair 1 month later and said they put a new carburator on it. Took it home, and it would not start. Took it back, and another sales person started it. The directions for starting it was wrong in the the Troy Bilt manual that came with it. Managed to use it a couple of times that first year. Last summer, it quit running. Warranty was over. Spent $152.00 for another carbureator etc. Bye the end of that season, it quit running again. Spent $25.00 to have somebody else look at. It started up, but now it won’t start this season. I am not going to use it anymore. I have spent enought money on it and it raises my Blood Pressure cause we have had so much trouble with it. This is the last Troy Bilt product that we will ever buy again.
Good for Light Work
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I had a Troy Bilt for twenty years and it was always a bear to start, 2 cycle machine. This is easier to start as a 4 cycle but it is not as powerful. It works well for light tilling, I have an old Troy Bilt Horse for the heavier work. I have used it the past summer and it has held up well thus far. IT is a light weight machine, it is inexpensive, and it can be used in gardens where the tilling is in reasonable soil. It will have difficulty in heavier clay soils as well as in rocky soils.
I waited a season to write this review to see how the machine fared. For the type of garden maintenance I use if for it was a good buy. The problem with Troy Bilt is that since their bankruptcy a few years back their parts are often difficult to get and thus self repair is a problem.
If you have heavy or rocky soils I would not suggest this machine. If you want a good light weight machine this is not bad.
On the negative side it runs at high rpm and the speed control is non existent. I did have more control over the 2 cycle machine.
Please Read B4 You Purchase
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Many Problems. 1. Black Tube and wire wrapped drive shaft bent and broke. 2. Tines broke. 3. Handle broke off on the bottom where it attaches to the lower assembly. 4. More tines bent and broke and 5. The cylinder head moves back and forth when the engine runs and spews out the oil.
My Previous tiller was a NOMA that I purchased from Lowes and it worked 12 years without problems in the same soil. I could not find a NOMA so I purchased a Mantis because of their iron clad warranty and blemish free reputation.
Bad Buy
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Worst piece of equipment I’ve ever owned. Bought for light duty use, I have a full size tiller for heavy jobs. Engine dropped a valve in 15 minutes of use and locked up. Poor customer service and parts were back ordered for 3 months.
Good Lightweight Tiller for Lightweight Jobs
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
For lightweight tilling projects, this lightweight tiller does a good job. However, if you have a tilling project for a large area and/or involving compacted clay soil and/or soil containing roots and rocks and/or tilling soil planted with grass, then you are going to have to do a lot of heavy duty pick and shovel work before this tiller is of any use. Also, for this type of product, I would make sure that Amazon’s price is considerably less than Lowes. Once you fill it up with gas and oil and try the tiller, forget about returning it to Amazon; while returns are straightforward with Lowes.
Dirt Eating Cultivator
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The producr came in non-operating order. It had to be fixed before I could use it. The company that sold it is still, one month later not adjusting the price of the item from NEW to USED!
I would not recommend the company 1outdoorstore@gmail.com.
rototiller
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
So far, my husband is very happy with his new toy. He used to have a giant one, but it was too big and too heavy. Now he can cultivate his garden with little effort. He’s happy, so I’m happy.
Go Mantis
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Bought the Troy-Built cultivator last spring, used 2 times (briefly),worked well. Third time, the pull start broke. Replaced. Second tiller broke after two uses, same problem. The Troy-Built site had many complaints of tillers breaking after a couple of uses.
We had a used Mantis cultivator which I gave to my dad after 30 years of use and it’s still going strong. Forget Troy-Built, go Mantis.
Great little tiller
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This little tiller is perfect for my needs. It’s light weight, easy to start and operate and doesn’t bounce around as much as a similar tiller I had tried. Best of all because it’s a 4-cycle engine I can use straight gas, no oil mixing required.
junk
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
The third time I used the tiller the valve spring broke. I repaired that my self. The next time I used it after about 20 min. it started leaking oil and locked up almost instantly. I would not recomend this tiller to my worst enemy. Troy Built used to stand for quality not any more.
Troy built name is tarnished
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
After using an old troy built horse for years I had to choose between mantis and troy built for a small tiller. I chose troy built because of the name. Immediately the transmission gear tore up. It was fixed for free (after driving about 80 miles) and very soon was broke again with the same problem. Pieces broke off or fell off, it is now collecting dust in my storage building. The people that repaired it also rented tools and said they recommended mantis because they did not break as easily as the troy built.
