Does anyone have experience with Troy built snowblowers. Lowes sells them
and they seem to be built better than the other brands that I've seen?

Thanks

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 21:29:16 GMT, "houseslave"
wrote:

Does anyone have experience with Troy built snowblowers. Lowes sells them
and they seem to be built better than the other brands that I've seen?

Thanks



My brother bought a Troy-bilt today from Sam's Club. The details and
some non-engine parts are identical to my Craftsman. It looks like
another Murray, Yard-Man, Craftsman, etc... product to me.

Some parts are actually interchangeable.

Barry

Engines on all these models are common, either B&S or Tecumseh snow king.
The rest of the blower you need to look at. The Murray I bought in '97 is
spot-welded along the drum, I'd look for something where the entire seem
was welded. Also, the up/down adjustment of the chute needs to be manually
adjusted where I know n MTD's they are operated at the controls.
The light and chains were extra, check what comes with the Troy Built.
One more thing, check the smaller lawnmower/blower places around you and
what manufacturers they do service on. All should do work on the simialar
engines. It may help to buy that same brand that the local service places
work on as Lowe's/Sams/Home Depot dont do any kind service.

--
John


"houseslave" wrote in message
. net...
Does anyone have experience with Troy built snowblowers. Lowes sells them
and they seem to be built better than the other brands that I've seen?

Thanks

houseslave wrote:
Does anyone have experience with Troy built snowblowers. Lowes sells
them and they seem to be built better than the other brands that I've
seen?

They are MTD's in disquise. They bought TroyBilt when they went belly up.

Because of past 'we know better then you' attitude from MTD, I would use a
manual snow removel device before I bought anything by MTD.

The only thing TroyBuilt on them is the name. The are designed and
built by MTD. That does not make them any better, but TroyBuilt was really
good, and the few products that are still made from the original designs are
good, but the rest are just run of the mill.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math


"houseslave" wrote in message
. net...
Does anyone have experience with Troy built snowblowers. Lowes sells them
and they seem to be built better than the other brands that I've seen?

Thanks

Barry,

Lowes is selling a 7.5hp model (the only one that Troy unit makes with this
engine) for 799.99. Do you know what your brother paid? On the Sam Club's
webpage they are advertising a 10hp garden way for 740.00....I don't know if
you get this in the store.


My brother bought a Troy-bilt today from Sam's Club. The details and
some non-engine parts are identical to my Craftsman. It looks like
another Murray, Yard-Man, Craftsman, etc... product to me.

Some parts are actually interchangeable.

Barry

get a motor with pressurised lubrication, and a steel sleeve.
Techumsee are known crap

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 00:08:09 GMT, "houseslave"
wrote:

Barry,

Lowes is selling a 7.5hp model (the only one that Troy unit makes with this
engine) for 799.99. Do you know what your brother paid? On the Sam Club's
webpage they are advertising a 10hp garden way for 740.00....I don't know if
you get this in the store.

That's the one! The machine is identical to some Craftsman machines.

FWIW, Sam's assembly was so good, the auger control handle FELL OFF on
the interstate while I was transporting the machine to his house. G

Check yours carefully.

Barry

Barry,

I'm still confused. Did he get the 7.5 hp for 799.99 or the 10hp for
another price?

Thanks

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 13:19:26 GMT, "houseslave"
wrote:

Barry,

I'm still confused. Did he get the 7.5 hp for 799.99 or the 10hp for
another price?

Thanks



10HP - $740 ish

Barry

Jimmy wrote:
On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 13:31:04 GMT, B a r r y B u r k e J r .
wrote:



10HP - $740 ish

Barry


If they are really MTD machines like the other posters said, stay
far away. Spend a couple of hundred more and get a real machine.

Hi,
I always thought MTD was near junk. Never owned any.
Tony

That's a great deal. I'm too lazy to return mine and get the 10HP at Sams.
I guess I'm stuck with my 7.5hp Troy Built.

10HP - $740 ish

Barry

Stop the presses don't buy it it is a piece of crap. 3 years ago Troybilt went
out of business and no one picked them up. I know this because i bought their
10hp 26 inch snowblower right before they went out.
They had no one to warranty anything after that. The next year MTD picked them
up and put the Troybilt name on their Kmart quaility , Lowes quality
snowblower. Why Troybilt would sell their quality known name to a piece of
junk company I don't understand at all. Most of the Troybilt dealers won' even
carry them anymore because they are junk. Save yourself some real agro and get
an Ariens or Toro. At least you know you'll be able to get the parts if you
need them.Or maybe you could find an old dealer that has a leftover real
Troybilt around. You can still get parts for them now.

The next year MTD picked them up and put the Troybilt name on their Kmart
quaility , Lowes quality snowblower. Why Troybilt would sell their quality
known name to a piece of junk company I don't understand at all.

