Lo-Boy 154 PTO - Newbie questions

[PainintheNEK]

I just bought a 1970 Lo-Boy 154 that is apparently almost original and in really good shape ...and at a decent price. It's equipped with the 60" mower and a 3 point hitch.

Everything works great but, not knowing it's maintenance history I'm spending my time giving it a thorough going over before putting it to work.

The mower is great but that's not the primary reason I bought it. I live on a small 3 acre place in Vermont and want to put in a fairly large garden among other jobs.

However...

I didn't do enough research before buying it to know the quirks of the PTO on these machines but would very much like to be able to use it to dig post holes, and maybe a tiller.

I'm a competent enough mechanic, but digging into the forum tells me just enough to know that I probably need to install a PTO reverser, at least, but I need help understanding what parts I need to make my PTO useful and where to find them for sale.

Apologies if this is a stupid newbie question, but at least I'm not asking what engine oil to put in it.

Seriously, any advice is more than appreciated.

[MiCarl]

To work with the common 540rpm implements you need a speed reducer/reverser on the PTO. I don't believe they're manufactured any more and they can be pricey. With a lot of searching and patience you might be able to come up with a tiller that was made for the number series Lo-Boys.

Also it's commonly said that the number Lo-Boys move too fast for a tiller unless they also have the speed reducer creeper gear.

[Eugene]

My thought. Cheaper to purchase an other tractor with standard pto, hydraulics and 3-point, than to convert the 154 to standard PTO and creeper, and then purchase implements. The cost of the creeper and PTO reverser will cost as much or more than my tractor suggestion.

[BullDAWG]

Depending on your fabricating skills what may be an option and cheapest to do would be find a Cub post hole digger, modify it to fit your 3pt hitch and find a Cub tiller (also may need to modify it to fit 3pt hitch, but I think they made one just for #'ed lowboys)