Budget Friendly UPGRADE - Saving an Old Troy Bilt Tiller from the Scrap Pile! 

Be sure to check the transfer case oil their should be two spots on that machine that needs to be filled. It's a good idea to drain it and fill it with new oil. On my old Troy build I ran some sea foam minute a few times before I changed it and the oil looked pretty bad. These old troy builds are not made anymore it's good to see people taking care of them. I also got mine from the dump! We live in a throwaway society, And it shows!

I just put a new transmission oil seal on the one my Dad bought in 1976, i got the briggs and stratton with the reverse gear pulley... these old Troy Bilt tillers are built like tanks..

I just picked up a 1975-1976 Troy Bilt Horse with a 7 hp Kohler engine. Apparently the previous owner got pissed when the belts broke and he left it in the garden for 20 years. Someone else got it and had it for several years knowing that it was a quality unit. He asked if I wanted it. The engine rotates and has compression. The fuel tank is gone and the carburetor is seized. I took it anyways and know I could put a new HF Predator on it if needed. The carburetor has been removed and unseized right now after letting it soak in JP Blaster and ultrasonic bath. I got the inner butterfly to move and kept moving it so I could unscrew the disk. The shaft was removed, cleaned up, and reinstalled. Electric work is next since the coil had lost insulation by hungry mice. The tires had spray foam injected into them and seem to be fine since they are weather checked and still have some tread on them. I won't replace them with new sneakers unless the old ones fail on me. The tine guard side seem to have fallen off or broke off at some point in time. There is some welding bead on one since like someone tried to repair them. I am not sure if having the sides off will matter. I really like this old tiller. I left like I was given a Christmas present. I fixed up a smaller Wisconsin tiller last year and it worked really well. The motor was in bad shape and I was able to get a used Honda engine replacement for $50. But I think I can get this Kohler back to running shape. Thanks for the video.

I still have the 1978 TroyBuilt Tiller we bought new for our garden in St. Louis, MO, then took it to Michigan, then to Shreveport, LA, then to Jefferson, TX where I wound up stopping gardening. Brought it to Arp, TX and have not rebuilt it yet. It has a 7 HP Kohler engine. It was great to till up a garden with. Not long after we got it, they came out with the tine engagement clutch and I wished I had known about that before I bought ours but would not sell it to get the new one.

Now that is a Hot Rod Tiller for sure. Good looking garden spot. Looks like it is working great.

Just ordered a new set of Carlisle tires for mine, can't wait to get it back into service!

Good video buddy she’s doing it!!! Getting her tilled right up!

Don't disconnect the oil level sensor in this application... normally the engine is running with the nose of the tiller up at a significant angle... 30°-40° as you can see. If the oil level gets too low, you could sieze the engine even though in a "normal" application the level would be adequate. In fact, you might consider slightly overfilling the crankcase to ensure there is adequate oil for the slinger to throw around inside when the tiller is operating. Briggs and Stratton made a special version of the 8hp engine designed especially for this tiller with a larger oil sump just for this very reason.

37 years ago , I inherited from my grandfather a Troybilt of the same vintage as this one in the video 1972 I believe may be the MFG year date . Mine is powered by a Tecumseh HH60 engine and it still works well , but , the only easily available parts are the usual things like carbs and gaskets. Small engines were worth fixing long ago when a crank cost $12,95 cents. Nowadays if any major part of a small engine breaks the better thing to do is to take it to the scrap yard, because a new engine costs less than the repair parts. That said . In my opinion the only tillers that should be sent to the scrap pile are any that are not TROYBILT of this vintage and possible only a few years later . On a head to head comparison ...no brand comes close to the ability to break ground , easy of operation , ruggedness , or longevity , to say nothing of the fact that they were specifically deigned to have a standard 4 bolt engine case mount continued to the present by practically all small engine makers .Troybilt itself used different various engine brands during any given years of production. Kohler , Briggs and Tecumseh were nothing more than DOLLAR choices. They were all interchangeable ,as are the new Honda OHV and clones . Scrapping a tiller like these because it needs a re-motor is criminal , or should be 😁😂😂.Nothing like them in every category is ever going to be made again, for a couple of hundred bucks worth of new engines ...they will go another 51 years like mine has , which incidentally will be willed away as inheritance when I am done with it. Good job on the swap

I bought an old tillsmith rear tine tiller very early this spring that needed work. Its built like a tank,but has no reverse or different forward speeds. It just goes one speed and you have to manhandle it pretty hard. Its powered by a 5hp Briggs and the carb and gas tank were both shot. I bought a new carb and tried to patch the tank,but it's still surging and cutting out. I just got a new harbor freight 212 to put on it but its growed up in pumpkin vines in the garden where it died. I just planted around it,lol. It weighs about 300lbs and I cant get it out by myself. When the garden gets harvested I'll do the engine swap and hope it goes smoothly. Glad yours is workin great.

Freakin SICK! I have an troy built tiller from what I can think is the mid 80s that won't turn on anymore. I think i'll do the same swap.

There just Tuff ! Mine is 63 and still runs fine. Something are designed as built to last !

You started without us.

I took my Kohler 7hp off mine and put on a 400 small block chevy and spliced in a Muncie 4 speed and took the guts out of a roomba robot vacuum and it does the whole job by it self , it plows a acre per minute while I'm sitting in the lawn chair playing on my phone

This is funny I just did that to my old troybuilt today with the same engine

Bought a 224 few months back for a mini bike then went another way with mini ended up with another 17 inch tin tiller with a 6hp Tecumseh governor leak oil everywhere so this weekend think I'll be swapping the 224 to it

Just picked up a 1990s junior series troy just waiting for a new carb hopefully it'll be a strong runner without swapping engines

Sounds like bunch bolts slipping around. When first started.

Great job! I was a little worried there when you first fired it up.. It sounded like a bucket of bolts rattling around. :) I have an almost identical Troybilt that was behind my shed (tarped) for the last 20 years or so. Now that I'm retired, I have the time to work on it. -Just had some new tires shipped to me, so getting the dry rotted ones off and the new ones installed will be my first job. Then, I'll be able to move it to an area where I can work on it. I'm not sure if the engine needs replacement, but I know the carb will. Thank you for the video. The HF engine looks like a good choice and the price is right. How has it been working for you?

Will the bumper fit with the new engine? I have near the same tiller but would like to have bumper on. Thanks!

what was that noise/rattle after you first got it started?

Break it in and run synthetic. I just did the same install only I went with the tried and true 212 because I bought it 60 bucks cheaper and the 224 has a plastic cam gear.Im sure it's fine though .

Any aftermarket diesel engines that would make a suitable swap?

This pulley is the devil! 😅.

new tires would make a big difference

just curious, since using it now for 2 years, any issues with when your tilling it shuts off on ya? i replaced my original tech engine several years ago with a b&s and it ran fine for couple years, had to put new carb on last year, and now this season, i get half a row tilled and it shuts off, tip it flat and runs fine, so strange. thinking might be a fuel issue, but ran fine for years and now this. might swap with harbor freight engine, was just curious.

What's the shaft size? Is it the same side cover mounting as the 212 and same shaft size? Thanks Der Guy.

Never use a impact on the motor housing.