@@5eyes1294 well its a gear boc and they certainly do have clearances and a tolerance on all of those clearances not to mention the ball bearings Probably have a tighter than an engine dose...
@@dj13yrs1 The clearances on a LOW speed gear box on a rototiller probably have an acceptable tolerance of .040" from the factory, maybe even more. It is not a precision piece of equipment. The plates that hold the shafts and bearings are cut on a plasma or oxy/acetylene cut table. They aren't cut with a 5 axis mill. The surface layer of oxidization on those gears might be .004" at best. As far as the ball bearing, again it's a very low speed rotation. so to compare it to an automotive engine is a very poor choice. The longevity of the ball bearing with light surface oxidization, in a low speed operation, submerged in an oil bath will be a very long time.
Any chain store that buys enough inventory, dictates to the manufacturer what price point they want to buy items at so they can keep low prices and still make a good margin. You want good stuff? Don't go to chain stores, and pay what good stuff is worth
@@PumpkinKingXXIII Yeah, Sears used to have Poulan make Craftsman chainsaws, and their Kenmore washers were made by Whirlpool. But they'd change a dimension or two on the more expensive parts, so that you had to buy their parts instead of using cheaper Poulan and Whirlpool parts. But Craftsman and Kenmore parts were more expensive, so they had you. You might try to beat the system once or twice, but you'd get stuck with a competitor's part that wouldn't work and still have to buy their part! So there you are, Pumpkinhead!
This is why I felt spending the extra $$$ for my Land Pride unit was well worth the cost. And when I got it home we dumped the gear boxes and went with the premium synthetic gear oil.
I'm grateful I found this video because I was looking at buying a tiller for my l 3901 cabota so me and my wife Could grow some food and it's a good thing that came across this video because we are not going to go to Tractor to supply now.
Wow! Thanks for sharing man. I have been curious about how they store all their equipment out in the elements. And the quality of their build. Glad i kept watching till the end.
I normally would have tried finding a higher quality unit on the used market to buy but I needed this in a jam for a big job the next day that I was making good money on. You really can't beat Tractor Supplies hours. After seeing that this unit had been sitting outside and looked a little rough, I was skeptical to buy it. But figured I'd make the money back on it next day so I decided to purchase it anyway. When I got home and went to fill the gearboxes this is what I found. Also, I didn't mention in the video but I did get a price break on this when I bought it, but only due to the fact that it was missing the drive shaft and slip clutch. If you're planning on purchasing a three-point tiller and want to get maximum life out of it, you should definitely watch this video. I'm not trying to bash Tartar, I was just disappointed to see that it had rust internally. I have two of these units and they are both still going strong with heavy use. I do think if you own one of these it's worth checking the shaft alignment. I am 100% sure that's what led to upper bearing failure as seen in my other video.
No problem! Yeah definitely worth taking a peek in there too see if it's good. I'm sure it will be fine. This one probably sat for quite a few years outside
Thanks, I was going to pick up a new tiller from tractor supply today but when I saw your video I decided to bring some tools to have a peek inside the gear box before I buy
Thanks for this video. I just bought a 5-foot model of this yesterday and will check it out with my bore scope before I even start assembling it. If I find these type of things, I am taking it back. I will only use it occasionally, but at $1999, I only need to spend another $300 to get one from an implement company I typically do business with. I had seen positive reviews on these, but this is eye opening.
These are assembled by Tater Gate Company in Liberty Kentucky. If you seen how many times the place gets flooded out you would understand the rust. Recently there entire storage yard was completely under water.
@@arlisspropertyservicesllc5943 No. The assembler works with the parts they give him/her . . . /it! The fit problem is on the, uh, dare we call him/her/it an engineer? They are the ones who determine dimensions between holes and whether or not a hole is round, square, or slotted.
All gear cases will have some condensation, anyway, if they are stored in a place where the climate changes from hot to cold a lot, even if they are never outdoors or in a flood. It will be worse if there is more vacant space inside it. These should be filled to about an inch below the fill hole with oil instead of being stored dry. There are three ways to deal with condensation water in your gearbox. You can: A. Change the oil completely. B. Take out the drain plug and just let out enough to get rid of the water at the bottom before you use the unit and then refill it. Or C. Run the crap out of it, and let the heat drive it out.
