Welding tiller tines

[DeNiro]

I have a grey market PTO tiller and new tines are very difficult to find. I did manage to locate some and they would need to be flown in from Japan and even if they were local the pricing makes them prohibitive. There are over 40 of them at $15/ piece.
While inquiring about I had several folks recommend that I merely weld new flat steel to the tines to repair them.
I assume that the tines are heat treated steel, but I am not sure. If so I am not sure a weld would hold long while tilling my hard clay ground.
Does anyone have experience with this idea????????

 

[Transit]

If you are up to welding, you could resurface the tines with hard facing rod or mig.

 

[Kays Supply]

Don't put any of the Indian or Chinese tines on it. They will snap like a twig on untilled clay. The OEMs are well worth the price if you can manage it. You will be amazed at how much better it tills with new tines.

 

[MFRED]

They won't hold long at all. If they did manage to hold on, the mild steel that was welded on would last a very short time. Probably about as long as it took to fit & weld all the pieces on.

 

[Egon]

Have you tried using the bolt spacing on the tines to find some that will fit.

Our local farm supply store has done that for my tiller which is manufactured in Canada.

 

[gwdixon]

Did the welding of pieces of mild steel to the worn out tines.

Hardfaced them with Stoody 1 tungsten rod (read expensive). It has worked quite well in a rocky/clay soil.

They do need to be touched up every couple of years. If the mild steel is ever exposed it will just melt away like butter in a couple of tilling sessions.

 

[skipmarcy]

I just bought a used 5' Kubota tiller this past fall (italian made) and had the same sticker shock on new tines for it - right at $16 each and it has 36 of them. I got my local farmer's co-op to look into it and they got replacements for me at $7 each from somewhere in Calif. New tines make a tremendous difference - I've replaced them a couple times on my old Craftsman rear tine tiller that I've had for over 20 years.

 

[Dargo]

Being a 'do it yourself' millwright of sorts, many things had to be created. It's a fine line between case hardening steel and making it brittle. Still, it's rather simple to harden relatively thin (like tiller tines) steel with used motor oil. I've done it many times. You do have to be careful not to splash hot oil on yourself or anyone else. Still, we managed to make a new tail for a D11 ripper and harden it enough to last several months this way.

Being lazy and not wanting to type out exactly how, you can Google it yourself if you want. Here is a very brief explanation from a Google link How to Harden & Temper Mild Steel | eHow.com

Generally a MIG will give you a weld equal to a 70 series rod. You can either MIG your new piece on or use the tried and true 7018 rod then harden. Good luck and be careful.

 

[DeNiro]

Thanks for all the quick replies and good thoughts. I did contact the people in California and even sent them tracings of the tines, but they could only offer tines that were questionable fit and possible damage due to the lack of a complete tine to match. I think a custom made tine would be even more expensive. Every alternative sounds expensive.
The probablity is that I will trade this tiller for one that can be maintained much more economically.

 

[Arkaybee]

Did you contact Clean Cutter Tiller Blades in San Bernardino, CA?
If you tell them the type of tiller you have they may have it in their HUGE line of tiller blades. HTH.
Arkaybee