Tiller Question For The King Kutter Rep

boomer1025 · Mar 22, 2011

Just purchased a TG-48-XB Tiller, very nice unit & nice paint job.
What kind of semi liquid grease are they putting in the gear boxes?
Reminds me of STP for 4 cylinder engines.

boomer1025 · Mar 25, 2011

message bump

638 · Mar 25, 2011

Probably 'OO' grease. Be sure to fill the gear boxes up before using. Top box 1/2 full, and side box to the plug on the side. I used 140 wt. differential grease. Takes about 1/2 gal.

Don87 · Mar 26, 2011

According to the manual, which can be found here:King Kutter 48" XB Gear Driven Tiller for Sub Compact Tractors

It takes: type GL5-85W 140 oil

Scroll down to 'Download PDF Owners Manual' and click it(just in case you didn't get the maual with yours).

If you don't have an 'owners manual'.............I would suggest you print the one that I directed you to for future reference.

boomer1025 · Mar 26, 2011

638 said:
Probably 'OO' grease. Be sure to fill the gear boxes up before using. Top box 1/2 full, and side box to the plug on the side. I used 140 wt. differential grease. Takes about 1/2 gal.

Thats what I was thinking 00 grease, The only trouble for us owners is you usually have to buy a 35lb pail of it. Both my gear boxes seem full. I was thinking about mixing in alittle 85W140 to make it more of a liquid, I don't like to mix stuff unless I know what it is. Maybe KK has always used grease in the gear boxes or they changed from gear oil to grease and the manual never got updated. I was hoping the KK Rep would chime in and say what kind of grease/lube they install in the gear boxes. The grease is nice alot less chance of oil seal leakage and coats the inside of the gear boxes, keeping down on the rust. Wouldn't mind getting my hands on a qt of whats in there.

Ford850 · Mar 26, 2011

If you just bought the tiller, your manual is in a plastic pouch stuck to the inside of the back gate. KK doesn't ship there implements with grease/oil. The owners manuals warn that the gear boxes are empty and must be filled. Some dealers/stores fill the gear boxes before they sell them, so you might check with the place you bought yours.
I bought a KK tiller this week, the day it came off the truck from the factory. The owners manuals still say the same thing... GL5-85W-140 gear oil, or TRIPLE ZERO grease. They don't care which is used as long as it has EP additives.
Good luck.

boomer1025 · Mar 27, 2011

Ford850 said:
If you just bought the tiller, your manual is in a plastic pouch stuck to the inside of the back gate. KK doesn't ship there implements with grease/oil. The owners manuals warn that the gear boxes are empty and must be filled. Some dealers/stores fill the gear boxes before they sell them, so you might check with the place you bought yours.
I bought a KK tiller this week, the day it came off the truck from the factory. The owners manuals still say the same thing... GL5-85W-140 gear oil, or TRIPLE ZERO grease. They don't care which is used as long as it has EP additives.
Good luck.

I know both my gear boxes were filled with grease, they weren't shipped empty. My manual states: Shipped with Gear Oil in Gear Boxes, Shipped WITH OUT Grease in grease fittings. And it does state to use 85W140 gear oil in the gear boxes, doesn't say anything about 000 grease.
Was your tiller shipped with empty gear boxes????
And what Model did you get ???
The gear box plugs on my unit were never touched after the unit was painted.
One other thing you might want to check your vent/fill plug and make sure it will vent. On mine they are pressure release type vent, with a spring & check ball under the little metal cap.

Ford850 · Mar 27, 2011

boomer1025 said:
I know both my gear boxes were filled with grease, they weren't shipped empty. My manual states: Shipped with Gear Oil in Gear Boxes, Shipped WITH OUT Grease in grease fittings. And it does state to use 85W140 gear oil in the gear boxes, doesn't say anything about 000 grease.
Was your tiller shipped with empty gear boxes????
And what Model did you get ???
The gear box plugs on my unit were never touched after the unit was painted.
One other thing you might want to check your vent/fill plug and make sure it will vent. On mine they are pressure release type vent, with a spring & check ball under the little metal cap.

That's odd there are different manuals out there. Mine is a King Kutter ll Rotary Tiller operator manual. The oil and grease info is on pages 8 and 9. It even tells that the top gearbox takes 40 oz of oil, and the side gearbox takes 60 oz.

boomer1025 · Mar 27, 2011

Ford850 said:
That's odd there are different manuals out there. Mine is a King Kutter ll Rotary Tiller operator manual. The oil and grease info is on pages 8 and 9. It even tells that the top gearbox takes 40 oz of oil, and the side gearbox takes 60 oz.