I bought a new Kodiak 6 foot tiller last year. It had stickers on it saying shipped with no oil in gear cases, but with only grease. I asked the dealer what kind of oil he put in it and he said it came with grease, they don't put any oil. When I got home I read the manual and it states to fill with gear oil, the grease is just for Shipping. I am glad I checked it myself. Just because you buy something new, it doesn't mean it is ready to go to work!
Well Chris, I was just about to purchase a 72" County Line, but that ain't happening now! Thank you for posting this, and for showing us everything you did. Much appreciated. Looks like an Everything Attachments ER074 is getting ordered now. Thanks again for making up my mind!
GREAT video, guy - both content and concise presentation. Just learning about these as going with a friend to buy an old used one (Yanmar RS1400). Hard to believe anyone would assemble them with shafts misaligned like that.. strain on bearings from the beginning, but would take awhile for them to fail.
Nice to hear TS will back up their product, now you will have a spare! The adjustments to alignment are common on a lot of low cost Chinese products. Thnx for the video!
Bought my 50” Kuhn in 1999 and have used and abused it. Worn several sets of tines out. Now it’s 2 years later and I want to rebuild it, I went to a Kuhn dealer and priced replacement parts. The 3 bearings were $550, a new chain cover was $245, the little chain tensioner was $66. For all of the parts I needed were over $1200 plus tax and shipping to be added to that. It was only $1799 new and now the same model is close to $3k, wow!
I actually just rode by a local TS store looking for a 48 inch tiller 2 days ago. I am buying a tractor and the dealer didn't have one. Sure enough they had an entire pallet of them setting outside in the weather which I wasn't happy about. I never would have guessed that they shipped them with the gear boxes dry. The good news is my tractor dealer kept calling around to other dealerships until he found one and is going to assemble and install it on my tractor before he delivers it. Thanks for the heads up.
They're not a bad tiller as long as you check for the few items I mentioned in this video. This one had clearly been sitting outside for too long. Mine is still going strong
That was terrible. Nice job inspecting. Good job on the company for sending you new parts, although you gotta do the work. But it will probably last a lot longer than if you would have added oil and went on. Great video thanks. I was actually in the market for a tiller I'm glad I watched this video.
Was shopping for a tiller. Thank you!! I won't be buying that trash bin. You proved county line cares about filling their pockets and doesn't care about a good product to sell to customers. Wow so many issues. Back in the day my dad left all his farm equipment outside. And it would work everytime. Wouldn't rust out. No pride in their product.
I work for a company that makes these units we make all sorta of county line products from welding to assembling the all the black parts ive never personally welded thos tillers i do know most of the assembly parts gearboxes pto shafts exc are often kept outdoors with no regard for weather conditions ina flood prone area i wouldn't be surprised if thos where under water at one piont
Friend of mine bought one and tilled up his yard. He beat it unmercifully tilling rocks and roots and didn't have any trouble. It would be good if they put some anti-rust coating on the gears since they are stored outside with no oil in the gearboxes.
Have a bobcat 5’ tiller, bought new, no oil in trans gearbox or trans mission gears housing. 3hours later it seized. Warranty will replace both, but the oversight by the company is inexcusable, and unnecessary. THE TILLER IS A BEAST, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO PROPER USE.
I got a King Kutter from Orscheln's last year. Looks almost identical to this one. When I checked the service, the side gear compartment had over a pint of water in it. Fortuantly, it was serviced with 00 pourable grease. The angle gearbox was low too. Looking through the angle drive service plug hole, it didn't appear to have any rust nor the side cover either. BUT, the fill/drain service plug on the side cover had been tapped WAY off center and the plug was sitting so crooked it barely had threads on one side. Dodged the rust bullet though. KK did come through too and sent me a new side cover and gasket. I still had to supply my own lubricant. This kind of stuff is inexcussable.
