The tale of the roto-tiler

[woodlandfarms]

Thought you guys would get a laugh at my expense....

Flash back to 38 years ago and my folks bought a Mongomery Wards roto-tiller. Brand new. My parents where those mother earth reader types, and decided to lower the grocery bill (which given my fathers paycheck he probably couldn't afford anyway) and start a 1/2 acre garden. Another element to all of this is while my father was raised in a farm setting, some things just sort of missed him. Also, my family was against anything gas powered if a human could do it. We cut firewood by hand, with the old 2 man buck saws. Neighbors always commented, but man was I in great shape in high school.

OK, back to the story. We got the machine home, started it up and my father started to till. It worked, not well, but better than using a shovel, and soon I found myself every year behind this machine, getting the snot knocked out of me.

Well, flash forward to last year and my father sells his farm and sends me some gear. One thing in the truck is the old tiller. I get a carb kit, do a quick rebuild and it runs as good as new. So off to the garden we go. And it shakes and shakes and shakes and just doesn't like the clay soil we have.

So towards the end of the 1st pass I decide to just give the machine the once over. Maybe I can sharpen the tines to help...

It takes a moment to let the vision of the tines sink in. Something is not right. The more I stare the more I realize the **** I have been through with this machine has been for naught. It is clear that the dealer back in 78 installed the two outboard tines holders on backwards. If only all 4 had been backwards then I think we would have caught on. I called my dad to make sure he had never removed them, he had not. Well. the old bolts were more than rusted on. I cut them off, swapped left for right and started it again.. WOW, what a difference. They **** I went through with that machine for so many years. And now it works like it should...

Anyway... Stories....

 

[jimgerken]

If you look carefully you can probably still read the sticker that says something like
"Set up and serviced by (local dealers name here)" . I always laugh when I see those stickers. Getting the stickers on is their first priority.

 

[chim]

Don't feel so bad. Here's one I fessed up to 10 years ago. Scroll down to post #7:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/buying-pricing-comparisons/14886-ford-2120-4x4.html

 

[yelbike]

Thought you guys would get a laugh at my expense....

Flash back to 38 years ago and my folks bought a Mongomery Wards roto-tiller. Brand new. My parents where those mother earth reader types, and decided to lower the grocery bill (which given my fathers paycheck he probably couldn't afford anyway) and start a 1/2 acre garden. Another element to all of this is while my father was raised in a farm setting, some things just sort of missed him. Also, my family was against anything gas powered if a human could do it. We cut firewood by hand, with the old 2 man buck saws. Neighbors always commented, but man was I in great shape in high school.

OK, back to the story. We got the machine home, started it up and my father started to till. It worked, not well, but better than using a shovel, and soon I found myself every year behind this machine, getting the snot knocked out of me.

Well, flash forward to last year and my father sells his farm and sends me some gear. One thing in the truck is the old tiller. I get a carb kit, do a quick rebuild and it runs as good as new. So off to the garden we go. And it shakes and shakes and shakes and just doesn't like the clay soil we have.

So towards the end of the 1st pass I decide to just give the machine the once over. Maybe I can sharpen the tines to help...

It takes a moment to let the vision of the tines sink in. Something is not right. The more I stare the more I realize the **** I have been through with this machine has been for naught. It is clear that the dealer back in 78 installed the two outboard tines holders on backwards. If only all 4 had been backwards then I think we would have caught on. I called my dad to make sure he had never removed them, he had not. Well. the old bolts were more than rusted on. I cut them off, swapped left for right and started it again.. WOW, what a difference. They **** I went through with that machine for so many years. And now it works like it should...

Anyway... Stories....

Hurry up and put it back and see if you can get back to your ol' high school shape!!!:laughing::laughing::cool2:

 

[IndyIan]

I'm going to go look at my tiller tonight!:laughing:

 

[missingstexas]

You know what's funny in your story to me is about 5 years ago I needed to borrow a tiller for a small job of moving a few yards of dirt for a project. My brother has a relatively nice craftsman rear tine unit that is only a yr or two old at the time. Well his is booked for the entire month that I was trying to borrow it and my boss over hears me complaining that how convenient it is his stuff is always busy when I need a favor. Boss offers up his. It's a 1970's model monkey ward. This thing is made of lead filled iron heaviest beast I've ever seen. It sweats pure weight. I get it out of the truck and start it up and try to start using it. It does two things; dig deep (like water well deep) or drag my scrawny arse across the yard with both feet dragging behind. I gave up after about 3 hours of effort and just used a shovel and garden how. He still laughs at me when we talk about the ordeal. I will be scarred for life.

 

[Baby Grand]

<snip>

Also, my family was against anything gas powered if a human could do it. We cut firewood by hand, with the old 2 man buck saws. Neighbors always commented, but man was I in great shape in high school.


