MY TROY BILT SUPER BRONCO ROTOTILLER REVIEW & AWESOME GIVEAWAY

++++++CONTEST OVER+++++
Thanks! And congratulations to the winner!
Caryl from A Growing Garden

It’s that time of the summer again folks – when the back-to school ads are starting to appear on TV, and when it’s time to start thinking about the fall vegetable garden. As many of you know, I am on of the Saturday6 Troy Bilt team, so full-disclosure here – this is a review AND a giveaway. That’s right, I may be given this awesome Super Bronco Rototiller to play with, but leave a message, ‘Like’ me on my Facebook page or share this on Pinterest, Google+ or Twitter, and leave a note on what you did at the end of this post, and you will be automatically entered in this epic giveaway. Just about the best one I have ever done. The giveaway ends this Sunday night at 11:00 PM Eastern Time, and I will announce the winner Monday morning. The fine folks at Troy Bilt will then send you one of these amazing, strong tillers.

**** CONTEST OVER*****

Congratulations to our winner, Caryl from A Growing Garden. in PA.!

But more about that, here – because I won’t let them get off so easily – this was a tiller that I really put through a torture test extraordinaire ( they may never let me test on again!), as New England soil is rocky, hard and rocky. Did I mention rocky? Sure, I have a few dents, even a flat tire( really! Although it’s fixed, a rock just got jammed in between the rubber wheel and the rim, and the air squished out. A quick pump, and it was fine – no puncture – hey – they are real tires!

THE SCENE OF THE CRIME – THE SIDE GARDEN ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE GREENHOUSE

FIRST, IT HAS TAKEN THREE WEEKS FOR US TO REMOVE THE TREES INCLUDING A 35 FOOT TALL YELLOW MAGNOLIA AND A LARGE WITCH HAZEL THAT I LOVED, BUT HAD TO GO.

This part of our garden was pretty useless. Only weeds and invasive plants, and the dogs have pounded the soil into a dead pan playground. It will now be a new vegetable garden. Joe challenged me to see if it could chew up the running, invasive bamboo, plus a bed full of sting vines like bittersweet and wisteria ( I know, we were crazy!). The tiller did much better than I thought it would, but after about ten minutes the vines were just too much, and they wrapped around the tines. We had to cut them out carefully, which was tedious. Surely, one would not do this anyway – but I wanted to push it.

WITH THE LARGER TREES REMOVED, YOU CAN SEE HOW HARD THE SOIL IS. IF THIS ISN’T A TORTURE TEST, I DON’T KNOW WHAT WILL BE. THIS IS WHAT A ROTOTILLER IS BEST FOR – ESTABLISHING A NEW GARDEN FROM ROCK-HARD SOIL. THEY ARE NOT GOOD FOR RAISED BEDS, OR WELL CONDITIONED SOIL.

This was an extreme test which few tillers could handle – I’m serious, I was not easy on this machine at all. I just basically started it, and let it roll on raw, unprepped ground – as I wanted to see what would happen, as surely there are people out there who might do this. Just dig into some sod with a rototiller, when starting a garden ( I would remove the sod first, if this wasn’t a test). Our hard-soiled mess of a yard was not match, and this tiller went on and on, stopping only once to refuel. I was able to transform this under-used area into a large bed of soft soil ready to plant. 
Unlike other brands, the tines on this machine turned in an opposite direction, back towards me, so there was no jumping or jerking around. They just all moved so smoothly, strong and tireless. The only thing that really made the tiller stop, were rocks. Not surprising, most people would check for rocks first, and then tell – after all, they are rocks! Still, as rocks if large enough jammed in the tines, no damage was done, but the machine would stall. Once the rock was removed, I could restart the machine with one pull. Amazing. This is no week machine! It’s up for serious work. I only wish that I had a 200 yard long veg garden where I could use it every week between rows.
AFTER TILLING THE FIRST TIME, I REALIZED THAT I HAD TO PULL OUT MORE WEEDS WITH A RAKE, BUT I WANTED TO GIVE THIS TILLER A REAL CHALLENGE, SO NOT SOIL PREP, WEEDING OR REMOVING OF SOD – REALLY! I KNOW, I WAS BRUTAL ( SORRY TROY BILT!), BUT YOUR MACHINE KEPT ON GOING. THE ONLY THING THAT STOPPED IT WAS WHEN JOE SAID – TAKE IT THROUGH THE BAMBOO. DON’T DO THAT.