Wow! Talk about timely. I just got a tractor from my sister and am starting to look for tillers. I won’t be checking out those. I actually bought a 12 cubic foot gorilla cart from TS Monday. I’ve been looking for 6 months actually went to that store. Talked to the right person and found one assembled out back. It had a half inch of nasty water, some various steel parts, and wheels from other carts. They did give me a 15% discount. The problem with tractor supply they seem to only hire young people with no clue how their products work.
Wow, I wouldn't have been nearly as friendly as you, there's no way I'd be swapping out equipment parts, they'd get the whole unit back for a replacement or cash.
I had the exact same experience with a finish mower. The store got with the representative and did the same thing. The rep sent a new unit to replace it. The stores leave all these PTO powered gearboxes outside with no lube forever.
I had a buddy who had the same issues. What he had done after replacing the bearing, he replaced the straight shaft with a heavy duty yoked shaft. And he has no problem with it since. That has been about 5 years ago. It is something worth thinking about.
I worked for TSC for 2.5 years. I saw many of those sit outside for at least that long. But, like you said, these are more of a "budget" 3 point attachment than a quality one. At least they did warranty the gearboxes for you.
Yeah, it's a shame they let them sit outside like that. They should really just invest in some kind of big lean-to off the building to the store the implements under. But even then, this problem would still happen with the temperature changes and no lubricant or anti-corrosive in the gearboxes. That's the main problem. But yeah, I was pretty shocked and thankful that they warrantied the gearboxes.
@@pauljohnson7486 yeah that's what I'm saying, 1700 is a big chunk of change. Certainly budget when it comes to tillers though. Most name brands are more like 2500 for this size. And if one of those pitted bearings ended up wiping out the gear case in the future, there's another $800
Yeah, budget is relative when it comes to some 3 point attachments. And I 1000% agree with nononsenseknowhow that some kind of anti-corrosive should be sprayed in those cases when they are assembled. Cheap Chinese quality for you. The finish and brush mowers are the same way. I use to do assembly for the store I worked at. Cheap was kinda the name of the game for some stuff. Kinda falling into the same category as Harbor Freight. Perfectly fine for occasional use, but buy something better if you are going to beat on it daily for 6, 8, 10+ hours at a time.
That thing looks like it was in a flood and who knows what else. I'd of taken it back. I bought a new Tarter 48" tiller a week or so ago. Based on this video, I checked the gearboxes for rust and the shaft for alignment. The side gearbox was spotless, the top a tiny bit of rust. Removed the cir-clip to to allow for shaft movement and checked the alignment. It was spot on. Yours must of been a complete lemon down to the paint. Still looks like flood damage. Might of even been dropped or something major to get the alignment that far out of wack.
I noticed the exact same thing on mine. I complained but didn’t insist on a different one since they were all the same. It lasted a couple of years before the bottom seal started to leak. In the process of putting back together this weekend.
I am in the process of restoring a cub cadet 1a tiller. 40 year old grease is pretty dry. But was still a lot in it. They dont build stuff like they use to.
However one of the best tillers made! Went thru two king cutter tillers under warranty. Have a rocky farm this brand of tiller held up to the abuse! Mine was sitting outside at the store 2 years before purchase so mine was rusty too.
Great video.. I was gonna buy one of these tillers because I hear it is reversible.. I really like that fact.. and it’s a really good price compared to other tillers.. gotta expect some faults for sure but rust is bull crap cuz they could have easily pre-greased or lubed all the bare metal gears and casings and not had this happen.. if/when I buy one, I’ll be making sure it’s a new unit that hasn’t been sitting around long, and I’ll be sure to check it over carefully before sale. Thanks for your video!
Yeah they are good units overall. It's a shame they let them sit outside and like you said don't prelube the cases. Good luck with your purchase and glad to hear the video was helpful
It was assembled in the USA. They import most of mechanical in shipping containers. That is why there was no oil and rust. They can't ship it with fluids.The containers are not always water a tight and salt water spray gets in everywhere. The gearboxes still are influenced by atmospheric through breathers. BS that no one at tractor supply went through it.
I purchased a 5' tiller 15 years ago from TSC I have countless hours on the tiller, tilling tree rows and large garden, I have hit big rocks hard with it and it just bounces up comes back down and says give me more. The tiller is a beast and I believe the absolute but tiller on the market. The volume of gear lube in the gear box is more than adequate to combat a bit of rust. I'm 69 years old and don't believe I'll need to purchase another tiller in my life time but would not hesitate a second to buy another from TSC!
