Craftsman 17 In. Dual Rear Tine Tiller
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Craftsman 17 In. Dual Rear Tine Tiller Reviews


www.sears.com


2.74 of 5 (by 34 reviewers)
Rating Summary | 47% of reviewers recommend (16 out of 34)

Pros
  • powerful and smooth (4)
  • starts on the first pull every time (3)
  • none (2)
  • skips over buried rocks and boulders (2)
  • very dependable (1)
  • you get to call sears after use (1)
Cons
  • chinese junk (2)
  • carb not adjustable, runs lean (1)
  • over priced chinese junk (1)
  • tricky to get into gear with the tines (1)
Most Helpful Favorable Review

“Exceptional”

I had bought this tiller after my neighbor moved out of town. He had an old Troybilt that was hard to start and took a lot of work to use. I had reservations about buying a tiller at all since I am getting up there in age. After buying from Sears, I read the manual and assembled the handle since it was... read full review »
Posted on Mar 02, 2009
Most Helpful Critical Review

“Strike One”

I don't know if I just received a lemon or what? The fuel tank leaked, the engine would rev up and down while tilling, gears locked up(tech support says to bounce the tiller to release gears), had to re-tap a bolt hole to assemble the handle, and the pulley broke. All within 12 hours! This is not my... read full review »
Posted on Mar 23, 2009

Craftsman 17 In. Dual Rear Tine Tiller Reviews

Displaying reviews 1 - 14 of 34 in total

“This Craftsman tiller has a learning curve but proved to be good”

I bought my Craftsman 17" 29908 tiller as a returned product although it looked brand new.  I read the reviews before picking up the tiller and was very concerned.  The unit started up very easily and really surprised me with its power and ability to prepare the ground.  Gear selection takes some time to get used to and I realized if the selector is between gears, it will lock up and stop the engine.  after about 1 hour of use, I have the gear selection down.  I have cut through some fairly large roots and kicked out quite a few rocks without any shear pin problems.  The sheet metal could...

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Posted on Aug 13, 2009

“Biggest piece of junk I ever bought from Sears”

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...

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Posted on Nov 26, 2009

“Worst tiller ever purchased”

I returned this tiller for a full refund within 2 weeks after purchase. The drive belt came off every time I tried to till anything. Shifting is nearly impossible as it is VERY hard to change gears. It is a very heavy tiller but does not have much power on harder soil. Engine died often while changing gears. Very poor quality.
Posted on Jul 06, 2009

“Great tiller.”

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...

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Posted on Feb 21, 2010

“So Far, So Good...”

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...

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Posted on Sep 26, 2009

“get a spare one”

At least if you buy one of these, you will get exercise returning it several times. Belt comes off every time you stop tilling. Unit is so heavy it just sits still and tires spin. If you stop and try to change gears the trans gets jammed. Buy a spare one so you can tow the first one out of the middle of your garden. (I gave it a 2 rating cause the paint looks good)
Posted on May 18, 2009

“terrible”

5/1/09 I believe there is a mechanical defect with the pulley design on this tiller. I'm working with tiller number 3! This is the last time I'm giving it a try. The first one would not run, and number 2 would not go into gear. Now that I have the third one it won't keep the belt on the pulleys, and the belt is starting to shred after only a few hours of work! It is not worth it. Find another brand.
Posted on May 07, 2009

“how long is it supposed to last again?”

Father bought this for use around his garden at our house; I assembled the handle, no real problems with that part. Started it up after about 10 pulls; it runs really fast, almost too fast to walk behind, plus with the weight, it literally might just drag you around the garden. It worked for around 20-30 minutes of tilling, then stopped moving. I pulled off the side, and the belt was off. Replaced that, and it still won't go forward or backward or engage the tines. If you're supposed to bounce it, as tech support suggests, why does it weigh 300 pounds?
Posted on Apr 04, 2009

“Heavy and underpowered”

It weighs a ton and that weight doesn't translate into any extra power. For its size, the tiller is about as effective as the front tine tillers at half the price. Plus, after less than a season of use on a 20 x 20 garden, the cast aluminum handle column cracked completely in two... it you are going to make something this heavy, at least make sure the rest of the machine parts can handle the weight.
Posted on Apr 03, 2009

“Typical China made junk motor makes it cheap but not worth it.”

 

 

Very poor quality.  Do not buy.  The motor is listed in the Northern Equipment catalog for only $150.00.  The typical Briggs or other reliable US motor is $500.00.

The motor is quite cheap in every way possible and so is the transmission and belt drive.  You have to work the drive handle very slowly or the belt will just pop off of the pulleys.

My purchase experience was also quite poor.  I purchased on line for local store (30 minute drive one way) pickup the same day.  When it was given to me parts were falling out of the box.  I should have stopped there but I needed to get going...

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Posted on Aug 29, 2009

“Realistic Expectations”

First thing, if you're reading these reviews, don't waste your time on the 1 stars and the 5 stars. Those extremes will offer little objective opinion. I had some reservations about buying this tiller based on those 1 star reviews I read. Bought it anyway. Turns out, it's just about exactly what you'd expect. Not perfect, but not a piece of junk either. I researched some others (my ol man's had a Honda for 15 years without a bit of trouble, but those things are too salty for me). I thought then, and still do, that this Craftsman would give me the most bang for my buck. Yes, it does take a little... read full review »
Posted on May 06, 2009

“the belt comes off too easy”

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.
Posted on Sep 20, 2009

“impressed”

Just used my tiller for the 1st time today. I filled it with gas and checked the oil and started on first try. Everything fine until I stopped at my garden till job and then tried to move forward with no response. Good thing I read the earlier reviews and thought I remembered someone mention the drive belt coming off. There seems to be to much slack in the cable. So I adjusted it to the max....well maybe a little past but I got sick of taking the belt guard off. That seems to work and I will call Sears repair when my job is finished. I did a 20x20 garden with hard clay soil and after many passes... read full review »
Posted on May 23, 2009

“This could use some tweaking. But its All Right.”

1st let me say that this is a good tiller. My only problems were putting the thing together and shifting gears. Took me a couple of days after work to put together and it just didn't feel like it was put together right. Shifting can be tricky sometimes like to shift to another gear you had to kind of push it to get it to click or pull it. 1st day I used it something went wrong and called for Warranty work. The man was out next morning and fixed it in 20 minutes. Said something about belt housing wasn't close enough to keep belt on. But I would recommend to others because these are little things.... read full review »
Posted on May 04, 2009

Reviews of Craftsman 17 In. Dual Rear Tine Tiller

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