Great tiller. February 21, 2010

I purchased this tiller a little over 2 years ago because I wanted to get back into gardening. My previous tiller was an old front tine tiller that was alot of work to use so when I decided to get a new one I wanted a rear tine since I had used one before and liked how much easier it was to control. I went to my local Sear's store and talked with the owner and he recommended this one.This will be the 3rd season that I have used this tiller and it still impresses me every time I use it. It always starts on the first pull and is powerful enough to break the soil up completely on one pass. I can walk beside it and steer it with one hand. It does all the work. I love the duel rotating tines because I set it on counter rotating to initially break the ground and use the forward rotating setting to culitvate between the rows throughout the season to keep the weeds down.After using my tiller my brother and a friend of mine both bought one too and have had the same results. It was by far my best gardening investment.

Biggest piece of junk I ever bought from Sears November 26, 2009

Well lets see.  Bought on Special in January in box.  Went to put together first of May and missing a bunch of parts.  Took back to Sears and they swapped it for one already assembled.  Went home tilled garden and shifted hard.  Called Sears Tech added 3 tubes of grease to tranny.  Went to till the garden in this fall, and it quit pulling.  Took it back to Sears and they put in a tranny.  Got home and almost to the garden and quit again.  Another call to Sears tech claimed belt was off (my wife said he was using a hammer on it).  Now when engaged sounds like a hammer in it.  Sears refuses store credit and looks like I'll be stuck with another one.  Or a cheaper on for the price of this.   Don't buy.  Don't buy.  Don't buy.  If you do buy program Sears number in your phone.

So Far, So Good... September 26, 2009

I picked this up as a customer return and got an excellent deal on it for light use around the yard. So I'm already biased.

When I got it home, the belt had come off after pushing it around a few feet; as many other users had stated. However, you should know this was a simple fix by adjusting the belt keeper tabs with a pliers then making sure the belt cover is installed properly. I did this once and still no problem.

This thing is a beast! I use a shallow till depth with the tines rotating forward and make multiple passes instead of trying to churn up too much in one pass. My yard is full of buried, small to medium size granite boulders, in hard red clay, and it just skipps right over them with no problem turning the clay soil into very nice usable dirt. You do not need to use a lot of down force to churn up the soil.

It is a little tricky to get it into gear using the tines. But the handle height is adjustable and I found it goes into gear much easier when it is the lower position. I use the upper position for storage.

Although the engine is not a Briggs, I will say so far it has started everytime on the first pull. The red On/Off switch broke on it and I bought a new one on the Internet for about 10 bucks (shipped). The previous owner may have had something to do with that... not sure, don't care.

I know I wouldn't pay $650 for any tiller since this is just something that is nice to have and not a necessity for me. However, I'm very pleased with the performance of this machine. And I believe it deserves a good review when used correctly. I will add, however, if you're not mechanically inclined, you may be better off either renting one, buying the extended service warranty, or spending some big money on a commercial model.

the belt comes off too easy September 20, 2009

don,t by this the belt came off 3 times in less then 1 hour i loaded it back up and returned it (the same day). the people at sears were great and returned my money so hats off to them but for the tiller 2 thumbs down.