Model 2 tiller rehab

[joeyxx2590]

I received this tiller for free with a snow plow and snow blower. I took the tiller apart because the bottom tiller shaft had a good wobble in it so I thought bearings? After all that the nuts had loosened up and were causing the wobble. I replaced all 6 bearings, they were expensive and difficult to get off. If you attempt this, the most difficult parts were getting the tine tubes off the shaft and those lower bearings. My tiller was in decent shape otherwise to begin with.
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This is the method I used to get the tine tubes off the shaft, I bolted a gear puller up and a piece of round stock to push on the shaft(inside the tube). I heated it cherry red and used an impact gun and it fought the WHOLE way. Be careful with the heat, I stretched that thick wall tubing so only put heat where you need it. I used a press to get the tube semi straight after. I guess I will not be adding the extensions on this one...

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[joeyxx2590]

More disassembly
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In order to pull the bearings, get a GOOD bearing puller. The one I used was from harbor freight. Actually the only thing that bent was the bolts, the jaws are still good, I will probably get different length grade 8 bolts for it. Any who, a couple pics pulling the bearings. The 4 smaller bearings were relatively easy.
Also, to back up a little, the big pulley on mine came right off with a 3 jaw puller. I have read people break them and stuff. Grab from the middle not the outside
The bottom two bearings pulled very hard for me. Do yourself a favor and clean up around where the "shear pin" holes are, I think that's where my hiccup was, and I may have put a slight bend in the shaft? I filed until I could get the new bearings on fairly easily.

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You can see how bent my puller became. I ended up cutting one of the bottom bearings off with a wizzer. You can see the shiny spot where the puller was scraping the shaft, not good, lots of unnecessary clean up work.

[joeyxx2590]

The inside of my tiller had grease in it but it was dry and very thick and difficult to remove. I reused the chains on mine, not much visible wear and no rust.
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After cleaning up the case, I had to weld up a little patch from the bolts being loose. Some of the carriage bolt heads were sheared off as a matter of fact.

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A pic of the shafts cleaned up and of the gaskets I made. I got a piece of gasket material form McMaster-Carr and cut them out. I saw he round ones for sale but I just sliced them out. Yes I used the cork, some people will say bad things about it but the impervious stuff is ridiculously priced and I used mr. gasket upon reassembly.

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[joeyxx2590]

Yesterday I put the bearings in and filled with corn head grade "0" grease and bolted the case together. I used 5 tubes of the grease, the manual only says "fill" with grade 0 grease, I left a little room if it expands I guess.
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These are the bearings I got for mine. The bearings it calls for have an extended inner race. On the invoice pictured, the top ones are the proper ones with extended race and they are the large lower bearings. The other two bearings are standard bearings where the inner and outer races are level, the back of the bearing is flat. I took the old locking collars and cut them down to make up the difference. That extended inner race centers the shafts. I paid $250 for all 6. If I had had gotten all 6 with extended races, it would have been like $320, yea lets get a grip, it is a tiller...
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The grease was like $3 a tube, John Deere dealer.

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Today I put the big shield on the back and the lift links, I needed a helping hand getting the shield in place. Also, I used never seize on bearings and the pulley.

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[joeyxx2590]

I do have the two gearboxes to hook this up also. I just bought a rear lift with sleeve hitch for my 149. More pics to come on that.

[drglinski]

Looks like a whole lotta work that I never plan on doing to mine.

Thanks for the photos.

[J-Mech]

Dude. You got hammered on the parts. H-A-M-M-E-R-E-D. Shouldn't have got them at Deere. They are just a shaft bearing with a lock collar. You can get them anywhere. You put way, way, way too much grease in the box. I don't know what "manual" you are reading, but the gear box is what you fill with that grease, not the chain case. If you have an IH manual that says to "fill with grease" I want to see it. That thing is going to make a mess when you run it. Dude, I can't believe you paid that much money for the parts. WOW!
The bearings have a lock collar. They don't need anything to "center the shaft". The lock collar holds them in place.
I would have torched all the bearings off and been done in 10 min.

[finsruskw]

Fix your wallered out bolt holes like this.
Shave half a bearing cage and weld it to the inside of the case after lining everything up to regain the square holes and proper alignment. This is what happens when the bolts get loose.

I agree w/Jon, way to ex$pensive parts.

[twoton]

Good to see you save that old tiller there joeyxx2590.

And thanks for the pictures.

[jbrewer]

Really nice work. Thanks for taking the time to share the work with us via great pictures and detailed text. Its good for another 4 decades of work now.