They didn't. Once they went bankrupt, they did not have a nickel (no pun
intended) in it. MTD would have reached an agreement with the bankruptcy
courts to buy what was left.

MTD seems to be promoting and selling the Troybilt name just fine. There
are also hundreds of service centers are the country. How many Arien
commercials have you seen lately? What makes you think that Ariens won't go
out of business. The Troybilt name is a name of prestige and is well known
so I doubt that it will go away. And it did survive a bankruptsy too. I'm
not that concerned about parts since MTD is still promoting the company and
distributing the Troybilt name through Lowes and other retial centers. The
Troybuilt also seems to be built better then any other snowblower I've seen
for under 800.00. The deal at Sams sounds like you get more for your money
but I'm not sure of the quality of a Gardenway brand or service. While MTD
may own different divisions and make several snoblowers under different
names they all are made different and some are of higher quality then
others.

houseslave wrote:
The Troybilt name is a name of
prestige and is well known so I doubt that it will go away. And it
did survive a bankruptsy too.

Troybilt did not survive bankruptcy. If they had, MTD would not own the
name. MTD is using the good name that Troybilt created, and that they
'bought' at what amounts to a going-out-of-business sale.

They did survive because the name and product line still lives on. MTD
thought there was value in the name and liked the product line. Yes they
went belly up. So did 7-11, Zenith and many more companies because of poor
management. Like I said, I'm not worried about parts since Lowes and
hundreds of other retail locations service Troybilt. You should checkout the
machine it is a very well built unit with a many nice features.


"Retiredff" wrote in message
k.net...


houseslave wrote:
The Troybilt name is a name of
prestige and is well known so I doubt that it will go away. And it
did survive a bankruptsy too.

Troybilt did not survive bankruptcy. If they had, MTD would not own the
name. MTD is using the good name that Troybilt created, and that they
'bought' at what amounts to a going-out-of-business sale.

Hi,
You mean original Troybilt and MTD built Troybilt is same in quality?
Tony

houseslave wrote:

They did survive because the name and product line still lives on. MTD
thought there was value in the name and liked the product line. Yes they
went belly up. So did 7-11, Zenith and many more companies because of poor
management. Like I said, I'm not worried about parts since Lowes and
hundreds of other retail locations service Troybilt. You should checkout the
machine it is a very well built unit with a many nice features.


"Retiredff" wrote in message
k.net...


houseslave wrote:
The Troybilt name is a name of

prestige and is well known so I doubt that it will go away. And it
did survive a bankruptsy too.

Troybilt did not survive bankruptcy. If they had, MTD would not own the
name. MTD is using the good name that Troybilt created, and that they
'bought' at what amounts to a going-out-of-business sale.

Today they are.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math


"Tony Hwang" wrote in message
newsn3nb.194811$6C4.120335@pd7tw1no...
Hi,
You mean original Troybilt and MTD built Troybilt is same in quality?
Tony

houseslave wrote:

They did survive because the name and product line still lives on. MTD
thought there was value in the name and liked the product line. Yes
they
went belly up. So did 7-11, Zenith and many more companies because of
poor
management. Like I said, I'm not worried about parts since Lowes and
hundreds of other retail locations service Troybilt. You should checkout
the
machine it is a very well built unit with a many nice features.


"Retiredff" wrote in message
k.net...


houseslave wrote:
The Troybilt name is a name of

prestige and is well known so I doubt that it will go away. And it
did survive a bankruptsy too.

Troybilt did not survive bankruptcy. If they had, MTD would not own the
name. MTD is using the good name that Troybilt created, and that they
'bought' at what amounts to a going-out-of-business sale.

No, the company did not come out of bankruptcy. The name was bought by
MTD from the bankruptcy, they also bought some of the designs (I seem to
recall that someone else bought a few) but no one took on the responsibility
of replacement parts. I am not sure if anyone is making replacement parts.

The Troybilt company itself is dead and gone.

I have one of their mowers and I will keep it going as long as I can.
It is a very good mower, but I will not be looking to buy another.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math


"houseslave" wrote in message
...
They did survive because the name and product line still lives on. MTD
thought there was value in the name and liked the product line. Yes they
went belly up. So did 7-11, Zenith and many more companies because of
poor
management. Like I said, I'm not worried about parts since Lowes and
hundreds of other retail locations service Troybilt. You should checkout
the
machine it is a very well built unit with a many nice features.


"Retiredff" wrote in message
k.net...


houseslave wrote:
The Troybilt name is a name of
prestige and is well known so I doubt that it will go away. And it
did survive a bankruptsy too.

Troybilt did not survive bankruptcy. If they had, MTD would not own the
name. MTD is using the good name that Troybilt created, and that they
'bought' at what amounts to a going-out-of-business sale.