For $300, I expect a working machine at a minimum
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought this yesterday and upon taking it out of the box, the wheel and axle assembly broke off. The axle was welded on with a spot weld that broke off as I was removing the cultivator from the box! Terrible design, don’t waste your money.
happy tiller owner
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
was real pleased to get it fully assembled. started right up and went to work with it right away. Was pretty happy. The only thing I could find uncomfortable was the handle position. Otherwise a very good product
Worth the money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This little rototiller is definitely worth the money. It’s hard-working, light, and started the first pull.
Great Cultivator
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am quite pleased with this `lil unit. But you must understand that this is NOT a tiller! If you have a large area and/or need to dig to a significant depth, this is not the unit you want. I use this cultivator for very small areas and turning over the top couple of inches of dirt. It is very easy to maneuver due to its size and weight. It is great for making shallow trenches and digging around plants for removal and transplanting. The true test will be how well it stands up to repeated use but so far it has performed to my expectations.
great little cultivator!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I got it and assembly was a no-brain er. I worked well turning the soil and breaking up the hard clods in my 8×8′ square foot garden. Starting was a breeze…just follow the quick start instructions. Looks like a good investment so far at a fair price!
A great item that is not for everybody
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I should have done more research before buying a cultivator/tiller for my garden. We have extremely heavy clay soil over most of our yard. I now know that any cultivator or tiller would have had the same problems and really isn’t the best thing for clay rich soils to begin with. The clay gets stuck to the blades (on any tiller) and you end up with a “hardpan” below whatever depth your tiller dug to. Even with a super heavy duty unit that could muscle through the clay better you would end up ruining your soil to some extent if you have a heavy clay soil. Otherwise I think this product would have been a great investment for us.
In the few spots where our soil is more sandy this cultivator works great. It is a bit noisy but it is a solid product. It would be a great thing to own especially if you had already established flowerbeds and you were digging in compost and such. The unit runs on gasoline and had a separate oil port for 4 cycle motor oil that you would change and monitor just as you would a car. No need for mixing fuel. You do need to change the oil and add new oil to the chamber once in a while (just as you would a car). It seems to be quite fuel efficient as well. I have not tried the “edging” feature. The edger blade comes with the unit and requires a little more assembly to “convert” it to this function. But, I mainly bought it for its primary function. The unit is light, well constructed, and easy to start.
If I had to “do it again”, I would not have bought this unit. But, it has nothing to do with the quality of the item rather the soil in my yard. Some yards are just not tiller friendly.
Poor starter design
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Sadly we did no research before buying, relying on the Troybilt name…I got this in June 2008 – it’s now mid July 2008 and I’ve had this in the shop 3 times for repairs to the starter system. Most recently the repair shop completely replaced the starter system – I picked it up Saturday and I’m on my way back today (Wednesday) because – again – the starter line is not engaged and so the thing can’t be started. When it works, it’s great, lightweight, just the thing for my raised bed gardens. Sadly the reliability is very poor. Reading through the reviews I see a number of others have had similar problems. Would not recommend this unit.
I love this tiller
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been working my raised bed vegetable garden by shovel, rake & hoe the last 10 years. Even though each year I mix in compost, my clay soil is still so heavy and clumpy that I could not break up the soil well by hand. I finally decided I would quit the vegetable garden unless I got a tiller. I chose the Troy-bilt mini tiller and am glad I did. It starts up fine (after reading and following the instructions). My soil is finally broken down to a soil-like consistency vs. the clumps I had when working it by hand. It tilled as deep as I wanted when I slowed down to work each section of the garden. Since I had never before used a tiller, during my first use, I was walking through my garden at a fairly fast pace and was surprised that the tiller tilled such at a shallow depth. I then read a review about slowing way down and letting the tiller do its job by digging in the soil. It worked like magic! It is light enough for me to carry from the shed and control & manuever. I really love this tiller.
Troy-Bilt 26cc
Not a very macho guy machine. I have a large rear tine Troy Built (very macho) but it was near impossable to us in my boxes, the light 26cc is a perfect fit for my needs.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This product is as described. I have elevated planter boxes and it works great. One draw back is that it is very small and us big guys (6-2, 280) will get laughed at by their wifes when using
Great Toy if that is what you want
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
The shaft broke, less than 3 hours on machine. My soil bed has very few rocks and it took less time to just shovel till the ground. What a piece of junk.
troy-bilt cultivator
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought one for my son and it worked so good he let me borrow it for a project and I could handle it myself, which I cannot use the big tillers and had to buy one for myself.
Powerful, did a great job
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This tiller works great, starts up on one try. Wheels are close so it can tip over. If you use it properly it should be fine.