Osphoric acid on bare metal where rust pops up wire brush clean spray ospho on bare metal let dry wire brush then red oxide primer then yellow paint Do this your rust issues are history. I do this method on bare engine blocks or any metal ...your 100 % dead on being picky paying that kind of money For equipment. 75w -90 valvoline synthetic gear oil should last few years . With frequent changes. Great video great information and definitely would have Bearing failure before 100 hours if you didn't give a good pre run inspection.----..... again great video
If you can find a date of Mfg it just may give you some indication of just how long it's been sitting outside at that box store. If it does not have a date stamp then ask the manager when they got it . It's pretty sad to see that on new piece but the heads up is worth a million bucks.
Man thanks alot for your time and the video but you must have 20 hours+ figuring all that Crap out not to say your travel time and GAS!!! Thanks again😇😁😇
I looked at one of these at the store by my house at Tractor supply.. Being in phoenix, AZ we have less rain etc and they looked much cleaner than this... but there are bad stock sitting at various stores for sure.
Very informative! You were much more accepting that I would have been. I hope county line compensated you somehow for all of the work that you had to do to get the gear boxes changed. I assume you did it yourself? Great video!
This makes me happy that I spent the extra money. On a better quality unit. The salesman at the implement dealership told me to steer clear of any gear driven tiller also. He said the chain driven ones are less prone to catastrophic failure.
Yeah I got no beef with a change-driven tiller. My Kubota R40C lasted around a thousand hours until the shaft snapped in half. But that was very heavy use
Just bought this same tiller two days ago. Same issue with rusty side gears. Had 1/2 cup wtr in bottom. Amazing bearings weren’t rusty, only gears and cover. My tillers paint job was fine so I might believe the salesman that it was only 3 months sitting. Tines were a little rusty. I think yours may have been from last season given the severity of external rust. My gear box seems ok. Will scope it tomorrow. Thanks for misalignment tip. Will be checking that next. Unbelievable SOBs at Tarter too damn cheap to spray these insides with 10c worth of lube before shipping. My vent ball on the side cover was also rusted shut. Honestly I think it happens in transit on the back of an open flatbed semi in winter when they ship most of these. Or even just in rain going down the highway.
Glad I'm not the only one that had a crummy experience. Luckily after I reaching out to them they sent me new gear boxes after seeing the pictures though
Pulled the cover on my center gear box. Luckily was clean as your new one. Had a time with the outer hub. Was pumping grease into it an it let out a loud crack. Thought I had blew the grease seal. Turns out was just some amber factory grease exploding past the seal. Seal goes in from the outside behind the bearing so it can’t really “blow out”. Ran out of weekend re shaft align check. Might just leave it be for now.
Also, FYI that the “outer hub bearing” is a “self aligning bearing”. Marked as “LAB 1310”. I thought the damn thing was bad at first. The whole inner shaft/flange was wobbling around like crazy after I took the hub off. Makes sense though with all the misalignment between the tiller frame, the tine shaft, etc. Was a chore dropping the shaft to pull that hub but now I have some piece of mind and a bit of info not mentioned in the manual or by Tarter. They don’t even list internal parts for the outer hub. Gotta buy the whole thing for $110. Or source your own parts. FYI
The reminds me of the Chinese metalworking lathe I bought, back in 2004. It lasted 5 hours, before going up in flames. Yeah, sure, I fixed it, but heck, I was expecting at least 10 hours out of it, before it went boom!
Rofl. I got a cnc router from china that was wired backwards. By the time i got the dam control box rebuilt im pretty sure i was a certified electrical engineer.
Holy shit snacks. I'm going check my tiller next chance I get. I bought my tiller new, different brand, and it sat out in the dealership's field for a couple years. I got it dirt cheap bc he went out of business
Thanks for sharing. The inside should have been coated and they should not have painted over the rust. Imagine what they are putting in our medical supplies and food items
appreciate the video, BUT, and I know people hate that, but, any metal that sits through a winter in a non heated environment, is going to have condensation happen, it's a fact of life. That's where the moisture inside came from. condensation. This is why I change my oil in EVERYTHING before I start using it after sitting for the winter, can't afford to heat my storage buildings. I'd say this tiller obviously sat through a winter in a warehouse or even outside.
