I bought one of those mini-tillers new and if a manual came with it, I will still have it.

Looked around this evening and cannot find any of my manuals but will keep looking. I am in the process of removing all my belongings from my house to have the floors refinished so it may be a while before I find it but will contact you when I do if no one else finds theirs first.

The machine has been an excellent tiller with no mechanical problems except a tune up once.

I found the manual but was unable to attach it to an email because the page did not actually give your email address. The owners manual and engine manual have both been scanned and if you let me know where to send them, I will send them tonight or tomorrow.

I also have a chian drive front tine tiller made by Garden Way Corp called a Master Till Brand but it is made by the Garden Way Corp. in Port Washington, WI not the one in NY. The tiller is a model 12044. I need a few parts for it. Does anyone know a parts source.

Garden Way, which was headquartered in Troy, NY and was best known for it's "Troy-Bilt" brand, bought Bolens in Port Washington, WI in the late 1980's. They closed the Wisconsin plant in 1997, and declared bankruptcy in 2001, selling most of their brand names and models to MTD. The economy "Garden Way" brand WASN'T picked up by MTD, so many Garden Way machines are kinda "orphaned" but since they often shared parts with Troy-Bilt, many parts are available via MTD, but figuring out part numbers can be a ......

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Way's bankruptcy (as seen from Milwaukee)

Interesting article but what were the factors that led to GW's bankruptcy?

It seems like Troy Bilt tillers should have been a cash cow for them. They were in demand, well respected, and the high end tiller market didn't seem to have that many players.

davefr
I'm just speckulating but the histroy of the co. lead's me to view it as a mom/pop operation and they felt it was best to sell, and enjoy there retirement years, by doing the best thing,for all concerned......

Davefr

As a 26-year employee of Troy-Bilt rototillers in Troy New York I can tell you that the downfall started with a gentleman call Jairo Estrada. The amount of money that the man in bezeled from the company left us in Ruins, and then Along Came another man named Bill Redmond who was the final nail in our coffin he's the one who closed the shop. It certainly was a sad day for all employees their families the city and all our customers it was a fantastic place to work when it was being run by the Done family, but then corporate greed took over and ruin a once-thriving business.