Adjustment on troybilt disengage/engage trans.

[dhildebrand]

I have an early 80's model Troybilt 7 horse (B & S engine) and it has the disengage/engage lever on the side. When I go to move the tiller with the lever in the disengage position, the machine sounds like the gears are not completely disengaged. In the engaged position, there is no odd sounds. I have tried to adjust the lever via the adjustable plate on the top, but it still makes the noise. Any suggestions from the experts out there?

 

[2manyrocks]

Ain't no expert, but I looked through the T. Bilt owners's manual and didn't find anything specific on this except a general suggestion to check the mechanism for free play and adequate lubrication. Never had a problem with mine so I'm sorry I don't know what else to suggest.

 

[WayneB]

I have an early 80's model Troybilt 7 horse (B & S engine) and it has the disengage/engage lever on the side. When I go to move the tiller with the lever in the disengage position, the machine sounds like the gears are not completely disengaged. In the engaged position, there is no odd sounds. I have tried to adjust the lever via the adjustable plate on the top, but it still makes the noise. Any suggestions from the experts out there?

I think what I would do is to go ahead and remove the tiller attachment. You will have to block up the wheels and handlebar section once the tiller is disconnected. (This will prevent the tiller from falling forward!)

Then inspect the connecting points both on the tiller and the power head. There is also an alignment pin on the power head right hand side as viewed from the rear of the power head.

Then you might want to start the power head unit and then engage the unit. If you hear the noise you are talking about then it would indicate there might be a gear problem in the power unit. If there is no noise then the problem could be in the tiller unit gears.

Just my 2 cents!

 

[dhildebrand]

Many thanks to both Wayne and 2manyrocks. I will be leaving on vacation tomorrow, but as soon as I get back I will remove the tines and see if there is a problem there. I will post the results as soon as I find out!!

 

[dhildebrand]

Well it took me forever, but life has finally slowed down long enough for me to work on the tiller. I removed the powerhead from the tiller attachment. there was grease on the two shafts, but according to the owners manual it uses the statement "it should be well greased". I removed as much of the old grease as possible and "well greased" the entire assembly. It seems to have fixed the problem. If anything changes ie.. not working, making noise, I will ask for additional help from the great panel of experts here!!

 

[dhildebrand]

As I stated in my last post, I promised I would add additional info if the tiller made more noise. Well, it made NOISE! What happened was the small bolt (1/4 by 20 by 3/8 long) that is screwed onto the eccentric shaft (which is the shaft attached to the engage/disengage level worked it way out. It moves the dog clutch in the power unit out to engage with its counterpart in the tiller tine housing. I suspect it worked its way out, and became lodged in such a way as for it to work sometime and sometime not. Long story short, it chewed up the shaft (bent) the dog clutch (notch were it engaged is pretty tore up) and dog clutch in the tiller unit (ends of the lugs are beat into a large radius were it was trying to engage/disengage from the power unit and of course both keys holding the dog clutches to their respective shafts. It was a $200 experience.
Hopefully this will prevent someone else from making the same mistake. As soon as you hear the noise, stop and tear it apart!!:confused2:

 

[ed korb]

I have a HH60 Horse (mid '70s model Troybuilt tiller) which I just bought from a friend. He left it out in the garden for 2 years, and failed to tell me it was having tiller turning problems when he left it there. I paid $100 for it, and it started right up with new gas and draining the carb.
However, there is play in the drive shaft which doesn't allow the reverse disc to completely align and fully engage. Also, the tines turn until you lower them into the soil to start tilling. When it is off, I can turn the tines back and forth and they will revolve, kinda like a ratcheting effect. I think there is a shim or maybe the bolt problem like you discussed in you thread above. My question to you is: Where did you get the diagram to assist in the disassembly and re-assembly of the unit?
I called Troybuilt to check on the cost of the parts needed, but the customer service rep said he couldn't email or fax the info to me! So, can someone help me by suggesting where I can get the info needed.
Ed Korb
PS I also need 2 new belts and the reverse disc ($42 for the belts and $60 for the disc.) from Troybuilt

 

[dex3361]

Just replied to your PM.

 

[heehaw]

look on ebay, lots of parts an better prices than most places..
heehaw

 

[dhildebrand]

You can look up a complete diagram of your machine here:
https://www.troybilt.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/category2_10001_14102_1211102_1211102_1211102_-1

It is a bit difficult to use, but I found exactly my machine here and it is over 25 years old. You should be able to find the part numbers at least.