Haha yeah, I feel like I'm going to be doing a lot of future videos on tiller repairs. lol. I can't believe the massive gear side case was only held on by two bolts on the top. They use that same gear case for the 6 foot tiller as well
Yeah probably. Might be getting more claims now if people take a look inside of their gearboxes before filling them up on new units after seeing this video.
NoNonsenseKnowHow it's crazy to leave them sitting around without oil in them! It would be a lot cheaper to fill them with oil than replace the gearboxes!
I bought one of their yellow County Line? hay forks that fit on a loader, it bent with a light (800 lb.) round bale of hay that I failed to put on straight and it turned. I don't plan to ever buy any equipment over $20 from them again. Their 7ft t-posts are okay.
When you buy new, expect new. No you are not picky. I get ill with tractor supply also. In Columbus,Ga. They leave alot of stuff outside in the elements, not covered up or nothing. Bought a poulan yard tractor(riding lawnmower). SMOKED from day one,but its still running 3 years later after resealing some covers. Still have issues with it starting because the decompression dog (Flange) broke on the cam.
Unfortunately oil filled units can't be shipped for some reason. But that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be grease coated on the internals for shipping, at the very least
They Should have at least shipped it with a spray on rust preventative, that’s how most bare metal parts ship from machine shops. Cosmolube is one brand but there are others. They ship dry to avoid having to worry about leaking oil (hazmat) since to fit as many on a trailer as they can they sometimes stack them in orientations where they’d leak.
A little picky my ass!! You’re 100% right!!! No way that should have looked like that brand new!
Couldn't have said it better myself.
It's not an internal combustion engine that needs .0015" tolerances. It's a Rototiller.
@@5eyes1294 well its a gear boc and they certainly do have clearances and a tolerance on all of those clearances not to mention the ball bearings Probably have a tighter than an engine dose...
@@dj13yrs1 The clearances on a LOW speed gear box on a rototiller probably have an acceptable tolerance of .040" from the factory, maybe even more. It is not a precision piece of equipment. The plates that hold the shafts and bearings are cut on a plasma or oxy/acetylene cut table. They aren't cut with a 5 axis mill. The surface layer of oxidization on those gears might be .004" at best. As far as the ball bearing, again it's a very low speed rotation. so to compare it to an automotive engine is a very poor choice. The longevity of the ball bearing with light surface oxidization, in a low speed operation, submerged in an oil bath will be a very long time.
Don't apologize for revealing a bad product. Glad they stepped up, but those barring's were toast.
Bearings
@@trulysurprised-bk7cy Thanks. The world is a better place for you having corrected that.
I was truly surprised
@@lightning9279 you are welcome !
I would have returned the whole unit and gone and bought a well made one. Wow!
Tractor supply is the Walmart of agricultural equipment.
Any chain store that buys enough inventory, dictates to the manufacturer what price point they want to buy items at so they can keep low prices and still make a good margin. You want good stuff? Don't go to chain stores, and pay what good stuff is worth
Except they don’t always have the best price
@@codyg7936, sometimes they have different specs on the big box stuff. That’s how they make the price points.
@@codyg7936 I find that they are the Harbor freight of ag equipment but their prices are high.
@@PumpkinKingXXIII Yeah, Sears used to have Poulan make Craftsman chainsaws, and their Kenmore washers were made by Whirlpool. But they'd change a dimension or two on the more expensive parts, so that you had to buy their parts instead of using cheaper Poulan and Whirlpool parts. But Craftsman and Kenmore parts were more expensive, so they had you. You might try to beat the system once or twice, but you'd get stuck with a competitor's part that wouldn't work and still have to buy their part! So there you are, Pumpkinhead!
we need ppl like you willing to go the extra mile!!
Thank You!!!!
You aren't being picky. I'm glad you showed me this.
Good you had the foresite to check everything. Also good the manufacture shipped you replacement gear boxes.
