Did I jump too soon?

[jwstewar]

My cousin just bought a new Kubota 8540. All of the implements he used to use with his Ford 3000 are now way, way too small. He has offered me everything he had, but the only thing I'm interested in is the Post Hole Digger and the tiller.

First the PHD, $100. Paint is rough and the auger (he said 10" but I bet it is either 9" or 12") is rusted from lack of use, but the gear box shows no signs of oil leakage. I know he put a fence up for the cattle for the kids' 4H projects and a few other holes. Probably less than 200 holes total. So I think this is a no brainer.

Now the tiller. That one has me . I said yes but I'm having second thoughts. I have a NH TC24D HST with I think 17.5 PTO HP. This is an Agrico (I think ) tiller. It is a 60" unit. Seems to be pretty well made. I know he hasn't used it a lot. Only a small garden and he only did that for a few years before he moved on to other projects. Saw no signs of oil leaking anywhere. Does have a slip clutch - maybe froze, but he doesn't think so. He is asking $500 for it. Anyone think I'll have problems running it? All of my soil here is pretty sandy with a few rocks (usually <1") but nothing to much. Did I jump too soon or should I have waited and got a new (or another) 48" tiller? BTW, I pull a 60" Box Blade w/o a problem. 4' is about an inch too narrow to cover the tracks - I run into that with my cutter.

 

[FamilyFarm]

My 42" tiller is offset so that I can cover tracks on one side (using with Kubota BX22). My guess you would struggle with a 60" in breaking new ground, but probably manage okay once it is broken. You may have to make more passes increasing the depth more slowly than if you had smaller tiller. $500 much cheaper than new for a well-built 60" tiller. I am not familiar with that brand, so not sure if bargain or not.

 

[milkman]

I have a tractor with the same PTO hp and I have an EX heavy 48" tiller, but I have used my BIL's KK 60" tiller and with sandy ground and HST, you should be just fine. I have some ground that has a some clay and when it is wet, I can make black smoke out the exhaust.

 

[tractorsanmore]

I have a agric 70 '" tiller , without the slip clutch option , think I paid 1400.00 for it a few ( 5 ) ? years ago . good tiller so far .

 

[jwstewar]

Thanks for the insight everyone. I think I'll stay with my decision and go ahead an get it. I'm going to give him a call tomorrow and see if he will be home tomorrow afternoon and see if I can pick them up. I'll get some pics and let everyone know how they work. One thing that I do know for sure, both will need PTO shields as both are missing them. Of course, with the auger the PTO is the least of your problems. Guess that holds true for the tiller to, if I'm close enough to get to the shaft, I'm too close to the moving tines.

 

[Doc_Bob]

Hook them up, try them and see if they do the job. Then make him an offer.
Bob

 

[jwstewar]

Finally was able to go get them on Saturday. Here are some shots of the PHD. PTO shaft was frozen when I brought it home. A few shots of PB Blaster and a few whacks with a hammer and few more shots and then let it sit for a couple of hours and repeat. Did that four or five times and it was then free. Tried using it yesterday but combination of dry/hard ground and a worn out tip and it didn't work too well. I'm going to go sometime this week and get a new type and new cutting edge for it. Looks like I might also have to replace one grease fitting as it doesn't want to take grease on one of the U-joints.

 

[jwstewar]

Here are a couple of shots of the tiller tines. Looks like he had used it in some pretty muddy conditions last time he used it. Nothing that a power washer and a little more grease can't take care of.

 

[jwstewar]

Here are some shots of the tiller itself. Surface rust, but no holes are rusted completely through. I'll power wash and then wire brush and hit it with some Krylon NH Blue. Should make it look a lot better to do that. The only thing I can really see wrong with it, is the back guard is bent a little bit. You can see how much in one of the pictures, don't know if I'll try to fix it or leave well enough along.

 

[jwstewar]

Here is a shot of the only thing wrong that I had to fix before using it. As I was working with the frozen PTO shaft (yep, this one too) I noticed the PTO latch was weird. I then realized it wasn't weird it was broken. I went to tractor supply Saturday night to get a new end for the PTO shaft. Stood there confused for about 15 minutes. Decided I would go back yesterday and bring the shaft with me. So I took the front half of the shaft with me yesterday. Stood there another 15 minutes or so and got one that matched, unfortunately it was one of the more expensive ends at $60. As I'm about to walk away I see these little plastic containers hanging there. They are latch rebuild kits. I stand there for another 10 minutes or so looking at all of them. Finally find one that matches up. It was only $5 So I immediately hung the end back on the wall. Brought the new latch home, fought with the spring a little bit, but eventually one the battle. Here it is connected to the tractor complete with new latch.

