A dream of mine when I moved to British Columbia was to have a big piece of land that was close to the water. I pictured something where I could create an outdoor oasis including veggie garden beds, a place to raise chickens, big swaths of lawn for playing sports, with enough space to let dogs run and a place to host friends and family outdoors.

If you want to own a big piece of land, one of the first things you need to think about is getting yourself a big ol’ riding lawn mower. (Insert Tim Allen grunt here)

 

A riding lawn mower is not only a great investment to help ease the burden of maintaining a big lawn but personally, I actually enjoy getting out there, putting a good podcast on or my fave playlist and bopping away in my own little lawn cutting haven.

Spring is in full swing out here on the west coast and the Home Depot Canada and Troy-Bilt wanted to help me become a full-on yard champion this spring by equipping me with the Troy-Bilt 15.5HP 42” Foot CVT Gas Riding Lawn Mower and the Super Bronco Rear Tine Tiller – two outdoor tools that will most definitely help me win at yard work and take steps towards my dream of having a super spiffy outdoor oasis.

My first experience with the Troy-Bilt riding lawn mower was exactly what I pictured. The sun was shining, and this baby was purring! I had let the lawn get pretty long because we had several weeks of rain, and I wasn’t able to get outside. A good test for the mower and boy oh boy did it pass with flying colours. It fired up quickly and easily, and was an absolute beast as I ripped around the property.

The mower’s huge 42″ deck helped speed up cutting time and it also has a 5-position height adjustment setting which really helped me get an even cut. I liked the responsiveness of the foot pedals as I navigated my way around the lawn adjusting the speed or reversing as I needed to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the best parts? It even has a cup holder for your fave cold beverage on a hot summer day!

 

Then I moved on to the rear tine tiller.

I have to be honest, I’m a tiller newbie. I’ve never used one before and I even had to explain to a friend what a tiller is! In case you didn’t know, a tiller is used to dig, loosen, and break up hard ground into smaller chunks to create a new garden bed that’s suitable for planting (whether its flowers, veggies or fruit.) A tiller can also be used for removing weeds, blending manure and compost or improving drainage.

Now that we’ve got that covered, you also have to decide between a front tine and rear tine tiller. Front tine tillers are smaller and a bit more maneuverable and rear tine tillers are for larger areas. I went with the Troy-Bilt Bronco rear tine tiller. This tiller has a 14″ tilling width which is great because it works with my current garden (which is a little bit smaller) but it’s also suitable for bigger gardens (like my future dream garden!) To break it down a little further (tiller pun intended!), a tine is another name for a blade found on a tiller.

Being a first timer, I was impressed with how easy the tiller was to use. Learning how to work the tiller with the forward and reverse handles was really user friendly and intuitive. The machine fired up quickly and easily and I didn’t struggle with it at all. I’m often the person that just tries to figure something out without reading the instructions (not always a good idea, but I’m stubborn! Haha) but because I’ve never used a tiller before, I read through the whole manual. The instructions were clear and easy to understand, which was great because there was also a little assembly required.

I really put this tiller to work! Not only was the ground a bit mucky, it was also rocky in some areas and the tiller cut through all of it without any hesitation. This was where the self propelling feature really came in handy. I never had to struggle or really push the machine too much because it did all of the work for me! You can also easily set the depth of the tines from behind the tiller to adjust how deep the tines go into the ground.

It would have taken me all day (at least!) and a lot of achy muscles to do what this tiller did in under half an hour. I can’t wait to put it to use again and I’m so excited to have added a tiller to my gardening repertoire!

These Troy-Bilt products are available in store at the Home Depot Canada or online homedepot.ca through standard or express shipping or free pickup in store. Products over $35 are even eligible for free shipping!

Happy spring and best of luck with your yard, champs!

 

This post is sponsored by The Home Depot Canada. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words.

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