You are more forgiving than most people
That thing has way too many problems to pay that much and then take it upon yourself to fix it was brave
I figure I'd fix the few issues I had with it and hopefully I'll get many years of use from it. Guess we'll see. That or spend the extra coin
Now I’ll use a borescope before buying sheep feed from tractor supply!!
Thanks for being picky and helping others bro!!
Related Videos:
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~USING AND BREAKING CL TILLER: ruclips.net/video/4dvoG4A9gdI/видео.html
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Good response from the company. I'm surprised but happy they sent you a new set of gearboxes! Good (older) video.
This is why I felt spending the extra $$$ for my Land Pride unit was well worth the cost. And when I got it home we dumped the gear boxes and went with the premium synthetic gear oil.
Yeah Kubota having Kverland,Vicon, Landpride has a wealth of proven engineering to pull from.
I'm grateful I found this video because I was looking at buying a tiller for my l 3901 cabota so me and my wife Could grow some food and it's a good thing that came across this video because we are not going to go to Tractor to supply now.
Wow! Thanks for sharing man. I have been curious about how they store all their equipment out in the elements. And the quality of their build. Glad i kept watching till the end.
I normally would have tried finding a higher quality unit on the used market to buy but I needed this in a jam for a big job the next day that I was making good money on. You really can't beat Tractor Supplies hours. After seeing that this unit had been sitting outside and looked a little rough, I was skeptical to buy it. But figured I'd make the money back on it next day so I decided to purchase it anyway. When I got home and went to fill the gearboxes this is what I found. Also, I didn't mention in the video but I did get a price break on this when I bought it, but only due to the fact that it was missing the drive shaft and slip clutch.
If you're planning on purchasing a three-point tiller and want to get maximum life out of it, you should definitely watch this video. I'm not trying to bash Tartar, I was just disappointed to see that it had rust internally. I have two of these units and they are both still going strong with heavy use. I do think if you own one of these it's worth checking the shaft alignment. I am 100% sure that's what led to upper bearing failure as seen in my other video.
Thank you, I'm getting ready to purchase one! Would have never thought of looking for that
No problem! Yeah definitely worth taking a peek in there too see if it's good. I'm sure it will be fine. This one probably sat for quite a few years outside
Thanks, I was going to pick up a new tiller from tractor supply today but when I saw your video I decided to bring some tools to have a peek inside the gear box before I buy
Thanks for this video. I just bought a 5-foot model of this yesterday and will check it out with my bore scope before I even start assembling it. If I find these type of things, I am taking it back. I will only use it occasionally, but at $1999, I only need to spend another $300 to get one from an implement company I typically do business with. I had seen positive reviews on these, but this is eye opening.
These are assembled by Tater Gate Company in Liberty Kentucky. If you seen how many times the place gets flooded out you would understand the rust. Recently there entire storage yard was completely under water.
Now THAT is some relevant information....Allows a better value judgement re Tractor Supply...
I understand the rusting issue, but the misalignment prob is all on the assembler, and it certainly sucks.
@@arlisspropertyservicesllc5943 No. The assembler works with the parts they give him/her . . . /it! The fit problem is on the, uh, dare we call him/her/it an engineer? They are the ones who determine dimensions between holes and whether or not a hole is round, square, or slotted.
All gear cases will have some condensation, anyway, if they are stored in a place where the climate changes from hot to cold a lot, even if they are never outdoors or in a flood. It will be worse if there is more vacant space inside it. These should be filled to about an inch below the fill hole with oil instead of being stored dry.
There are three ways to deal with condensation water in your gearbox. You can: A. Change the oil completely. B. Take out the drain plug and just let out enough to get rid of the water at the bottom before you use the unit and then refill it. Or C. Run the crap out of it, and let the heat drive it out.
Thank you Chris for bringing this to light.
I bought a new Kodiak 6 foot tiller last year. It had stickers on it saying shipped with no oil in gear cases, but with only grease. I asked the dealer what kind of oil he put in it and he said it came with grease, they don't put any oil. When I got home I read the manual and it states to fill with gear oil, the grease is just for Shipping. I am glad I checked it myself. Just because you buy something new, it doesn't mean it is ready to go to work!