It appears from what I could find, that Greenway, the parent company of
Troybuilt went into bankruptcy in 2001, it came out of bankruptcy, but not
until after it sold off the Troybuilt name and line. MTD bought the
exclusive right to use the name and some of the other assets. Other
companies (I believe some of the larger dealers) bought other assets.

MDT is NOT making and marketing the same line Troybuilt produced. The
general view is the product they are producing is not near the quality
produced by Greenway.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math


"Retiredff" wrote in message
ink.net...

The next year MTD picked them up and put the Troybilt name on their
Kmart
quaility , Lowes quality snowblower. Why Troybilt would sell their
quality
known name to a piece of junk company I don't understand at all.

They didn't. Once they went bankrupt, they did not have a nickel (no pun
intended) in it. MTD would have reached an agreement with the bankruptcy
courts to buy what was left.

Don't for one minute kid yourself into believing thats the Troybilts of today
are even close to the quality of days gone buy. You don't see any Ariens
commercials on TV because they are the nations #1 selling snowblower. They
don't have to advertise.
MTD has the same quality of a Murry, or Lawn Chief lawnmower. K MArt
specials,after the first season the wheels will fall off the deck will rot out
and the engine will die. But go ahead buy the MTD and start to budget for a new
snowblower for four years from now when it is dead.

On 27 Oct 2003 00:01:12 GMT, (Randd01) wrote:

Why Troybilt would sell their quality known name to a piece of
junk company I don't understand at all.

Because Troy-bilt was bankrupt and MTD had money?

Barry

houseslave wrote:
They did survive because the name and product line still lives on.
MTD thought there was value in the name and liked the product line.
Yes they went belly up. So did 7-11, Zenith and many more companies
because of poor management. The Troybilt name is a name of
prestige and is well known so I doubt that it will go away. And it
did survive a bankruptsy too.

Troybilt did not survive bankruptcy. If they had, MTD would not own
the name. MTD is using the good name that Troybilt created, and that
they 'bought' at what amounts to a going-out-of-business sale.

Nope. Not the same. 7-Eleven and Zenith declared bankruptcy so they could
re-organize. They were not sold, as Troybilt was, with the approval of a
judge in a bankruptcy court.

Just to give you an idea of how MTD operates:

My REAL Troybilt tiller came with a life-time warrenty. After MTD bought
them, they decided to limit the warrenty to 10 years. They said they did so
because they felt if there were any factory defects, they would show up
within 10 years. I don't have a problem with MTD putting a limit on the
warrenties from REAL Troybilt products. After all, they did not produce
them, and are under no obligation to provide service for them.

However, they continue to produce and make money on the good name of
Troybilt, when they are Troybilt in name only. What ****es me off is that
they offer a lifetime warrenty on factory defects. Hmmm...doesn't sound
quite right, does it?

"houseslave" wrote in message
...
They did survive because the name and product line still lives on.

Kind of like RCA TV's made by Thompson ? AT&T answering machines made by
the highest bidder for the name that week ?

B a r r y B u r k e J r . wrote:

On 27 Oct 2003 00:01:12 GMT, (Randd01) wrote:


Why Troybilt would sell their quality known name to a piece of
junk company I don't understand at all.


Because Troy-bilt was bankrupt and MTD had money?

Barry
Hi,
Happens all the time.
Tony

Barry I agree that MTD does make some low end stuff. The yard Machine line
is low end but they are also low priced too. However, the Cub Cadet line,
owned by MTD, is high end and is still made with quality. Ariens doesn't
make all its own snowblowers either and many of the companies use similar
parts. A comparable Ariens snowblower is 1k vs. 900.00 for the Troybuilt
and Toros are even more expensive. They are all very similar to my eye.
Ariens has all steel construction. More to rust in my opinion. Troy uses
steel in all the right places. I also called several dealers in my area
that carry Troybilt and they can easily gets parts. I was told they sell
fast and are high quality. This was from two different shops that repairs
them. There are a lot of ****ed off people who had there warranties
downgraded by MTD and I understand this. Also, the Ford Escort use to be
the number one selling car so just because Ariens are popular doesn't make
them better. Also, home depot sells them so that tells you why they are so
popular. It doesn't hurt to have your product in a few hundred stores. Do
you know anything about the Gardenway brand? Sam's Club sells a 10hp for
around 750.00. This sounds like a steal. But if you can't get parts or
service what good is it? Has anyone bought a Troybilt in the last few years
and had problems?



"B a r r y B u r k e J r ." wrote
in message ...
On 27 Oct 2003 00:01:12 GMT, (Randd01) wrote:

Why Troybilt would sell their quality known name to a piece of
junk company I don't understand at all.

Because Troy-bilt was bankrupt and MTD had money?

