tiller question

[mrc 729]

hi men, some time ago my friend bob asked me if i could locate a wh tractor with a tiller.  i found a C-141.  the tiller was hooked up directly via a cable.  bob struggled to lift it. thanks to daveoman for suppling the rear rockshaft,assorted cables, chains, clevis,lift spring, brackets, etc etc it now lifts quite easily. i installed all this stuff and my question is how far at full lift is the bottom of the tine off the ground??  also when the lift arm is in the down position how much slack in the chain???  it seems to me its a balancing act.  you want the tiller to be able to dig into the ground but raised high enough to clear the lawn when you come out of the garden.  any help on this is appreciated.  thank you. mike in mass.

[Lane Ranger 10,530]

My tiller is only about three inches off the ground when raised by the lift handle.   However, when tilling I  lower the tiller by moving the chain down one or two links.  It takes two to do this sometimes as you have to reset the pin  on the rear of the tractor that the chain is held on by.  

 

Not much if any slack in chain and maybe one link left loose on top Mike!  Maybe some of these pictures will help you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a link to a video of the tiller in action yesterday:

 

IMG_6717.MOV

Edited October 28, 2014 by Lane Ranger

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 10,531]

Common problem with any make of tractor that uses 23" tall rear tires. Just not enough room or tractor weight to extend the lift hardware so there is adequate transport height and working height. For rear attachments I blow the rear tires up good and hard plus add 100 lbs. of weight to the front and it helps.

 

Garry

[doc724 924]

Mine is set up pretty much like Lane Ranger's.  The only difference is that I do not fool around with with far I can lower it.  I just lower the lift lever so that the swing gate on the back of the tiller drags over the tilled soil.  In my (limited) experience, I don't think you can lower the tiller much deeper than where the tine shaft drags over the untilled earth.  If this is not correct, perhaps those of you with more tilling "experience" can enlighten me

[diamondred 63]

Depends a lot on which rock shaft you have. I know of at least 3 different ones. Its the story of levers. Or like a teeter-totter, the further out from the fulcrum, the more movement you have. But in this case, seems the more movement you have, the harder it is to lift. One rock shaft has 3 different slots, the lowest one (furthest from pivot point) allows for maximum movement. While the upper slot gives you more leverage for lifting. And the center one, would be the best of both worlds.

 The chain link adjustments are for larger increments of adjustment, while the cable to trunion  threaded adjustment is for "fine" tuning... 

[doc724 924]

Thanks diamondred, I have the three slotted rock shaft and I have only used the lowest (furthest from the fulcrum) slot.  I don't have much of a problem lifting the tiller either.  Maybe I have the lift spring cranked more than Lane Ranger.  It is certainly easier to lift a tiller with a helper spring, than a snow plow (without a spring) when it has some snow stuck to the blade!

[chipwitch 73]

It isn't the tine shaft that will limit depth.  That honor will go to the gear box the tine shaft emerges from.  No matter how you design it, that gear box will be larger in "diameter" than the shaft.  If your tiller is 36", the gear box will be about 3 or 4" wide in the middle.  Which means your first pass will then leave two swaths of tilled soil 16" wide with a 4" line of untouched dirt dividing the two.  Successive passes should be no more than 16" from the previous so that the tines run over that line of soil. 

 

As for the tine shaft, think about it this... how can untilled soil possible make contact with it if the tines are turning?  What ever soil that reaches the tines shaft would have to have somehow gotten past those revolving tines, which is all loose and getting strewn about.  The gear box is a different matter and will always be dragging in the dirt, tilled or untilled.

 

There isn't much clearance on the tiller.  I put a short extension on my lift lever which gives me an extra inch of throw (height), but as previously mentioned, it makes it a tiny bit heavier to lift the tiller.