Thanks for the video! I have different tillers and never thought about opening yhe gear case to inspect. Very cool. Glad they sent you a new one.
This is why youtube is so great. It keeps accountability in check for all these big "companies"
I can't believe you didn't send it back to TS as soon as you found water in the gear box.
Well Chris, I was just about to purchase a 72" County Line, but that ain't happening now! Thank you for posting this, and for showing us everything you did. Much appreciated.
Looks like an Everything Attachments ER074 is getting ordered now. Thanks again for making up my mind!
Hey man, great to hear it helped you solidify your purchase decision. Appreciate you dropping the comment. Thanks
GREAT video, guy - both content and concise presentation. Just learning about these as going with a friend to buy an old used one (Yanmar RS1400). Hard to believe anyone would assemble them with shafts misaligned like that.. strain on bearings from the beginning, but would take awhile for them to fail.
My thought,s exactly
Nice to hear TS will back up their product, now you will have a spare! The adjustments to alignment are common on a lot of low cost Chinese products. Thnx for the video!
Bought my 50” Kuhn in 1999 and have used and abused it. Worn several sets of tines out. Now it’s 2 years later and I want to rebuild it, I went to a Kuhn dealer and priced replacement parts. The 3 bearings were $550, a new chain cover was $245, the little chain tensioner was $66. For all of the parts I needed were over $1200 plus tax and shipping to be added to that. It was only $1799 new and now the same model is close to $3k, wow!
With my luck, they would say my taking it apart violated my warranty!
The count would change that
I like the 2” receiver mod on the back of your original tiller. Gave me an idea about how to rig up two furrows for potato planting. 👍🏼
Yeah man the hitch was definitely a great addition to it. I have another video on putting it on there if you're interested to check it out
You are right. 100% right. Good video. TSC needs to know this also.
I actually just rode by a local TS store looking for a 48 inch tiller 2 days ago. I am buying a tractor and the dealer didn't have one. Sure enough they had an entire pallet of them setting outside in the weather which I wasn't happy about. I never would have guessed that they shipped them with the gear boxes dry. The good news is my tractor dealer kept calling around to other dealerships until he found one and is going to assemble and install it on my tractor before he delivers it. Thanks for the heads up.
Sad part is the dealer tiller most likley sits outside too. Have a large dealer close to me and EVERYTHING is sitting outdoor.
i just bought this unit. Man it never crossed my mind to check this. Thank you!
You have every right to be mad that’s bull crap there shouldn’t be a speck of rust in a gear box or bearings you did the right thing checking it out
I've run a BCS for 12 yrs. I've never even looked at it's gears / bearings. I will this spring though.
I was actually thinking about buying this tiller. Glad i seen this first. I guess I'll keep looking.
They're not a bad tiller as long as you check for the few items I mentioned in this video. This one had clearly been sitting outside for too long. Mine is still going strong
That was terrible. Nice job inspecting. Good job on the company for sending you new parts, although you gotta do the work. But it will probably last a lot longer than if you would have added oil and went on. Great video thanks. I was actually in the market for a tiller I'm glad I watched this video.
Was shopping for a tiller. Thank you!! I won't be buying that trash bin. You proved county line cares about filling their pockets and doesn't care about a good product to sell to customers. Wow so many issues. Back in the day my dad left all his farm equipment outside. And it would work everytime. Wouldn't rust out. No pride in their product.
With that amount of play, ya need a universal joint in that drive shaft. 🤣
I work for a company that makes these units we make all sorta of county line products from welding to assembling the all the black parts ive never personally welded thos tillers i do know most of the assembly parts gearboxes pto shafts exc are often kept outdoors with no regard for weather conditions ina flood prone area i wouldn't be surprised if thos where under water at one piont
Friend of mine bought one and tilled up his yard. He beat it unmercifully tilling rocks and roots and didn't have any trouble. It would be good if they put some anti-rust coating on the gears since they are stored outside with no oil in the gearboxes.
Have a bobcat 5’ tiller, bought new, no oil in trans gearbox or trans mission gears housing. 3hours later it seized. Warranty will replace both, but the oversight by the company is inexcusable, and unnecessary. THE TILLER IS A BEAST, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO PROPER USE.
