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Tillex Pasadena California is known for the “Tournament of Roses” parade the takes place on New Years Day. The marching bands and gorgeous floats covered in flowers and other natural materials is something we look forward to each year. Also, there is a sporting event called the “Rose Bowl. Pasadena’s other claim to fame is being home to the Tillex garden tiller. Henry Marshall Bray headed up the Bay Corporation of Pasadena which made the Tillex rototiller following World War Two. During the war Bray had been treasurer and sales manager of Vard Mechanical Inc. which made precision drafting equipment and precision instruments for the SoCal aircraft industry. The company’s wartime campus grew to include a number of buildings in Pasadena. The firm listed the following products made: drafting machines and scales, navigational plotters, aircraft hydraulic units, optical instruments, and consulting engineers. At the end of World War Two the Reconstruction Finance Corporation was put in charge of converting America’s military-industrial complex into peacetime uses. Bray obtained the former Vard Mechanical site and began work on lawn and garden equipment as well as other things. The first newspaper appearance for the Tillex was a dealer ad published in September 20, 1946 edition of the Chula Vista Star by a firm also selling Gard’n Mast’r, Airens, and Speedex tractors. An ad in the Modesto Bee (November 11, 1946) has the lone image of a Tillex with swooping dual handles and the aircraft-grade aluminum components, made by Vard, Inc. The Model ‘31’ appears in a number of publications, including the June 1947 issue of Popular Science magazine. The Tillex 31 was powered by a four horsepower Wisconsin AK engine with a disc clutch and chain drive to the driven axle. 15.5” x 4.5” lug type driving wheels, eight precision forged plow-steel blades rotate on a precision-cast chrome molybdenum steel sleeve hubs. Power to blades is transmitted from gears, sprockets and chain to blade shaft, encased in cast aluminum transmission case. Weight: 340 pounds. I couldn’t find any information about the company’s founding or termination.

The picture says it all! But theirs a story. So my wife is a Family Nurse Practicer and recently semi-retired from Texas Tech University teaching Family Nurse Practitioners. She had always enjoyed counseling and decided to get her Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Degree/License. She had completed her course work and had to do 500 hours of Intern work. It’s a challenge to find clinics that will work with Interns. We took our RV to Wichita Falls Tx where she will she will work for 10 days at a clinic The lower storage of the RV is packed with several projects I’ve brought along. We also brought along my sons Electric Bikes for me to have some transportation since my wife will have the car. Goya love a working girl, but no pay for intern hours. We arrived in Wichita Falls at 6:20 last night just as the radio issued a weather bulletin warning of heavy rain, hail and a tornado threat. Before I could hook the RV up rain and small hail began. We watched slow circulation in the very dark cloud and identified the nearby cinder block RV Park Community Center as our safe place if needed. Thankfully the lite hail only lasted 5 minutes. But the rain continued. I funky hooked up the RV this morning. We’ve been working on a major addition at my oldest sons house. Thankfully he had contractors doing 50% and we are doing 50% It’s now ready to move the existing electric,water, sewer and natural gas to new connections. Since his house will be without utility services for a few days, his family moved to our house while we’re gone. Follow along for the next 10 days as I do some projects out on that big orange cable spool workbench and do some exploring on the electric bike.

I don't want any more tractors. I already have more than I have room for. ...but would happily pay $200 for a running C160.

Yes 4 tires can add up $$. But if it runs, drives and has no rust………RUN. …..Do you have it home yet!

Sometimes a picture helps. This is the rivet you need to squeeze or drill out and replace with a bolt and nylock nut.

Had the Herd out Grazing today.

Made progress but not much to show in pictures. Kohler #30 carb rebuilt and installed. Wiring and fuel plumbing took up most of my day today. Took a little extra time to find a place to mount the fuel pump and rectifier / regulator. Ended up tucking the fuel pump inside the dash tower and mounting the rec/reg to the frame rail just behind the battery.. Dash looks nice & clean. In the home stretch now. Work & holiday will shut down any progress next weekend. Hope to hear it run soon though.

I work out of a one car garage and needed to be able to easily move the lift table so my wife can get her car in. This was non-negotiable I bought locking swivel casters with 2k pound capacity. For the front I had to use 2x4 pt wood to build it up high enough for the casters to fully spin. In the back I welded up some brackets. Works really well. IMG_0525.MOV

Thanks for the help! The snowblower and the dozer blade are in the pool house so tucked away but took the best picture I could.

Had some time to do some more investigating and did find some ID tags. Serial number does put it in the line up of 854 numbers. As I stated the engine is a K161 instead of a K181. Model & serial number on the HY3 pump. A P.O. did some customizing on the filler plug. Not the end of the world, looks like it should still work. Also feels like the return spring for the control lever is broken. Thanks to the likes of Lowell, this is not a big deal either.

I've had excellent results with this technique. Squeeze it a little with the vise grips, see if the lever stays up like you want it to, tighten it some more if necessary, test again and repeat until it behaves nicely. It's also a good time to lube the cable and the throttle mechanism, both ends, at the throttle and also where the cable connects to the governor and carb linkage. I usually use WD-40 first to clean those areas, then follow up with an actual lube of some sort.