<snip>

Your folks must be related to my folks. Pops had one of those helical bladed push lawn mowers ... with a grass catcher dragging behind it. Man I cursed that *%*%^*^&$* thing. Soon as I moved out he bought a Toro gas job.

 

[JDgreen227]

Maybe 15 years ago I took the tines off my front tine tiller so I could clean the wire and vines wrapped around them, and when I put them back on it wouldn't dig worth a (bleep) but it was easy to fix once I realized what was going on....but had it been that way since new I might have duplicated your experience. Thanks for sharing it, made me laugh and laugh.

 

[woodlandfarms]

One note I did not add, the tines on the outside are nice and sharp, with paint still on them... The backsides have dents and wear from all the years of being run wrong....

 

[JDgreen227]

I remember seeing ad copy for front tine roto tillers that claimed "self-sharpening tines" but most likely that was for tines installed the proper way. There are those who claim a rear tine tiller is superior over a front tine but in my experience the front tine tiller excels in digging rocks out of a seedbed. My '89 Rally (American Yard machines) has pulled out thousands of rocks as deep as 10-12 inches and as large as grapefruits from my garden plot. There is NO WAY a rear tine tiller can produce that kind of digging power unless it is a 3 point type.

 

[Rustaholic]

My garden tractor towable tiller has the counter rotating tines and it spits up all sizes of rocks.

 

[Rustaholic]

Thought you guys would get a laugh at my expense....

Flash back to 38 years ago and my folks bought a Mongomery Wards roto-tiller.
BIG SNIP

It is clear that the dealer back in 78 installed the two outboard tines holders on backwards. If only all 4 had been backwards then I think we would have caught on.
little snip

And now it works like it should...

Anyway... Stories....

Please check your math.
1978 to 2012 is 34 years not 38.
I was married in 76 and next month we will have our 36 th anniversary

 

[JDgreen227]

My garden tractor towable tiller has the counter rotating tines and it spits up all sizes of rocks.

How deep can it dig? By removing the wheels on my tiller it will dig down until the tine shield is level with the ground. A walk behind rear tine tiller cannot get anywhere near that deep because the wheels limit digging depth. The only problem with running my tiller that deep is that the grit kicked up eats the drive belt very fast.

 

[Rustaholic]

If I stop the tractor the tiller will dig down until the shield is holding it up.
I was looking at an $1100 towable tiller at Sears about 15 years ago.
What I saw was my front tine tiller turned around with some different wheels and hardware attached.
I wrote down it's numbers and ordered a manual for it.
I had a list of parts made up and it was going to cost me about $145 to convert my tiller to one of those. Seemed like a good deal.

Well,,,, There was that farm auction I went to the next weekend.
Everything there was big scale stuff for the shutting down of a buffalo farm,
EXCEPT that very nice looking towable tiller.
It had a service tag on it showing the tuneup it just had and I got it for just over $50 .
Money well spent, It is a great tiller.

 

[crazyal]

Thanks for dragging up one of those childhood memories I long since forget. My parents love to garden and one day finally broke down and bought a 5hp front tine tiller (don't remember the brand, just that it was an orange frame with white briggs engine). The wheels on it were the same plastic ones you find on a push mower.

Anyway it quickly became my job to till the garden. I called it a jumping jack because that's about all it did. I would spend hours doing my best to force it to actually did. Come to find out that maybe it was put together wrong and all those years of punishment could have been avoided. I think it answers why I now have an urge to buy a bottom plow for my Kubota.

 

[ustmd]

Roto-tillers--you all were livin' high off of the hog.:laughing::laughing:

I remember one year my mother rented a roto tiller, but that was it. She had 7 boys and felt no need to bring in extra equipment.

 

[Rustaholic]

Roto-tillers--you all were livin' high off of the hog.:laughing::laughing:

I remember one year my mother rented a roto tiller, but that was it. She had 7 boys and felt no need to bring in extra equipment.

Funny,,, You wrote Roto-tillers.
I own three Rototiller tillers.
1940s right after WW II they were made.
A 2-cycle engine and rear tines that are more like claws.

 

[IndyIan]

Thanks for dragging up one of those childhood memories I long since forget. My parents love to garden and one day finally broke down and bought a 5hp front tine tiller (don't remember the brand, just that it was an orange frame with white briggs engine). The wheels on it were the same plastic ones you find on a push mower.

Anyway it quickly became my job to till the garden. I called it a jumping jack because that's about all it did. I would spend hours doing my best to force it to actually did. Come to find out that maybe it was put together wrong and all those years of punishment could have been avoided. I think it answers why I now have an urge to buy a bottom plow for my Kubota.

That sounds like the tiller I have now, it acutally works pretty good once you get the the rear depth gauge/anchor set to the right depth. But after an hour or two of that I'm probably as sore as if I was turning by hand, but I have maybe 5 times the area done... Fortunately I only have to do a saturday mornings worth of tilling every year.