Oh dear me dear me , the free tiller won't start ... again this year . Always been difficult and I'm tired of throwing money - and more importantly , time - at a Briggs that's at least 20 years old and finicky . So I get on eBay , and there's a guy selling 6 hp Honda "OHC" motors for around a hundred bucks . Most likely it's an OHV motor , but still it's probably twice what that B&S put out when new . The reviews I saw all said "like brand new" , these are supposed to be from power washers that had bad pumps and all have just a few hours so I bought one . We'll see on Monday , it's supposed to be coming on the FedEx truck . The rest of this unit is in pretty good shape , the gearbox at the bottom end runs cool and turns smooth , the only real wear item is the drive belt - it uses a v-belt for drive from the motor to the shaft down to the foot . Gotta get 'er fixed , the season is fast approaching when I'll need it . Just got back the results of soil tests , and got some amendments to make to the soil .
Re-powering a tiller
Mar 01, 2018
8 Replies
good luck, i hope it all meshes well. :)
songbird
Me too ! Tracking says to expect delivery tomorrow , by Saturday afternoon I'll know . The original was 3.5 Hp , this one's 6 so I doubt I'll be stalling it .
Motor came today , we be tillin' . This is a fixed-speed motor , which I can change easily . And it's like brand new . Bolted it on , added oil and gas , started on the 3rd pull . I need to see if I can find that other pair of tines (got 2 each side now , as stock) , I'm betting this motor will pull the load . More power , ar ar ar .
It's for sure a OHV engine but Honda does offer residential and commercial SOHC engines intended for pressure washers and the like so the seller's description may be correct.
It turns out he is in fact correct . I had no idea the technology had trickled down to lawn mowers . Actually this motor came from a pressure washer that had a bad pressure pump . Looks like new , except that you can tell some stickers have been peeled off . Bet a quarter I've got the only single overhead cam tiller in The Holler ...
It is always good to be proven wrong on a positive note. All you need to do now is organise a tractor pull but limit the entry to tillers.
Mike
Would the tiller attachment my neighbor has for his tractor qualify ? Of course the tractor is a diesel and 4WD ... I don't think my Rusty the Tractor would do well in a pull , it spins out just moving dirt - well , actually the clay/gravel/silt mixture I dug out of the hole for the cellar . And the tiller , well it's one of the old fashioned front tine units , not even powered wheels . This unit was given to me several years ago , guy wasn't even sure it ran . I've been fiddling and fighting with it ever since to keep it running enough to dig up my little (1,000 sf) garden every spring . Well , now it runs well I may just break ground for some more stuff .
Gardens are like boats: Never big enough!
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