I went to an auction today with hopes of buying a mini-tiller. They had a Ryobi 410r tiller (31cc). It is just a small one, but that’s all we need. I got into a bidding war with one guy, and I dropped out when it got up to $90. That was more than I wanted to pay for that model of mini-tiller. I can buy a brand new Ryobi for $199. If it were a Mantis I would have gone higher.
When I got hope, I started researching mini-tillers. I found that I could buy a tiller attachment for my Troy-Bilt string trimmer. I bought my Troy Bilt at Home Depot just last year. I went to the Home Depot website, and they don’t carry the Troy Bilt TBGC Cultivator attachment. I went down to the store, and I didn’t see any Troy Bilt trimmers at all. But they did have a tiller attachment made by Expand-It. Who? Never heard of them. They have the Expand-It tiller attachment priced at $90. I have found the Troy-Bilt attachement online for $90. But then I would pay shipping. I just checked Lowes, and found they seem to carry the Troy Bilt Cultivator attachment, also for $90. Hmmm. Do I but the attachment made for my trimmer, or do I buy a brand I never heard of? That’s a no-brainer!
But will the Troy Bilt attachment be sturdy enough? I will only be tilling the garden. Nothing hard core. But would I be better off buying a dedicated tiller? A used one of course as a new one would be much more expensive. I will have to research the Troy-Bilt cultivator. I’ll check epinions.
I went to a big tool auction today. It was actually a couple of estates, and they had a ton of tools. Some of the tools were good, and some were cheap stuff. There was bunch of Harbor Freight stuff there. They also had a bunch of Craftsman stuff.
There were a few things I was especially interested in. They had a Ryobi mini-tiller. It was only 31cc, and designed for light use. I would rather have a Mantis, but I figure if I could get a good deal. I bid on it, and the bidding went back and forth between me and another guy. It got up to $90, and I bowed out. If it was a mantis, I would have easily gone higher. But that was what I felt that unit was worth.
I was also interested in a couple bench grinders they had. They had one that was simply a motor with a wire wheel attached to it. It look pretty old. It went for $7.50 I think. I wish I had bid a little more. There were also a couple of regular bench grinders that went for close to $30. I was willing to go to about $20.
A recipricating saw went for $22.50, and I had to laugh. I knew that exact same saw sell new at Harbor Freight for about $20. LOL!
Some big stack-on tool chests with drawers went for great prices. They were two section Craftsman ones, and the cheapest went for $80! Another went for $90, and another for a little over $100. I would have loved to have one, but getting it home might have been difficult, and I don’t know where I would put it!
There were some ratcheting wrenches (from Harbor Freight). I bid on these, but they went for more than I was willing to pay.
There was a gas powered post hole digger that grabbed my eye. I could use one for a single project that I can think of, but other than that, I have no real use for one. I could just rent one.
There was a big Delta floor drill press. But I already have my Hitachi drill press. There were a couple small bench top drill presses, but they would be redundant.
They had lawn mowers, winches, floor jacks, hydraulic presses, circular saws, drills, timing lights. They had a couple lots of micrometers. A large horizontal band saw went for around $150. A total steal! But I had not use for one of those.
I ended up not buying anything. Maybe next time!