JD 855 and 550 Tiller

[Ronaldjaye]

Yesterday in the sweltering heat I brough Home my latest toy, a JD 550 Tiller...It seems to be in good condition, at least that"s what the previous owner told me.. The blades look as if they have never been used overall there is some rust, I think I will sand it and repaint it. This being my first rear attachment I thought maybe I should ask you guys what I should be aware of or if you would do any prep work on it before trying it out? Should I grease it or change the oil or anything or just hitch it up and see what happens... Can I leave my 72in MMM attached and use the tiller or do I have to remove it? H E L P!

 

[bilrus61]

Gosh and your at the home of Befco! Do you feel any disloyalty?? ahahha. I had a 660 JD and it was a great tiller.

Does it have the shear pin or the clutch on the PTO? I would hang a rock about every 5 hours tilling with my JD 660 and the spin the clutch on the PTO driveshaft. Since it is rusty I would guess it's been out in the rain and is in bad need of new fresh gear oil of 80 90 wt and same in the side chain drive case. Grease the rotar bearing on the other side of the chain drive case. Only fill the chaing drive case about half full and only fill the gearbox about the same or a tad more. If it has a PTO clutch tighten the bolts till it frees up the clutch, I think that was right on my JD 660. Some you tighten to free up and others you loosen to free up! Any gear lube will do. Then your ready to go! Tiller was made in Germany and is a very high grade well made tiller. Not sure on using with the belly mower. Good luck!

 

[Ronaldjaye]

Gosh and your at the home of Befco! Do you feel any disloyalty?? ahahha. I had a 660 JD and it was a great tiller.

Does it have the shear pin or the clutch on the PTO? I would hang a rock about every 5 hours tilling with my JD 660 and the spin the clutch on the PTO driveshaft. Since it is rusty I would guess it's been out in the rain and is in bad need of new fresh gear oil of 80 90 wt and same in the side chain drive case. Grease the rotar bearing on the other side of the chain drive case. Only fill the chaing drive case about half full and only fill the gearbox about the same or a tad more. If it has a PTO clutch tighten the bolts till it frees up the clutch, I think that was right on my JD 660. Some you tighten to free up and others you loosen to free up! Any gear lube will do. Then your ready to go! Tiller was made in Germany and is a very high grade well made tiller. Not sure on using with the belly mower. Good luck!

Thanks for your help bilrus61. No disloyalty here. I found what I thought was a good deal and I jumped for it! The 550 does have the slip clutch. Hopefully I will be able to get this thing "tried out" this weekend.. Thanks again for your timely response.
Anybody else want to chime in and help out an old timer who has his first REAL tractor a John Deere 855.

 

[RG1]

The 450, 550 etc tillers were made by Howard, and were pretty good tillers. The newer JD tillers like the 647, 655 etc are made by Sicma.

 

[patchnball]

you can leave the mmm on. Just raise it all the way. It will still need washed off and checked after done tilling to make sure no rocks or dirt got on top of deck to interfere with belts or mid pto. 855 is a good tractor .

 

[bigtiller]

You don't HAVE to take the mower off but if you do, the tilling job will look nicer when finished. Besides, it will be a good time to sharpen the blades while it is off the tractor.

 

[Henri88]

Agree, you don't have to take it off but their are a couple of things you have to do. First, I don't know if you have the independent lift or the mechanical 3 point hitch lift. If you have the mechanical lift you will have to lock your mower in the lift position to keep it from coming down when using the 3ph with the tiller. Secondly bring the 4 wheels up on the mower so not to drag them in the dirt.

 

[Ronaldjaye]

Thanks guys I really appreciate your input.

Ronald