Mines a TG-48-XB Tiller. My Manual and the one downloaded from the KK site doesn't list the oil capacity of the gear boxes. Just fill till is runs out the check plug holes. The side gear box on mine is made by Omini Gear, The top box is un-marked, probably come as assembly from the manufacture and KK installs them.

Ford850 · Mar 27, 2011

boomer1025 said:
I know both my gear boxes were filled with grease, they weren't shipped empty. My manual states: Shipped with Gear Oil in Gear Boxes, Shipped WITH OUT Grease in grease fittings. And it does state to use 85W140 gear oil in the gear boxes, doesn't say anything about 000 grease.
Was your tiller shipped with empty gear boxes????
And what Model did you get ???
The gear box plugs on my unit were never touched after the unit was painted.
One other thing you might want to check your vent/fill plug and make sure it will vent. On mine they are pressure release type vent, with a spring & check ball under the little metal cap.

Boomer,
I went out today to fill my gear boxes and I found you were right! Mine were filled already too. The vented caps are brass colored and assembled after painting. My dealer asked me when I ordered it if I wanted him to fill the boxes and I told him that I would. He said they all come in empty. Seems like they must be changing over to filling them now, or maybe my dealer filled mine before I picked it up. Mine is a TG-84.

boomer1025 · Mar 27, 2011

Ford850 said:
Boomer,
I went out today to fill my gear boxes and I found you were right! Mine were filled already too. The vented caps are brass colored and assembled after painting. My dealer asked me when I ordered it if I wanted him to fill the boxes and I told him that I would. He said they all come in empty. Seems like they must be changing over to filling them now, or maybe my dealer filled mine before I picked it up. Mine is a TG-84.

Ford850 was yours filled with oil or the grease??
Sounds like yours has different vents, might be cause of the larger gear boxes.

Ford850 · Mar 28, 2011

Boomer, Mine is filled with a thick honey-like oil/grease. Since it's cold it is almost as thick as grease I guess. As I understand it, the 85w-140 gear oil is considered a "pourable grease" as is triple zero grease. It's a lot thicker than the 80w90 gear oil, and will definitely be easier to keep sealed in the gear boxes. It looks like it will cling to the gears much better too so they won't start out dry the first time they are used for the season.

boomer1025 · Mar 28, 2011

Ford, mine was filled with the same stuff, I added a very small amount of 75W140 gear oil to both my boxes. Which should thin it out a little, but still leave the grease very tackie.

King Kutter Rep · Apr 1, 2011

boomer1025 said:
Ford, mine was filled with the same stuff, I added a very small amount of 75W140 gear oil to both my boxes. Which should thin it out a little, but still leave the grease very tackie.

We're actually using 000 or Triple Aught grease, but 80 or 90 wt gear oil will work also, if you can't find the 000.

Sorry for the slow response. I've just been extremely busy.

luckyme2010 · Apr 1, 2011

the tg 84 i ordered came empty and it called for 40 ounces in top gear box and 60 in the side box it also said to fill it to the top of the hole you pour the oil in i used the 80 140 i put 60 ounces in the side box but it didnt come half way up the top gear inside the box i filled it all the way used it for 6 hours let it all rest for a couple hours and used it again for another 6 hours no problems at all so far great piece of equipment

Ford850 · Apr 2, 2011

Lucky, my instructions say to put 40 oz in the top gear box which will fill it approximately half way. For the side gearbox mine says "Remove the 1/2" Pip Plug (located on the top of side gearbox) and the 1/8" check plug (located on side of side gearbox). Fill side gearbox using oil until oil begins to flow from the checkplug hole (60 oz).
Look for that small 1/8" plug on the side of your side gearbox and remove it to drain the oil down to that level.

joe48 · Apr 2, 2011

Both my KK 48" tiller and 48" bush hog came DRY. But that was 4 yrs ago.
fILLED WITH 85W140 SYNTHETIC GEAR OIL per manual. sorry hit caps.
Grease all bearings and u joints regularly before using.
Besure to check function of your slip clutch evry year before starting to use. They WILL sieze up over winter (rust etc) especially if stored outside.
Great pieces of equipment, great value, too bad TSC doesn't carry anymore.

Haywire · Apr 2, 2011

Since the 000 grease I've seen (online) only comes in 5 gallon or larger buckets, I wonder if a dealer that has a drum for shop use might sell a gallon.. bring your own jug kind of deal.

Ian