Question on County Line Tiller Maintenance

Bladerunner6 · Sep 17, 2021

I picked up a 5 foot County Line tiller and when checking the oil in the gear box (attached to drive shaft) noticed it is extremely thick. The consistency is close to that of vasoline or corn syrup. The operators manual says it's supposed to use 120 weight oil.

The tiller is probably 10 years old and am doubting that the oil has ever been changed.

It runs fine with no noises from the gear box, so I doubt there is any damage.

There is a drain plug on the gear box so draining it shouldn't be a problem except that I doubt it's going to flow/drain well with a lot of the old oil remaining in the gear box. Is there a way to flush that old oil out so I can do a proper oil change?

alextassos1 · Sep 17, 2021

Good chance the gear box leaked and someone filled it with corn head grease. Very common “repair” to a leaky gear box seal and it works fine. I have a rotary cutter I couldn’t get tore apart to fix the seal. I put a tube of grease in the box and it has ran great for years now.

5030 · Sep 17, 2021

Sounds like corn head grease to me too. Best stuff ever invented for leaking seals and sloppy gearing.

Bladerunner6 · Sep 17, 2021

OK, so far sounds like there is nothing to worry about. Just for information purposes, if someone put some sort of grease "corn head" or other is there a way to flush out the majority of that?

TractorGuy · Sep 17, 2021

From County Line Tiller manual:

BEFORE PUTTING ROTARY TILLER INTO SERVICE
IMPORTANT: This tiller was shipped without oil in
gearboxes and without grease in grease fittings. UNIT
MUST BE SERVICED BEFORE USING.
NOTE: Fill gearbox using 90 W gear oil (type GL5-85W
140 or Triple Zero Grease; which can be poured, and has
“EP” i.e. “Extreme Pressure” additives).

mcfarmall · Sep 17, 2021

Bladerunner6 said:
OK, so far sounds like there is nothing to worry about. Just for information purposes, if someone put some sort of grease "corn head" or other is there a way to flush out the majority of that?

Disassemble gearbox and clean everything in a solvent tank parts washer, then reassemble.