This is a common issue with the throttle mechanism over time. There is a rivet that is used to create friction in the throttle lever. It can be drilled out and a bolt and nylock nut used to tighten as needed to create that friction once again. Some people also just manage to squeeze that river tighter with vice grips or hammer and anvil too.

Agreed! "If Mama ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy"!!!!!!

An additional story from the robotics meet. We have a very, very nice pit setup for the robots. Two 6 foot rolling tool boxes with an upper cupboard and a corner unit for each team. When we can we set the pits adjacent to each other. The standard pit size is 10 feet by 10 feet., so we have 20 feet of pit area lined on the sides and back with matching tool boxes. Quite impressive looking. I'll have to find a picture and add it. These pits were one of our recent graduate's senior project. He designed them, worked with a couple of our sponsors to fabricate pieces parts and oversaw the assembly. Last weekend, the coach of the team across the aisle from us spoke many times about how he was having pit envey looking at our setup. I spoke to him and told him how the pit setup cane about. On Saturday, the graduate that designed them showed up to watch the meet. I introduced him to the coach across the aisle, then wandered off for a bit. When I returned, the coach and graduate were bent over exchanging contact information. Seems that our ex student picked up his first consulting job to design a pit set up for that other team! Of course, I poked my head in and asked if I were going to get a 3% referral fee.

Everytime I see one of those spools I think about a friend of mine who was an electrician. He had one of those spools as a coffee table in his apartment. There was a mountain of wire nuts that grew bigger and bigger on it. One day I stopped by and the table was cleaned off. I asked him what happened and he said his boss (his Dad) ran out of wire nuts and wanted to know where the heck they all went!

Had it out again today. The hydro pedal was too tight, so I replaced the bronze bushing and polished the portion of the peg it rides on. Made a big difference. But I still might move it back towards the rear another inch or so. I'm 6 feet tall, and have to stretch to get full forward...

I hear you. At one point in my working life, my company changed its stationery--logo and paper style.. We were instructed NOT to use up the reams and reams of letterhead and boxes of envelopes we had “in stock” but to switch immediately to the new stationery. With young children at home, I got permission to take the “obsolete” stock and use it for scrap paper and for personal stuff (we used labels to cover the return addresses on the envelopes). We even gave away some to friends with young children. The supply lasted us for at least 25 years.

The rivet mentioned above loosened over time, and it will again. Drill it out and use a 10/32 or even 1/4x20 bolt and nylock nut to set friction on it. It will stay where you set it, and not be an issue again. 1. Remove the throttle knob. They can be sticky, but will pull off. 2. Remove two 10/32 screws that hold the lever in place. They have nylocks on the back, so you'll probably have to remove your battery to access them. 3. Drill the rivet in the lever out with a 1/4 (or smaller if using 10/32) bit. 4. Add the before mentioned bolt. Tighten to desired tension on the lever. 5. Reinstall 6. Enjoy your tractor. No wheelies!

Demo: That should serve you well. Just take your time with it. Look at all the manuals for it when you can. And ask questions before action. Enjoy the ride.

The guy probably got a WH a few months before he went and told his old lady that JD to go box was a mistake. The rest is evident.

This post might help. It might be as simple as a lost/broken/rusted off cotter pin. The 518 had an Eaton 700, but the brake-setting-to-neutral linkage hardware is identical.

Hey guys, I know I ask a lot of questions but here’s another tractor I’m looking at, a 70s C 160. I hear they are great tractors, but I was wondering if 200 dollars is good. It runs and drives it just needs new rubber. It has no rust holes to my knowledge.

1-0440 1973 Lawn & Garden Tractor 16 Hp Automatic Kohler K341S-71113A 16 Sundstrand 90-2046 It seems you have a bit of a Frankentractor going on. According to the model number it's a '73 "no name" automatic, not a C-160.... But here's where it gets interesting, it has the correct sticker on the steering tower, but the sticker on the hood is wrong for both tractors. The '73 also had the motion control lever in the center of the tunnel below the steering wheel, but yours has the motion control lever high up on the right side like a C-160, but the C-160 wasn't made until 1974. My best guess is it is a C-160 that a PO replaced the tower with a 73, they are known to crack where they bolt to the frame. I have a C-160 someone put a 1971 Bronco tower on it, so it's not uncommon. The '73 no name & the C-160 are pretty much the same tractor, just different motion lever locations. Both are great tractors but I prefer the C-160's motion lever location like yours. The spec number on the engine & the model tag on the transmission might help to narrow it down to what it actually is...

Dan could always grab a hood off Jim's porch rail and custom fit it. How about a square hooded round-hood; that would confuse the heck out of some of the experts, Drive it through the Big Show parade and give "Wild Bill" something to talk about!

