Using tractor driven tillers (was Re: [AT] Allis Chalmers B-1 lawn tractor

Tue Jul 13 03:53:52 PDT 2004

I have two Howard Rotovators from the late 1940's. One (48") is mated to 
a '48  Cub with a Howard low speed rear, and the other (60") was hooked 
up to my Ford 2N that has both a Sherman auxiliary transmission and a 
Howard low speed rear. Both tillers are direct connected to the PTO and 
have no shock reducing component between the PTO and the tiller's gear 
train. I have used the Cub arrangement for many years with no problems. 
As someone suggested, when you hit something hard, the tiller just 
bounces up and out of the way. I have never used the Ford arrangement 
because someone managed to break two of the tines and the chain when 
they hit something about 20 years before I got the equipment. But the 
seller said that it worked pretty much the same way as the one on the 
Cub. (Both machines' first owners were the same nursery and came to me 
from the guy who bought them from the nursery after "urban sprawl" 
closed them down.) Incidentally, parts for both tillers are still 
available from Howard America, who is very much still in business. I 
haven't fixed up the Ford's tiller yet, and I won't be able to use it, 
as the PTO shaft on the tractor has been updated to 1 3/8", while the 
tiller is still set up for the old size. That is one of my projects for 
the future...

Mike

Larry D. Goss wrote:

> Nothing except an internal overrunning clutch, Gilbert.  But, as with
> most compact tractors, there is no down pressure on the three-point, so
> it's always in a "float" condition.  Hitting a major impediment simply
> causes the tiller to come out of the ground.
> 
> In some respects, that's really kind of nice, because if I wanted to, I
> can tromp on the hydrostat pedal and the tiller will simply roll along
> on top of the ground.  The transmission basically holds the tractor back
> rather than propelling it.  I know I would never get good results with a
> tiller that was hard-geared to the wheels.
> 
> Larry
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Gilbert
> Schwartz
> Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 4:40 PM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> Subject: Re: [AT] Allis Chalmers B-1 lawn tractor
> 
> Larry; Does the Kubota have any kind of shock absorber in the PTO system
> or
> is the tiller maybe belt driven some way? I'd think that hitting many
> rocks
> would do serious damage to something.
> I recall that some time in the early 60's some IH and JD dealers around
> here
> tried to promote big tillers on big tractors to farmers. Don't recall
> what
> numbers the IH tractors were but the JD tractors were in the 4010 era.
> The
> tillers ate up the tractor PTO drives and tiller gear boxes quite
> regularly
> and the tiller use stopped for regular farming. Part of the problem may
> have
> been rock but I doubt it because the ones I knew about were in buckshot
> gumbo bottom ground. Gil
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Larry D. Goss" <rlgoss at evansville.net>
> To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'"
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2004 5:28 PM
> Subject: RE: [AT] Allis Chalmers B-1 lawn tractor
> 
> 
> 
>>Hey, Cecil, my B7100 Kubota is rated at around 18 HP and I run a
> 
> 50-inch
> 
>>tiller on it.  Yes, I do go slowly, but I also end up turning sod into
>>seedbed in a single pass.  I took it over to the church this spring
> 
> and
> 
>>used the tiller as a scarifier to recondition a gravel driveway.  So I
>>know how stones will jolt you.
>>
>>When I found this tiller, I knew I didn't want to buy it if it
> 
> wouldn't
> 
>>work on my tractor, so I loaded the Kubota up and visited with the PO.
>>We hooked it up and I took off through his garden patch where the corn
>>had just finished.  It tilled everything under.  The PO had been using
>>it on a Ford 800 and not been happy with its results.  He was darn
> 
> near
> 
>>in a state of shock to see how well it worked on my tractor.  I just
> 
> put
> 
>>the tractor on cruise control and let the tiller do its thing.
>>
>>Larry
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
>>[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Cecil E
>>Monson
>>Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2004 3:49 PM
>>To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>>Subject: Re: [AT] Allis Chalmers B-1 lawn tractor
>>
>>
>>>Charlie; I'm with you on that horsepower being a misprint. 3
> 
> spindle,
> 
>>60
>>
>>>inch just don't fit with 7 1/4 hp, at any speed.
>>>C.H. Wendel says the AC B10 was the earliest, built through 1968 and
>>
>>it used
>>
>>>a 9 h.p. B&S. Wendel's book also pictures one of the B10's working
>>
>>with a
>>
>>>32 inch roto-tiller. That too sounds like a mighty big load for a 9
>>
>>h.p.
>>
>>>engine, especially if the tiller is in the dirt.
>>>Maybe the h.p. ratings are different now than in the 60's. Gil
>>
>>
>>I  also doubt that any 9 hp engine can handle a 32 inch
>>rototiller.
>>I just bought a 48" Kubota and it is rated 20 to 30 horsepower and
> 
> even
> 
>>then
>>I think the tractor had better be able to really creeeeeeep along.
> 
> I'll
> 
>>bet
>>the stones in our soil here really jolt a small tractor when you hit
>>them.
>>
>>Cecil
>>-- 
>>The nicest thing about telling the truth is you never have to wonder
>>what you said.
>>
>>Cecil E Monson
>>Lucille Hand-Monson
>>Mountainville, New York   Just a little east of the North Pole
>>
>>Allis Chalmers tractors and equipment
>>
>>Free advice
>>
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-- 
Mike Sloane
Allamuchy NJ
Email: (msloane at att.net)
Website: <http://www.geocities.com/mikesloane>
Tractor images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>
Work: none - retired

The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of government 
power, not the increase of it. -Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the 
U.S., Nobel peace prize winner (1856-1924)