So, I will admit that I am already a Troy Bilt fan, we now have three tillers in the barn, but the other two are twenty years old. Heavy, strong, repairable, which tiller geeks love ( they even have a website just for themselves where they trade tips and parts) so this tells me that these machines are beasts, long lived and built to last. When the Tory Bilt team asked me what I wanted, I told them that what I really needed was a good, yet not massive rototiller, as I had plans on making a new garden where one had once existed 60 years ago, but  never told them that it was was now overgrown with 30 foot trees, grass and dense clay soil underneath that was rock hard, and full of rocks. You know, New England stone walls, and all.

Look, I have to be honest – if something really bad happened, I would really have to tell you – but just check out the these images. The Troy Bilt Super Bronco started on the first start every time ( even after being left out in the rain one night!), it chomped through dense, rock-hard soil that had so many rocks in it, that they caused the machine to stall ( a safety feature – but one rock did bend the metal guard that wraps over the tines – just a few  scratches that’s all, but it just kept going and going. I love Troy Bilt tillers almost as much as my parents did. And I still have their tillers! So come on folks – enter now to win this great tool! Remember, join my Facebook Page, or become a follower on this blog ( the little pictures on the right), or just leave a nice note with your name. I will use the randomizer site to select a winner Sunday Night at 11:00 PM EST. For delivery, you must reside in the continental USA and you can only enter once. Good luck!

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Comments

  1. Wow – what a fantastic give-away! I'd love a new tiller — & I have a huge property with lots of places I'd like to make new beds, as well as 100 ft rows in my veggie garden so this baby would definitely be put to use!

  2. Boy, could I use one of these! I'm in the middle of creating my first garden area (an orchard) on a neglected 13 acre property.

  3. This would be perfect for breaking ground on additions to our demonstration gardens. Thanks for the wonderful blog!

  4. Getting ready to move on to an acreage and start a nursery, so this would be just a whee bit handy. 🙂

  5. I've been thinking about what to do with an empty small patch of dirt in the backyard. This would definitely helps to make my decision.

  6. Wowee, would love to win this rototiller! Thanks for having this, Matt!

    Mary Beth (aka Miss Kelly)

  7. Thank you for sharing your review! I've thought about getting a rototiller for awhile, but I've been afraid to really search for one because we have heavy clay soil. This may be the answer! Thank you for opening my eyes!

  8. We just finished enclosing a new garden area & chicken run. This tiller will really come in handy in the upcoming months as I prepare the new area for next season.

  9. I liked you on Facebook and shared your post on Facebook (I'm Bumblebee Hollow) and on Twitter! I would use the heck out of this – I'm a small flower farmer in the Pacific Northwest in both senses of the word – a small farm, and I'm small, and do all my digging with an old garden fork. What a great giveaway, and I'm glad to have found your site in any case. 🙂

    Patti

  10. (Whoops I think my comment didn't post–try again…)
    Thank you for this opportunity! We may be moving soon, leaving behind our beautiful garden and starting all over again. This would definitely take a bit of the sting out.

  11. This is a great opportunity… thank you for offering it out! I follow your blog through Feedly + through email. I'm also like your page on FB (my name on there is Shug Frazier). Fingers crossed, and thanks again for the giveaway!

  12. This is so amazing! Love your review. Count me in…I live on what used to be a rock quarry. Need I say more?? When we dig around here, we unearth some real doozies in the rock dept. As a result, many neighbors have lovely stone fireplaces, stone edging, stone paths, etc. A tiller would change my life–and my neighbors, cuz I like to share! Thanks so much. Love your blog!

  13. A real tiller would go a long way in man-ing up the power tool collection around here! I'd love it. The veggie garden would need a reconfiguring but all the new beds I can make would be awesome. Count me in!
    Frank

  14. i like your Facebook page. i didn't even know you had a Facebook page. this tiller would be awesome to have. i live on an old rice paddy, which became a lo`i (taro patch). it's basically all clay. if you could find a kiln big enough to fire a whole yard, our land would become pottery.

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