Sea Foam works. I don't care what any of the naysayers say. I have personally seen it FIX 4 engines. I had a 94 Chevy truck with a lifter tick. It had been there for over a year. I was working at Napa and the Sea Foam rep was there. I got talking to him and he hands me a can. Says pour half of it into the oil. I dove home for lunch ( 3 miles ) Went back to work and the tick was gone and stayed gone. Wife's Dodge Caravan. Pinged like crazy. Ran Sea Foam into the intake and soaked the pistons. Ping gone. B- I -L had a Buick 4 banger that rattled and clanged like it was ready to blow up. Half a can into the oil and the other half down the intake. Ran like new. 1990 520. Onan surged like crazy. Treated the gas in the tank and soaked the pistons. Surge disappeared.

Bray Corporation was at “3571 E. Colorado Street, Pasadena 8, California and before that 2981 E. Colorado Street Bray Co., was an affiliate of Vard company The Tillex 31 was designed in the Vard Facilities which Bray eventually purchased There was also a Tillex Model 40 as well Tillex’ trademark was cancelled in 1955 Henry Marshall Bray died April 10, 1956 at the age of 47 in Altadena, California So My guess is the Bray Corporation was defunct by His death in 1956 There is a beauty salon, a massage parlor, and a foot doctor at 3571 E. Colorado Street, Pasadena 8, California, today .

For 6.00x12 tires wheel horse used a 5" rim with a 1-3/8 inch back set (viewed from the outside the center flange ends just about an 1/2" from the drop center.

Troy Bilt specs called for a GL4 gear oil, anywhere from 80W-90 to 85W-140. I bought a 5 gallon bucket of Schaeffer GL4 85W-140 from my local NAPA store. Troy Bilt tillers have a bronze drive gear for the tiller shaft, and the wheel shaft runs in bronze bushings.

I always wondered if I was the only one that did that 😆

I got the filler plug off, looked inside; had something in there as far as lube..not great looking but not milky. I put some 20w50 in to curculate for a bit, ill drain it well when the gear oil gets here, i ordered a 5gallon bucket, going to do the 312-8, C100, 702 and Tiller all at once. I did get the Tiller mounted though

It does indeed, thanks for covering my lazy butt!

My wife... she's gotta print everything. Then have five copies. Trees have been known to pull roots and run for the hills she's around.

Paper was forecast to be a dying industry 20/30 years ago. With the desktop and hand held computer revolution who needed paper. Fast forward to today and my recycle bin is overflowing with paper cardboard boxes from online buying.

Back in the 40's they were used to making things for the war effort which meant things have to withstand the heat of battle. I believe this carried on to the later 40's maybe even early 50's. Somewhere along it was figured that things could be made cheaper. Hence the nowadays think of make it to last a few years since no more Uncle Sam's deep pockets to dig into. Let's manufacture to sell more boxes.

The rivet forms the pivot on which the lever rotates. It is behind the instrument panel. it passes through the throttle mounting bracket (held to the panel with two screws with nuts), some plastic friction washers, and the throttle lever itself. Important to understand is that the throttle assembly wasn’t intended as a serviceable part--a dealer would most likely replace the lever/cable assembly completely. What is being suggested (tightening the rivet or replacing it with a shoulder bolt) are labor intensive but not especially complicated repairs that do require some degree of mechanical skill and tools. Personally, I’ve used the bolts method.

And we joke that our tractors are not race cars or rocket ships. Clearly the engineers and designers went wild with this thing. They probably had the accountants bound and gagged in the back office.

Here are a couple of coil tests that were posted years back by @Save Old Iron that work well.

Was happy to pick up a full set of new tires yesterday off Craigslist for $100. They’ll go on the 312-8 I picked up a couple of months ago.

Old belt measures 139 so the 141 should be just the ticket. I ordered a couple springs to try. Got gear oil coming, have to figure out how to change it, i see a plug on top and on bottom..but nothing that would be a conventional side plug to check level. Ill pull the upper and see if its a dipstick.

If you have 12v to the + side of the coil and you touch a grounded wire to the - side, the plug should spark..if it doesn't, bad coil. If the points are closed and the key is on, the coil can overheat fairly quickly and at minimum...fail

We got around an inch or so and most of it has melted. No plowing required (good thing since I put the plow tractor away for the summer).

Transmission back in. Lots of stuff going on here for a one year only tractor. Was kinda fun figuring out how things go when one doesn't take it apart. Separate brake & clutch pedal froze solid but I won. Old skool dealer???

Or most brake/carb cleaners.

NEVER use starting fluid on these little engines, BAD things can happen, i.e. blown head gasket, hole in piston,ect... Use a squirt bottle with a little bit of gasoline in it.

Good idea @Ponyboy If the switch seems bad, you can temporarily “hot wire” a jumper from the battery positive to the coil around the switch to get ignition and then use the starter to crank it. Just be sure to remove the jumper to shut down the engine!

Any good hardware store has NPT pipes and fittings, Taps in NPT are also easy to find. One of the only things we use in imperial on the regularly here.

Pretty Sunday. Got all the boys out for a half hour of run time. 867 needs a plug wire, so he played hookie...

Probably had a tag on it that says MTD…

The owner of my local Car Quest is a good friend of mine. I’m going to ask him what the difference is between the red and blue, I’m confident that he will know. He will not BS me. I’ll also ask him who makes them for Car Quest, and post the answers on this post.