Don’t waste your money on this machine!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
When considering purchasing this Troy-Bilt gas cultivator last month, I was concerned about the earlier review that cited repeated failures of the recoil starting mechanism. However, because that review was over a year old, I figured that Troy-Bilt would have improved the design by now, and nearly all of the other reviews were quite positive, so I ordered the cultivator. Bad decision. After twenty minutes of use (the cultivator does an excellent job of working the soil), I shut off the machine to clear some debris from the tines. When I tried to restart it, the rope had no spring tension and pulled out to its full length and wouldn’t retract. An authorized repair facility told me the spring hadn’t been wound tightly enough, so they tightened it and tested the starter several times successfully. I then used the cultivator for a few minutes and assumed the problem had been fixed. Wrong. When I tried to start it for my third session, the starter mechanism failed again in the same fashion. Now I will have to take the cultivator back to the repair facility and hope they will order a replacement part. But even if they replace the part, I don’t think I will ever be able to trust this machine to hold up. As an earlier reviewer noted, the Troy-Bilt name doesn’t mean what it used to. My father bought me a Troy-Bilt Horse model tiller in the mid-1970s, and I used it extensively for twenty years, then gave it to a friend, who is probably still using it. It’s sad that the Troy-Bilt reputation for solid, durable equipment has been tarnished–if not destroyed–by MTD’s apparently insufficient commitment to quality.
A Great Little Work Horse. Does the Job
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this unit to help prepare my 4 raised gardens for planting. In Arizona, we get several plantings and crops per year so we do a lot of garden work. The trees growing near the gardens love to send roots into the soft soil of the garden. I wanted to buy a tiller that wasn’t full size and easy to use.
I’ve had this Troy Built unit now for a short time but have spent 6 hours hard running time putting it through its paces. I found it easy to start and operate. It doesn’t wear you out like a full size tiller does. I was very happy how deep it digs. Once you break through the surface, it keeps grinding deeper and deeper. I think I tilled at least a foot deep over the entire surface. It chewed up all the tree roots. The roots were so plentiful that they actually rolled up on the blades, so I had to stop and clean them off every so often.
It is a clean 4-cycle running machine so you don’t have to mix oil and gas. It is VERY easy to start and the priming bulb is a very good addition to make it start easier.
I am VERY happy with the purchase so far and have the gardens planted for another crop of veggies and flowers for the wonderful mild winter of Arizona.
Poor design
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I purchased the Troy-Bilt 4-Cycle 1.1 HP Gas Cultivator #144R because it was advertised to be a cultivator/edger. My power edger had just broke and I needed to replace it and I also needed cultivator. That was a mistake!
The edger does not work as well as a standard edger. I later purchased an edger.
The cultivator on the other hand works well. However the start cord does not retrieve/rewind without continuous help. The back wheels are attached rather loosely and make the cultivator hard to tow from job to job.
Nice little mini-tiller
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Overall, very pleased with this unit so far. My major complaint would be that the back wheels are too close together, and this leads to some stability problems. The wheels were probably placed so close together so that the tiller would work with the edging kit (as, when I used it to edge sidewalk, the wheels stayed on the cement).
Unit started up just like it stated in the directions, things appear to be easy to get to, and it did a pretty decent job of breaking things up. This definitely isn’t a full-blown high-power tiller, so don’t expect it to go cutting through everything at lightning speed. For small gardens (the ones we do are only about 8′x12′ total) and routine edging, this appears to be a reasonable choice.
A lot of power in a small package
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was pleasantly surprised at the power that the Troy-Bilt 4-cycle cultivator had. I needed a small tiller to use in several raised garden beds. This tiller fluffed the beds quickly and easily. I even used it to break-in some new beds – the tiller broke through the soil with little effort. It did jam on a rock at one point, but the tines were easy to remove and replace after freeing the stone. I also LOVE the fact that it is 4-cycle – no mixing of the oil and gas! I was running out of gas cans for all of the different gas mixes my power equipment needed. The only thing that I have found that I don’t like about this machine is the wheels – they are too narrow and unstable. The instability makes it hard to drag it around the yard because it is always falling over. The narrow wheels also make it hard to till – they were always sinking into the soil and holding the machine in place. I ended up removing the wheels completely and pulling the tiller backwards and letting it run forward. It worked great (and gave a great upper body workout at the same time), but it could be an issue for someone with poor strength or balance. Other than the wheels, I have no problem recommending this machine to any small gardener.
troy-built 144r is excellent,,butttt
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
my experience is that thee starting assembly is cheap…i had trouble from the get go with the starter…sometimes the starter won’t catch,,,frustrating….got to be a saturday mechanic to keep it running…now i have trouble on accelleration which i’m trying to figure now..also at times the on off switch won’t shut off the engine…great machine and i love the power and work it is capable of doing for a small machine..had the thing running only a few hours though…it does need reengineering on the things i mentioned..i would take it in for repairs but it is a hassle…i could have sent it back then i’d have no machine and lose shipping cost..