 

[jwstewar]

Here are some shots of the ground that I was playing with.
First shot is after two passes on Saturday. I was afraid to go too far and at PTO speed because of the latch being broken - but I still wanted to play a little bit. I loosened up the slip clutch and put it in the ground to free the slip clutch and then I tightened it back down. In the second picture you could see a rock I hit that made the slip clutch slip. Had me concerned at first because it was the first time I had ever used a slip clutch and the sound/feel felt strange. Last is a shot of the ground after I ran over it yesterday at PTO speed with the latch fixed.

When I tilled the area Saturday the ground was really dry and hard. Tiller was wanting to bounce a lot so I had to keep ground speed and PTO speed down (also because of the latch) but even so the tractor never groaned a bit, not a sign of smoke or anything like I was over working it. I don't even think it lost an RPM. The 3rd pass Sunday was pretty cool. Since it was broken up already and I was running at PTO speed the dirt came out really fine and powdery. I'm thinking my garden is going to be a whole lot easier next year.

 

[RickS]

Looks like you got a good deal. Enjoy the new toys.

 

[milkman]

Looks like the tiller is going to work out well for you, I bet you were suprised at how well your tractor handled it.

 

[bjr]

I don't know a thing about PHD's, but have a little experience with 60" tillers. I did an extensive rebuild on a Grey Market tiller that the original tines mounted in a rectangle tube with one bolt holding it. Also had make new heavy 3pt mounts got maybe $1000 in the whole mess. It's a good tiller NOW. So if you picked up a 60" double bolt flange style tiller for $500, you did good. Be happy you got a good deal pretty close to home. I have used every implement I've aquired. Some times I scratched my head thinking when will I ever used this and then some aquintance "friend" comes along and needs somethin' done with that very implement. bjr

 

[FamilyFarm]

Jim,
Very nice to see this worked out for you! I am probably way too skeptical about used equipment - used anything for that matter. I hate to pay new prices, but like to know how something has been taken care of (or abused!).
Congrats on your bargains and the all the new uses for your tractor now that you have them.
Terry

 

[texasjohn]

Good story, Good photos, great deal, my opinion, and good repair analysis on your part... glad it all worked out! thanks for posting.

 

[jwstewar]

I was really surprised how well the tractor handled the tiller. Sometimes my little tractor amazes me - in both a good and bad way. Sometimes I'm like, Wow!!! I can't believe this little tractor did that but then other times its like Wow!!! I can't believe it wouldn't do that!!!

Went yesterday and bought the new cutting edges and tip for the PHD. Went first to TSC and saw what they had and almost decided to get them and make them work, but then I decided to go to the original dealer that sold it. They had the cutting edges and tip designed for it - and they were CHEAPER then TSC. Got both cutting edges and the tip for something like $32. I've did get new bolts while I was at TSC though. I've put the cutting edges on but not the tip yet - have to wait until it is on the tractor so I can lift it. That'll be tomorrow as we have about 40 holes to dig for poles for a fence around Monica's flower garden. I'll get some picks of the new edges and tips. I wouldn't have even thought the tips were the right ones because the existing ones were so worn out they didn't even resemble the new ones.

 

[john_bud]

Jim,

Of all the attachments, the PHD is the hardest to put on alone. I went and built a stand for mine to both store it and hold it at the right height so I could get that awkward heavy $%*!@#!! on.

jb

 

[jwstewar]

Jim,

Of all the attachments, the PHD is the hardest to put on alone. I went and built a stand for mine to both store it and hold it at the right height so I could get that awkward heavy $%*!@#!! on.

jb

Boy, don't I know that one already. I've already put it on twice and taken it off once. First time wasn't too bad, yesterday seemed like it took forever - even had to let the thing drop once . I will be figuring out some type of stand in the near future - as soon as my immediate projects are done.

 

[jwstewar]

Here are some pics of the new cutting edges and tip. First is a pic of the new edges compared to the old edges. There is no resemblance. BTW, I had to take them back off to get the tip off. Which took some beating with a little a hammer and punch/chisel. Also took a little bit of heat from a propane torch - finally got it though. Second pic is of the new tip and cutting edge. Third is a closer view of the cutting edge. Fourth pic is a shot of the cutting edge after it took me forever to try to drill four holes w/ a lot of work from a spud bar and several hours. Once I installed the cutting edges correctly I could drill a hole in probably 30 seconds to a minute.