Tiller killing tractor

[TooRow]

Hi TBN!

My tractor has stalled a few times recently after my tiller has found a huge chunk of concrete that was buried just enough that I could not see it and again on a stump that was supossed to be ground (that is another story) but was also covered just enough that I could not see it.

My tiller is a RhinoAg REB72R. It is equipped with a slip clutch. Shouldn't the clutch slip before the tractor stalls?

It seems if the tractor is stalling, the clutch is not slipping, and if it does not slip I could damage my tiller or my PTO drive. Is my logic correct?

PTO=45.6

Tiller min/max = 35/55

 

[jaxs]

6' is alot of tiller for 50 hp so I'm not surprised engine stall's before clutch slips. I would adjust clutch to slip at a lighter load.

 

[DLTTrekkers]

6' is alot of tiller for 50 hp so I'm not surprised engine stall's before clutch slips. I would adjust clutch to slip at a lighter load.

Did you disassemble and clean the slipclutch before workinv with it ?
It can be rusted and not able to slip when needed .

 

[bdog]

Yes it should slip before it kills your tractor. Be careful though if it slips too much it will burn up the clutch.

They are adjustable. You want the sweet spot where it doesn’t slip under normal conditions but does when it is overloaded.

 

[TooRow]

Did you disassemble and clean the slipclutch before workinv with it ?
It can be rusted and not able to slip when needed .

No but I did watch a video on doing it. Only ever had sheer pins in the past on cutters. It was "new" when I bought it but I have no idea how long it was at the dealership, I will try that.

 

[TooRow]

6' is alot of tiller for 50 hp so I'm not surprised engine stall's before clutch slips. I would adjust clutch to slip at a lighter load.

OK, this is my first PTO driven tiller, I was going purely off spec sheets to choose. Also I have heard .5 hp per inch, is this not a good rule of thumb?

I guess my question to you is: where did i make a mistake when I chose this tiller for my tractor? I would hate to make this mistake again.

And I will absolutely heed your advice, I will adjust the clutch when I take it apart.

 

[jeff9366]

Concrete, intact stumps and boulders are going to stop any roto-tiller. Landscapers who till for diverse customers weekly encounter such obstacles all the time. Buried barbed wire is the worst.

Hopefully you have removed the obstacles. A roto-tiller is not a stump grinder. Be prudent.

How to adjust Slip Clutch.
VIDEO: adjust implement slip clutch - YouTube




Unrelated to your slip clutch, if you will be doing 100 hours of roto-tilling per year, by a HydrauLink. HydrauLink will cushion tractor-to-tiller vibration and transient loads. I use HydrauLink with my Box Blade.
VIDEO: HydrauLink Category 1 Cylinder - For 45 HP Tractors or Less, Model# HL-11 - YouTube

 

[jeff9366]

6' is alot of tiller for 50 hp so I'm not surprised engine stall's before clutch slips.

A six foot forward rotation roto-tille is a light load for a 50-horsepower tractor. Forward rotating tines push the tractor forward. Eighteen horsepower subcompact tractors adequately power 4' roto-tillers.

Counter-rotating tillers, a small fraction of the tiller market, require somewhat more horsepower.

Moist soil is important.

 

[jeff9366]

I guess my question to you is: where did i make a mistake when I chose this tiller for my tractor?

And I will absolutely heed your advice, I will adjust the clutch when I take it apart.

You do not have a tiller issue, you have a slip clutch adjustment issue. I would start by simply loosening the nuts which adjust slip clutch friction a half turn each.

In my experience adjusting a slip clutch is an intuitive process. Few would 'test' successive slip clutch adjustments by running the tiller over concrete or into stumps. A few stalls of the tractor is NOTHING.

If that does not permit slip clutch to slip, try burning off rust per videos. I would not take the slip clutch apart. Let the dealer take it apart, if two or three adjustments does not seem effective. Adjusting slip clutches is an intuitive process for dealers too ~~~~ but experience is some help.

 

[daugen]

I bet slip clutches are some of the most neglected parts of the machinery we use...
I never test mine, keep them clean, often you can't see in there very well.
Completely agree with Jeff, who gives very good advice here, that stalling tractor is nothing.
Better to stall the tractor than break the equipment, something I practice using my PHD at just above engine idle.

Slip clutches are considered the preferred alternative to shear pins. Shear pins are cheap and you can carry spares easily
so I do wonder if the convenience here is worth it long term. Depends upon how often it happens I'm sure.

When I have bought two new Land Pride mowers, one finish, one rough, I asked the selling dealer to reservice the slip clutch.
I'm not sure they did much of anything. In reality, how do you test them without potentially damaging a part?

I don't think that tiller is too big for your tractor. Just go slow; no more than one mph. Unless you are production farmer and you would then have
loosened up the soil with a disc of some sort ahead of time, to me tilling has always been life in the slow lane. I think the fastest I ever went was 1.4 mph.

