Tiller Broken tiller - what went wrong?

[pharmguy]

Bought a 60" chain-drive Kubota tiller that is just a rebadged Farm King/Buhler.

The tiller was delivered attached to a Kubota b2710 so I assumed that all the slip clutch adjustments, etc were done as I told the dealer that I was a tractor newbie. I hit 1 hidden t-bar in the first 30 minutes which broke a tine - no other apparent damage (the tiller sounded fine afterwards). After about another 15 minutes I hear a thump (footabll-sized rock) and then nothing ... zip ... nada. PTO shaft spun freely but the tines would not turn.

I assumed a broken chain and after removing the box I found a snapped link/broken chain. I haven't washed out the grease but there doesn't seem to be any other damage.

HP of tractor was appropriate. Rocks were not significant. Was this entirely due to the t-bar? Faulty chain?

Thanks for all your help in advance.

Jason

 

[BobReeves]

Can't help with the Tiller problem but if I were working unknown ground I would run around it with the scafers down on my box blade before running a tiller through it. This should find the stuff that will mess up your tilller.

 

[thcri]

Jason,

You do have the slip clutch right? Some of the Buhlers the slip clutch was optional. If you don't have the clutch you have a shear pin.

Now I will tell you of my experience. Got my Buhler home and went out just a tilling. Next thing I realise it was slipping some. So I went into the house to find a manual on the web and found there is 4 allen screws right on the clutch, you have to screw them out as they are shipped with the screws in. And when in storage you are suppose to screw them in also. What happened to me then was my clutch because of the heat got hot and welded together so I ended up breaking a link also. If your screws are in, more than likely you welded the plates together so they won't slip anymore. You have to take it all apart to fix and may even have to replace the plates.

And like you, I was told it was ready to go.

murph

 

[Slamfire]

Sunbaked clay broke mine, half the tine shaft is missing, right at the bearing journal. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Egon]

I have the 44 in. model of the Bhuler Tiller. Broke the chain more than once and have worn out three chains. Also I have broke many tines.

I was using it to till 50 year old sod with lots of rocks. I had a lot of trouble getting the slip clutch adjusted.

I ended up removing half the tines before the clutch could be adjusted. With only 12 tractor pto HP. The clutch would either slip or hold without anything in between. The tine removal seemed to help a lot.

The outward faceing tines on the outer flanges were also very prone to breakage. Smaller rocks would wedge between the side and the tine breaking them. Turned these tines inwards. Reduced the effective width but sure saved tines. I also keep the rear flap up so smaller stones are not bounced back and jammed between the tines and frame.

Also do not make sharp turnes with the tiller working as this may also break tines.

Smaller fist sized stones seemed to do the most damage. On larger rocks the tiller would bounce over.

To repace that lovely greasy chain take off the tensioner. This allows you to slip the chain over the cog gears. Replace the tensioner and then pry the tensioner spring back in place. I do carry a few spare chain fasteners with me.

These are my experiences and solutions. Others may do things differently.

Attached a photo of "The Farm" I'm trying to rejuvenate.

Egon

 

[PBinWA]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
Attached a photo of "The Farm" I'm trying to rejuvenate.
)</font>

Did they grow rocks on that farm? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MadDog]

Egon's field is no more rocky than my land in Eastern Mass. In my case, I think that it was caused by a glacier taking a nap on my land before receding. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Egon]

Re: Broken tiller - what went wrong? *DELETED*

Post deleted by Egon

 

[ronjhall]

I think you should be reported to the tractor abuse police. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[flusher]

Last month I bought a pre-owned Yanmar RS1200 tiller to use with my B7510HST. Need to landscape about an acre around the new house.

Here in the North Valley the ground is brick. Can't get a digging bar into it without watering it down.

I'll wait until the rains come in Nov or Dec and then use a middle buster to turn the soil before running that spindly-tined tiller around the jobsite. Hope to avoid the problems mentioned in this thread. The RS1200 is way too flimsy to try tilling now.