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Thread: TroyBilt Tiller - It Still Hurts!!!

  1. #1

    TroyBilt Tiller - It Still Hurts!!!

    Went to local dumpsters this morning. Went to throw some metal in metal bin, and there was a TroyBilt, Horse, PTO model tiller (blown engine) in dumpster. Attendant said guy had to take rear part off just to be able to throw it in dumpster. In my younger days, I would have gone after it. I held several gold medals in dumpster diving. Being as it was in a six foot deep, and eight foot wide dumpster, the only thing I could do was look, and weep! It still hurts!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    One of my better scores was a couple of brand new Atari computers in their shipping boxes. That is about how long it has been since my serious dumpster diving days.

    My brother made a living at it for a few years. Then he decided it may be easier to just go to the companies where he was dumpster diving to see if he could haul it away for them or buy it from them. He has always been pretty good at making money, just doesn't like to be tied to a regular job.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
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    Wayland, MA
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    I just became the proud new owner of a ca 1975 Horse. The old Tecumseh engine could probably be saved, but I have neither the skills nor inclination to deal with it (an hour and a half of banged knuckles trying to figure out how to get the carburetor off was enough for me-- none of its parts would move except for the bolts holding it in place, which just spun in place and wouldn't loosen or unscrew). It turns over freely, if someone wants it you can have it. The tiller now has a nice new Honda engine, new belts, fresh lube everywhere, and is ready to rock.

    As I worked on it I was having definite "they don't build em like they used to" vibes. This thing is built like a battleship. I can't believe the weight of the steel components they used-- they would have been excessive for the 1940's. I wouldn't have tried to fish it out of a dumpster, just getting it up onto my truck took three men and a boy.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
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    Virginia
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    My grandfather had a tiller and mower set that were built in the 50s. Built like tanks. Still going strong in the 90s, but at that point when things were starting to wear out it was very hard to find parts. Do not remember who made them.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    Somewhere in the Land of Lincoln
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    I would have offered the attendant a nice bonus to help fish it out. Maybe he isn't allowed to do that I don't know. Or called in back up.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Ronald Blue View Post
    I would have offered the attendant a nice bonus to help fish it out. Maybe he isn't allowed to do that I don't know. Or called in back up.

    If I had known someone with a boom on back of a service truck, this post wouldn't have been written. Still hurts just thinking about it. Every year at Christmas, I give the attendants a Christmas card with a picture of a dead President enclosed. That's how I am able get stuff. Over the years, I have retrieved washing machines, mowers, table saws, radial arm saws, welders, air compressors, jacks. Yesterday was able to get a floor jack, with handle, and a handle for a jack I retrieved earlier.
    Last edited by Bruce Wrenn; 04-05-2020 at 4:20 PM.

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