Tiller Smoking Tiller... Is it pooched or am I lucky?

[Darren]

To expand on what others mentioned:

How fast were you feeding that tiller hardpan? If it hasn't been broken up recently or ever, you need to go really slow. Your tiller/tractor combination may not have the horsepower to do what you're asking if you doing anything other than going as slow as you can.

Tractors without a creeper gear may be too fast to maintain constant forward movement without clutching frequently in really hard stuff. HST is no problem. You can go as slow as needed and still keep the engine cranking, but you may have to use more brain power with a gear transmission to avoid feeding that tiller more ground than it can comfortably chew.

 

[SPIKER]

I agree with Darren:

you need to go as slow as possable with NEW ground... also the clutchj sounds like toast, it may still survive but if it was smoking that hard chances are it will 1. melt to and freeze up 2. not have enough friction power left to hold tight and continue to burn at every use 3. be ok... anyhow definatly check you're manual and re-adjust clutch properly.

Mark /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

 

[grandad]

Guess you have bad news but not REALLY bad news. Glad to hear your gears seem OK. Clutch is probably toast. Anybody's guess whether TSC can provide parts, but going straight to KK should work. While they are an 'economy' brand, they make sturdy products and seem to have a reputation of good customer support. Hopefully you did not warp anything or cook some bearings also.

Suggestion about having the ground plowed first is a good one. If you must till it directly, start shallow and make several passes, going a bit deeper with each run.

You made that tiller cry 'uncle', but hopefully there's no lasting damage. Good luck!

 

[smilingreen]

I have the exact same tiller. Same thing happened to me. Factory setting on the slip clutch was not strong enough. Readjusted and it works fine. It takes quite a bit of slipping to totally burn up the slip clutch on that model.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Well, Thanks again to you all... SmilingGreen, looks like you and I are indeed in the same boat because I went out there the other night (again) and she was working like a champ (just went slower and didn't try to put the unit all the way down.... I know there isn't a power problem... just a brain problem /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif... seems to be ok now..