Troy-Bilt® is a brand that has been owned and marketed by MTD since 2001. Prior to that, Troy-Bilt was part of one of America’s leading gardening marketing companies known as Garden Way, Inc. Garden Way was founded by one of the icons in US garden marketing, a very interesting gentleman named Lyman Wood. What do they offer now you ask? They currently produce the following models:

More on the company's history

Wood had been a businessman and entrepreneur since the age of 13, when he and several of his friends opened their first business on the shore of Lake Champlain in Vermont. Wood later worked as an advertising executive and was also a very creative and entrepreneurial direct marketer … selling rabbit’s feet for good luck and even personalized prayers by mail. (The US Postal Service shut down his rabbit’s foot business because of his fraudulent claims that the buyer would soon experience good luck.) His first venture into the gardening business was the successful marketing of a book called The Have-More Plan – A Land, a Lot of Living, written by Ed and Carolyn Robinson.

The popularity of The Have-More Plan resulted in a consulting opportunity for Woods with Watco Manufacturing, a tiller manufacturer in Troy, New York. Watco had manufactured a power tiller called the Roto-ette in Troy, New York since 1937. Watco sold them exclusively through a network of small independent dealers.

Interestingly, the early Watco tillers had “saw tooth” tines that were similar to the famous (and patented) serpentine tines used today on all Mantis mini-tillers. These tines, when used with a slower RPM rear-tine tiller, had two inherent problems:

One of Watco’s engineers – working at home on his own time - redesigned the tines so that they would turn vegetation into the soil, where it would more quickly decompose to add nutrients to and improver the composition of the soil. The redesigned tines were very similar to the “bolo” tines used on most rear-tine tillers today.

Wood tried to convince Watco that they could – and, indeed should - sell large, expensive tillers by mail order. While Watco did dabble in direct marketing with Wood’s assistance, they never really embraced the idea. Since Watco had a fairly well-established dealer program, perhaps the direct marketing efforts seemed either unnecessary or competitive to their primary business. Finally, in 1967, Wood and a few partners bought controlling interest of Watco, which later became Garden Way Manufacturing.

Garden Way, Inc. was a Vermont-based direct mail powerhouse in the 1970’s and 1980’s, selling the famous Troy-Bilt Tillers, the Garden Way Cart, and hundreds of other gardening and self-sufficiency products almost exclusively by mail order.

Mr. Wood shared the ownership of Garden Way with several key employees; but it proved to be his undoing. Lyman Wood and several of the senior managers were ousted by a group of other shareholders in 1982, in a carefully planned “coup” for control that not only surprised Mr. Wood, but literally shocked the direct marketing community. Garden Way later spun off several of its divisions, which became independent enterprises. The Garden Way publishing business was purchased by Martha and John Storey, who created Storey Publishing in 1983. Will Rapp purchased the catalog business and created Gardeners Supply the same year.

Garden Way continued to be a dominant force in the direct to consumer gardening business. Wood and others went on to create Country Home Products, another Vermont-based direct marketer of home and garden products, including the famous DR® Trimmer. (DR is not an abbreviation for doctor; DR reflects the initials of one of Wood’s partners, the very inventive and creative Dick Raymond.)

So, perhaps in a way, Troy-Bilt has come full circle. Now owned by MTD, Troy-Bilt Tillers can be purchased at thousands of independent dealers, virtually all Lowe’s stores, as well as ACE Hardware, TrueValue Hardware, Tractor Supply, and other retailers. For those with a desire to buy “direct,” Troy-Bilt Tillers can purchased from the Troy-Bilt web site or from Amazon.com.

Todays Troy-Bilt Tillers

The Troy-Bilt brand is almost synonymous with big, red, walk-behind tillers … although the brand also includes mini tillers similar in size to the Mantis Tiller.

More than a few loyal owners have simply referred to their Troy-Bilt Tillers as “Big Red.” (One gardener who owned both a big rear-tine Troy-Bilt tiller and a Mantis Mini-Tiller wrote that he owned both a “Big Red” and a “Little Red.”).

Tuffy CRT Rear-Tine Rototiller LIMITED AVAILABILITY! Specially designed for small gardens, the Tuffy CRT rototiller is perfect for light garden chores like weeding, composting, and small-scale groundbreaking. The Tuffy CRT tiller fits easily between garden rows for season-long cultivating. And it is built to last, with all the durability features that Troy-Bilt is famous for. • Counter-rotating tines for easy use and greater control • Cast iron transmission with bronze gear-drive • 1 forward speed • 14" tilling width • 10" tine diameter • Adjustable tilling depth up to 6" • 10" ag tires for easier maneuverability • 2 year limited manufacturer's warranty • Limited lifetime warranty on transmission • 4 HP* engine with 2 year manufacturer's warranty

Troy-Bilt Mini-Tillers