Troy-Built Horse Tiller Brought Back to Life

[RonT]

I have a 1985 Troy-Built Horse tiller that I bought from a neighbor about 15 years ago to help him out financially. I could never get it to run well as it had chronic carb issues and very little power from the original Tecumseh HH60 6HP engine. I suspect he had severly overworked/overheated it in the past. I used it for a couple of years and then put it in the shed intending to replace the engine "someday".
Now that I have retired (for now at least) I decided to tackle the job.

Original engine and tiller

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My first suprise was that the replacement engines were no longer available from Tecumseh (go figure!) and the Northern tool store quoted about $350 for a replacement.
I decided to try one of the 6.5 HP Honda clones from Harbor Freight that I picked up a couple of years ago for $99 less 20%.

The first order of business was dissasembly - seemed simple enough. Everything came apart smoothly except the drive pulley. A heavy duty snap-on puller, liberal application of kroil and brute force were required but in the end, the undamaged pulley was removed.

Old engine and drive pulley removed

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With the old engine removed I did comparison and measurements to ensure correct pulley spacing and alignment. The original engine had four shim spacers between the pulley and crankshaft. Using the mounting base as a reference, I removed one of the three thicker shims and alignment was set.

Old vs New front view

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Old vs New rear view

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Installation continued next post

[RonT]

Now comes the fun part.

Mounting the new engine required the purchase of four M8-1.25-25 and one 5/16-24-1 3/4 bolts. Each was installed with blue loctite to help prevent loosening from vibration.
The drive and driven pulleys had the rust removed and drive surfaces polished.
From this point, assembly was pretty straight forward.

Newly installed engine

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New engine rear view.

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During the comparison I thought that the bumper would have to be modified but it cleared the OHV cover with adequate clearance.

Bumper fit

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I was not able to use the handle mounted throttle as the new one is "reverse" and needs to be longer - that can wait for now.

After adding engine oil and changing transmission and tiller gear oils, I gave it a pull. It started and ran well on the second pull. I ran it for a half hour then changed engine oil.
Out to the field and I now have a tiller that runs well, has lots of power and didn't cost an arm and a leg. I did have to defeat the low oil level switch due to the angle the engine is at when tillling. We'll see how that works out.

As for the old engine, I guess I'll put it on craigslist uless any of the forum members would like it, it can be had for the price of shipping.

Thanks for reading!
Ron

[Eugene]

Did the same thing with daughter's tiller. Thinking it is a Troy Built Pony. Had a Clinton engine. First thought was to repair the Clinton engine. That lasted until I started pricing repair parts.

The Harbor Freight engine was a direct bolt in.

There is a throttle adjustment lever on the front of the engine. No need for the throttle lever and cable attached to the handle.

[Mr E]

I have an old Troybilt Horse model that I use regularly. Engine still runs fine. Good to hear there is a path forward when the engine gives up.

[Eugene]

The old engine may have been a Tecumseh. CRS.

Salvaged out the solid fuel tank and mounting bracket, thinking I would use it as a pony tank for my Cubs. Turned out the tank and bracket were a direct mount for a small generator set.

The carburetor was still in decent shape. Removed it and placed on the shelf.

Believe the tiller had sat outside for several years before daughter acquired it. Salvaged out what I could and scrapped the balance of the engine.

Thinking the total cost of the engine replacement and new belts came in at around $120-.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

Went through the same thing with a neighbor's Sears tiller a couple years ago. Not sure about the motor, but I think it was one of the cheap Briggs models. The crankshaft is carried in bushings, and one of them had seized. Pretty much ended the engines useful life. I installed one of the HF clones, and had to make a spacer to go under the engien to get the belts lined up right, but all has been well for a couple years now.