Takes a while to dial in the right rpm for the job, to find the right torque spot, just enough to get the job done, but not so much power applied
that major failure is more likely than minor failure. I've always felt tiller time was quality seat time and really didn't want to rush to get it done.
Your results shall surely vary.

 

[daugen]

TractorData.com Kioti DK51 tractor information

1.8L 3 cyl 45.6hp at pto

My gut feel is six foot is max for this unless in soft sandy soil like where I am.
As long as you are covering your rear tires totally, anything more is a bonus.

If you aren't going to hit tree roots, and you don't have a lot of rocks to deal with, which I'm guessing
is the case for you (?) I think TooRow sized his tiller just fine.
If he doesn't go too fast and the soil isn't like concrete and...

Rebel Series Rotary Tillers | Rhino Ag
nice tiller and properly sized per their specs

 

[TerryR]

1.8L 3 cyl 45.6hp at pto

My gut feel is six foot is max for this unless in soft sandy soil like where I am.

Really? I ran a five-foot tiller with my JD 870 (25 hp at PTO) for years and it never knew it had anything behind it.

 

[jeff9366]

Rhino Ag REB72R is a REVERSE ROTATION[ TILLER.

TOOROW should have specified this in opening post as REVERSE ROTATION TILLERS are somewhat outliers, I speculate 8% (+/-) of tiller market. I am in North Florida where our soil is sandy-loam. My Kubota dealer never inventories reverse rotation tillers. Reverse rotation roto-tillers are special order by customer request.

Reverse tine rotation means tractor would have been trying to lift obstacles when it stalled. No wonder.

No change in advice. Loosen the bolts applying tension to the slip clutch a half turn. Have at the tilling again. If in doubt about the ground, walk it before tilling, carefully watching for potential obstacles. Flag potential obstacles. Repeat.

Till only moist ground; not dry.

I speculate TOOROW will shear tines off the tiller way before he damages the tractor or the Cat 4 driveline on the Reb72R roto-tiller. Cat 4 driveline is heavy-duty by standards of this forum.

 

[Jstpssng]

Really? I ran a five-foot tiller with my JD 870 (25 hp at PTO) for years and it never knew it had anything behind it.

A former neighbor ran a 5' JD tiller behind his Kubota 185DT. (17HP at the PTO) He tilled a lot of gardens with it, when I was looking at the tines were merely spikes. It also had a 3 speed PTO gearbox though.

 

[RjCorazza]

This thread reminds me that I really need to service and adjust my tiller’s slip clutch. The tiller sits outside, and I’m sure the clutch is seized up by now.
Implement width for soil engagement is very dependent upon soil condition / type. I ran a 5’ tiller with a 25hp pto tractor, and in undisturbed clay it struggled, but at slower speed it got the job done.

 

[DK35vince]

I run a 6' King Kutter II tiller on my DK 35 just fine.
The slip clutch needs to be adjusted to work properly with your machine.
I have my slip clutch set to slip just before I run out of power or if I hit something that jams it.
The slip clutch also needs to be serviced occasionally to continue working properly.

 

[CincyFlyer]

Because that clutch can literally stick together, certainly loosen it quite a bit, then let it slip for a second or two (use marks to verify that it has) then adjust to factory specs. My slip clutch instructions say to do this after any period of inactivity. Mine also squeals like a pig when it slips under heavy load!

 

[daugen]

Really? I ran a five-foot tiller with my JD 870 (25 hp at PTO) for years and it never knew it had anything behind it.

it shows a range of 45 to 65 hp for the next tiller size up, putting OP's unit at absolute minimum for his pto hp.

Since we have no idea of what TooRow's soil conditions are, this is all speculation.


Now if one of you runs a 7 foot tiller, next size up from OP's 6 foot, I'd be interested to know what pto hp your tractor has.

There's no question if you are careful and run slowly and have the right soil conditions you can run these tillers with less hp.

I'll stick by my gut on this until someone who has larger tiller experience chimes in. Particular on a reverse rotation tiller.

 

[nybirdman]

I have two slip clutches;a bush-hog and a tiller.Service every spring,not that difficult.The bush hog requires I find some resistance to make the clutch slip;the tiller I just drop to the ground.I have lots of rocks so run my tiller with the discharge flap wide open.

 

[daugen]

I have two slip clutches;a bush-hog and a tiller.Service every spring,not that difficult.The bush hog requires I find some resistance to make the clutch slip;the tiller I just drop to the ground.I have lots of rocks so run my tiller with the discharge flap wide open.

you make it sound easy, can you explain what you do? Is it just backing some bolts out, under tension, and not too far? Do you make one full bolt revolution (or something) in reverse and then test?

went back and read this: Loosen the bolts applying tension to the slip clutch a half turn.
You really only need a little movement and I question in general the use of lube in that area.
We don't want rust but you don't want to lube your very needed friction away.
Yeah, I never have any rust, but then my tiller won't spin...