adapting a pre-tach matic tiller to a classic gt

[racer4 0]

OK, So this weekend, I picked up an early tiller from Bill J. in pottstown. He said it came off a 1057. What a nice guy with a nice stable of horses. I knew I'd have to do some modification to make it work. (probably should have asked him if he had the brackets and pulleys, but my wife and I were in a hurry and I forgot). I have looked through all the pics and posts here to get the basic idea of what needs to be done. If I am missing anything please let me know. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The first problem is getting it to fit the rear tach matic:

Its almost 16 inches wide at the front mount as compared to the necessary 12 or so inches needed to fit the newer rear tachmatic. Sorry, bad pic but you can see the red 16" mark on the tape for reference.

If someone has the correct hitch bracket with pulley and lift spring parts that are bolted to the front of the tiller, please let me know. Also, would the main tiller drive pulley be the same size diameter from the older ones to the newer? If not, that will be another item I'll need.

Second, looks like getting the correct mid-mount pulleys, spring, and belt. These are the pulleys that it came with:

If anyone wants to trade the above rear axle bracket and pulley bracket for one that will fit a 314-8 that would be awesome. Again, let me know.

I already have the clevis hitch lift assembly so that shouldn't be a problem. I have been going over the parts list on toro just to see what's what and how its put together. I think I have the items figured out but probably am missing something. Thanks in advance.

Just thought of it, I also need the outer left side bolt on tine too. This ones missing.

[kpinnc 10,686]

You should be able to swap rear hitches with no problems. If you don't want to go that route, you just need to weld "stops" the correct width onto the front bar on the tiller hitch so it will work with the newer attach-a-matic hitch. It should look like this:

Your tiller will have nearly ALL of the same parts as a newer one, drive pulley and all. But, your idler pulley that is on the older hitch will need to be moved to the front of the tiller itself. Here's someone else's pic, but you can see where the idler is located:

I already have the clevis hitch lift assembly so that shouldn't be a problem.

And you won't need a clevis hitch to make this work. It won't fit in there anyway.

Kevin

[wheel horse 1045 2]

the tiller and hitch setup is for the automatic wich is wider than the 8 speed that you have.

[racer4 0]

Thanks Kevin, I know I don't need the clevis hitch itself, but I do have the under-seat pivot arm, cable and tube. I may be able to weld the hitch assembly to make it work, but it's not only wider, most of the round part of the hitch bar is thicker than what fits in attach matic bracket. Just a little bit on the ends of that bar is the right size. I'd just rather find the correct bracket and not destroy the originals in case someone has a use for these parts, which may be hard to find. Kevin, seems like the lift point for the tiller on that second pic is also different than mine. This one lifts an arm down on the hitch part, not the top of the cover. Should be an easy fab for that.

[wheel horse 1045 2]

its for an aotomatic

[kpinnc 10,686]

1045, I don't think it matters whether it is an auto or not. The cases measure pretty much the same between an auto and manual.

seems like the lift point for the tiller on that second pic is also different than mine.

You're right, the older style "lift" was different. The newer style has a "bolt-on" pull point on top of the top cover. Looks like this:

Real easy to fab up, just as you said. Easier to lift the tiller from there as well.

Kevin