Just an update on my repairs. I installed the new front and rear main shaft bearings and seals yesterday. Everything went great until i went to reassemble the shaft. When I put all the shims in I still had bunches of endshaft play. Turns out the rear worm gear (drives the tines) and the adjacent spacer has worn a lot on the sides. I believe this was caused by not enough gear lube in the transmission. It was lower than the connecting tube level. So now I have to replace the rear worm and it's spacer.
I bought this tiller off a local fellow who said it ran great, only needed the belts tightened, (right) but since I only paid $50.00 for it and the engine started first lick I knew I'd be ok. Right now I'm into it a little under $100.00 so after I get the rest of the repairs done (thinking the gear lube was low due to leaking wheel axle seals, so I'll need to replace them) I believe I'll have a little under $200.00 invested. Not bad I think.