Help IDing Troy Tiller

[Jeepflambe]

Hello everyone

Recently I purchased a Troy Bilt tiller from an older gentleman. Im slowly bringing it back.
Its been painted several times so Im not sure where to find ID sticker.
He said it was a 7hp but I see a Kohler 8.
Can anyone tell me where to look for an ID?

Also it has electric start does the Bendix(pinion) have the rubber friction washer to help gears move up and make contact with flywheel?

thanks

 

[Jeepflambe]

I think Ive found it.
big cast letters saying SERIAL NUMBER!!

744356

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To the TBN forum JeepFlambe. We are glad that you joined.

 

[Sonny580]

It should be Kohler 8--I have one just like it, also electric start, but I use one of the other rope starters the most, lots quicker, less to keep working on them.--2 of my older ones are 7 Kohler , 2 of them, and a Tech. 6,--all good tillers. thanks; sonny580

 

[coolreinfarm]

I believe you have a horse model, hard to tell without a full picture. So it will be a 2 speed or 4 speed depending on how many belts you have, 1 belt is 4 speed, 2 belts 2 speed.

 

[Jeepflambe]

Yup its a 4 speed horse,
Ive been working on it all day. Changed the oil in the gearbox. Man you should have seen the ugly mess that came out of that! It was actually like molasses even thicker. I tried to clean it out with a little diesel but Theres still lots of sludge and old oil coming out. I started shooting air into the top drain and even more came out. Does anyone have a suggestion on what or how I can clean it out completely?
Perhaps mineral spirits for a few days then drain? I really dont know Ive never encountered this with all the farm machinery ive been around.
thx
M

 

[coolreinfarm]

I would take the top off the gearbox and look inside, you might be able to scrape out some sludge that way. I would be cautious using solvents as to keep from damaging the 5 seals in the machine. I would do a little research on the oil you put in as to the compatibility with brass, some gl-5 oils are not compatible with bronze or brass. Good Luck!

 

[Jeepflambe]

I would take the top off the gearbox and look inside, you might be able to scrape out some sludge that way. I would be cautious using solvents as to keep from damaging the 5 seals in the machine. I would do a little research on the oil you put in as to the compatibility with brass, some gl-5 oils are not compatible with bronze or brass. Good Luck!

Good Idea
Does it come off in one piece once the handles are off? There are no springs or gears or anything else that can fall out while Im lifting this off?
Ill be using Spirex gear oil from Shell. Its what we use in all our machinery and seems to work good so far. Its yellow metal safe btw.
After this I will be pulling the head and cleaning up valves and chamber. Id rather rebuild than repower. I love that cast iron block.
thanks again

 

[Jeepflambe]

It should be Kohler 8--I have one just like it, also electric start, but I use one of the other rope starters the most, lots quicker, less to keep working on them.--2 of my older ones are 7 Kohler , 2 of them, and a Tech. 6,--all good tillers. thanks; sonny580

Wow a real collection. Im going to need to be careful first thing I know my garage will be full of them.
Cool old machines..
Carb rebuild is next after greabox flush

 

[sixdogs]

I would take the top off the gearbox and look inside, you might be able to scrape out some sludge that way. I would be cautious using solvents as to keep from damaging the 5 seals in the machine. I would do a little research on the oil you put in as to the compatibility with brass, some gl-5 oils are not compatible with bronze or brass. Good Luck!

Yes, you have to use gear oils that will not damage those brass gear parts. You'll have to look it up. Mine is an older Kohler 7 Horse and I used GL-1 mineral oil, which is what the company said I should use. I believe we can now use any synthetic GL-5 oil as well as any GL-5 produced after a certain date. This is important.

 

[coolreinfarm]

Good Idea
Does it come off in one piece once the handles are off? There are no springs or gears or anything else that can fall out while Im lifting this off?
Ill be using Spirex gear oil from Shell. Its what we use in all our machinery and seems to work good so far. Its yellow metal safe btw.
After this I will be pulling the head and cleaning up valves and chamber. Id rather rebuild than repower. I love that cast iron block.
thanks again

You have to remove the t bolt for the handle bars to put oil in it anyway so remove the 4 bolts on the cover nothing should come out you may have to remove the tine shield for the plate to clear, it’s been 20 years since I had mine off to check the brass bull gear and you should check all the gears while it’s open. I’ve had mine for 36 years and used it every year though my garden is getting smaller as I get older, belts and tines is about the biggest thing I’ve had to do to it.

 

[oosik]

That picture shows that your 'ol Horse is younger than mine. Mine is an '82 - 8 HP Horse. It still runs fine if you don't mind a rough ride - at times.

 

[Jeepflambe]

Took the cover off,not bad probably 30 minutes in total. This thing is built like a little tractor. Farm machinery philosophy when this thing was designed,simeple and easy to work on with simple tools and things fit back as they should. Inside the transmission was just old original gear oil. thick and black. quick work to clean out with a plastic spatula.
The tine gearbox is another story. I stuck a piece of 1/4 inch fuel line connected to the air compressor. It shot a whole lot of the same thick gear oil out the fill hole,probably not all but a few more oil changes should get it.

What do y'all thing of outboard gear case lube for the tine box?
similar worm gear and I have a gallon just sitting there.

 

[Erik M]

The same gear oil you would put in a truck differential will work in the gear box. I would look online and download the manual for the tiller, I have done so and it is a wealth of info. Mine is from the late 70痴 with a 7 hp Koehler and worked like new. I put new tires and tines on mine when I rebuilt it.

 

[coolreinfarm]

Took the cover off,not bad probably 30 minutes in total. This thing is built like a little tractor. Farm machinery philosophy when this thing was designed,simeple and easy to work on with simple tools and things fit back as they should. Inside the transmission was just old original gear oil. thick and black. quick work to clean out with a plastic spatula.
The tine gearbox is another story. I stuck a piece of 1/4 inch fuel line connected to the air compressor. It shot a whole lot of the same thick gear oil out the fill hole,probably not all but a few more oil changes should get it.

What do y'all thing of outboard gear case lube for the tine box?
similar worm gear and I have a gallon just sitting there.

I don’t know about the separate tine gearbox, yours is newer than mine, the oil in mine flows from the main gearbox back to the tine gears. The outboard lube might be too thin when hot, outboard gearbox is in the water dissipating heat to the water. I would put the same oil in both that is safe for brass.

 

[Sonny580]

I use either 85-140 , or 140 weight in mine. The heaver weight stays in better.--thin stuff gets past the seals. thanks; sonny580

 

[Erik M]

If you are not using it in cold weather use the heavier oil as it is less mess

 

[Jeepflambe]

Ok 140 it is but what I took out was sooooo thick Im sure it used 2 HP just to move and spin those tines. It was like bunker C. I might go 90 as I am in the northern lattitudes. 85 degrees is hot here.

 

[coolreinfarm]

85w-140 oil is put in at the factory, this covers north to south climates.

 

[Jeepflambe]

Well after an exhaustive search I couldn't find ANY GL4 140 wt gear oil.
I did find a buffered sulfur GL5 that is safe for yellow metal. Look for Shell 85-140 gear oil. I contacted Shell and they assured me it was safe. So here goes.

This cast iron block K181 runs amazing! After its warm it will just chug and idle very low. Its running a little lean but Id rather not mess it right now.
Now Im waiting for warmer weather to dry things up.
Thanks for all the help.