Barry

On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 03:13:03 GMT, "houseslave"
wrote:

Barry I agree that MTD does make some low end stuff.

I never commented on MTD quality. G You must have misread the
quotes. Unfortunately, this happens when some folks top post, and the
rest don't.

Barry

Jimmy wrote:
On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 12:22:04 GMT, B a r r y B u r k e J r .
wrote:


I never commented on MTD quality. G You must have misread the
quotes. Unfortunately, this happens when some folks top post, and the
rest don't.


I did. It sucks. Their warranty coverage sucks. Speaking from
personal experience.

Spend a couple of bucks and buy a Ariens, Toro, or Deere. They will

Hi,
Deere never let me down.
Tony

always be there with parts, many, many years later (which is the only
time you will need them, unlike the MTD that will break down next
year).

MHO,

"houseslave" wrote in
:

MTD seems to be promoting and selling the Troybilt name just fine.
There are also hundreds of service centers are the country. How many
Arien commercials have you seen lately? What makes you think that
Ariens won't go out of business. The Troybilt name is a name of
prestige and is well known so I doubt that it will go away. And it
did survive a bankruptsy too. I'm not that concerned about parts
since MTD is still promoting the company and distributing the Troybilt
name through Lowes and other retial centers. The Troybuilt also seems
to be built better then any other snowblower I've seen for under
800.00. The deal at Sams sounds like you get more for your money but
I'm not sure of the quality of a Gardenway brand or service. While
MTD may own different divisions and make several snoblowers under
different names they all are made different and some are of higher
quality then others.




Actually, GardenWay (the company that WAS TroyBilt) did NOT
survive the bankrupcy. That is why they sold the TroyBilt name
to MTD, they had no other choice. MTD bought everything except
the chipper / shredder / blower / vac products, which were sold
to a British outfit. (Maybe Hayter?) MTD refused to "buy" the
warranty obligations, which was what bankrupted GardenWay in the
first place. Their rotary mowers were JUNK, and the three year
warranty that replaced the seven year warranty was still two
years too long for the front wheel drive mechanism. How TroyBilt
could take the reliable disc drive system used by Ariens, Snapper
and others, and make it so unreliable is beyond me, but they
did. There were so many recalls and refits, that some dealers
just made the kits part of regular maintenance on those models.
I know of some machines where the kits were installed at least
three times, and the customer usually got stung for the third,
if not the second.

Matt

Matt,

You seem to do a lot about Troybilt products. Do you know anything about
their new line of snobolwers? Are they reliable?

I can still return mine. Thanks

"Trader" wrote in message
t...
Matt,

You seem to do a lot about Troybilt products. Do you know anything about
their new line of snobolwers? Are they reliable?

I can still return mine. Thanks


You're not reading.... Troybuilt / Gardenway has been out of business for
three maybe four years now. MTD bought the name, and built machines to
their flimsy standards.

Bill

"Houseslave" wrote in
:

So the Cub Cadet is junk too?

Most of the line is, yes. Only the top of the line Garden tractors are
mostly still the Cub quality. The rest of the line is retrimmed MTD,
same as the TroyBilt, White, YardMan, YardMachines, Bolens, Atlas, ...


I still think the Troybilt snowblowers are better than average in
quality. For 800.00 you get a machine that would cost you 1k in the
Ariens of Toro.

Let me preface by saying I have NEVER liked TORO. In response to their
ad campaign of many years, "NO! I haven't done without a Toro long enough.
Forever isn't long enough!" They have even destroyed Wheel Horse, which
was once the best, bar none, Garden tractor on the market.

Although the quality of Ariens has slipped a little in the last 5 years,
and they no longer make the six blade fan or many cast iron gear boxes,
the Ariens will still outlast an MTD by at least two-fold given the same
amount of maintenance. And given the higher price up front, the Ariens
usually gets better maintenance. That is why I regularly see Ariens
machines from the late '60s. The oldest MTD I've seen recently is about
a 1985. The oldest Murray/Craftsman recently was from about 1980. I just
did a valve job on a 1967 Ariens, and the owner was so happy that I made
it start easy again. Surprisingly, the augers were even still loose on
the shaft, so the shear pins could still work if needed.



"berkshire bill" wrote in message
...

"Trader" wrote in message
t...
Matt,

You seem to do a lot about Troybilt products. Do you know anything
about
their new line of snobolwers? Are they reliable?

I can still return mine. Thanks


You get what you pay for, and in the case of MTD, that is usually the
least expensive product in the market of its kind. If you take very good
care of it, lube and grease everything every fall and spring, and USE FUEL
STABILIZER, it will last many years. That said, if you buy an Ariens or a
Snapper or a Simplicity, and do those same things to take care of it, it
should last you a lifetime!

Matt