I got a King Kutter from Orscheln's last year. Looks almost identical to this one. When I checked the service, the side gear compartment had over a pint of water in it. Fortuantly, it was serviced with 00 pourable grease. The angle gearbox was low too. Looking through the angle drive service plug hole, it didn't appear to have any rust nor the side cover either. BUT, the fill/drain service plug on the side cover had been tapped WAY off center and the plug was sitting so crooked it barely had threads on one side. Dodged the rust bullet though. KK did come through too and sent me a new side cover and gasket. I still had to supply my own lubricant. This kind of stuff is inexcussable.
Wow! Talk about timely. I just got a tractor from my sister and am starting to look for tillers. I won’t be checking out those. I actually bought a 12 cubic foot gorilla cart from TS Monday. I’ve been looking for 6 months actually went to that store. Talked to the right person and found one assembled out back. It had a half inch of nasty water, some various steel parts, and wheels from other carts. They did give me a 15% discount. The problem with tractor supply they seem to only hire young people with no clue how their products work.
Wow, I wouldn't have been nearly as friendly as you, there's no way I'd be swapping out equipment parts, they'd get the whole unit back for a replacement or cash.
I had the exact same experience with a finish mower. The store got with the representative and did the same thing. The rep sent a new unit to replace it. The stores leave all these PTO powered gearboxes outside with no lube forever.
Thank you for informing on tiller problems. I wouldn't of known these issues other wise.
No problem!
I had a buddy who had the same issues. What he had done after replacing the bearing, he replaced the straight shaft with a heavy duty yoked shaft. And he has no problem with it since. That has been about 5 years ago.
It is something worth thinking about.
That sounds like a fix that would work good, but I think just lining the boxes up works well also. I haven't had a problem since this
I worked for TSC for 2.5 years. I saw many of those sit outside for at least that long. But, like you said, these are more of a "budget" 3 point attachment than a quality one. At least they did warranty the gearboxes for you.
Yeah, it's a shame they let them sit outside like that. They should really just invest in some kind of big lean-to off the building to the store the implements under. But even then, this problem would still happen with the temperature changes and no lubricant or anti-corrosive in the gearboxes. That's the main problem. But yeah, I was pretty shocked and thankful that they warrantied the gearboxes.
So what are you saying? Because they are low budget, it's ok to leave them sitting around outside for years!?
$1700 is not a budget buy from where I come from for anything.
@@pauljohnson7486 yeah that's what I'm saying, 1700 is a big chunk of change. Certainly budget when it comes to tillers though. Most name brands are more like 2500 for this size. And if one of those pitted bearings ended up wiping out the gear case in the future, there's another $800
Yeah, budget is relative when it comes to some 3 point attachments. And I 1000% agree with nononsenseknowhow that some kind of anti-corrosive should be sprayed in those cases when they are assembled. Cheap Chinese quality for you. The finish and brush mowers are the same way. I use to do assembly for the store I worked at. Cheap was kinda the name of the game for some stuff. Kinda falling into the same category as Harbor Freight. Perfectly fine for occasional use, but buy something better if you are going to beat on it daily for 6, 8, 10+ hours at a time.
Good info that you made potential buyers aware of. Thanks.
Looks like a piece of antique equipment that's been sitting out on the fence line for 20 years
That will last the long haul now !! Just them small adjustments saved it's life !!
Finally someone with attention to detail
That thing looks like it was in a flood and who knows what else. I'd of taken it back.
I bought a new Tarter 48" tiller a week or so ago. Based on this video, I checked the gearboxes for rust and the shaft for alignment. The side gearbox was spotless, the top a tiny bit of rust. Removed the cir-clip to to allow for shaft movement and checked the alignment. It was spot on. Yours must of been a complete lemon down to the paint. Still looks like flood damage. Might of even been dropped or something major to get the alignment that far out of wack.
You get what you pay for my
Man, but that being said talk about excellent customer service!!!!
You did a great job and help everyone out
I noticed the exact same thing on mine. I complained but didn’t insist on a different one since they were all the same. It lasted a couple of years before the bottom seal started to leak. In the process of putting back together this weekend.
I am in the process of restoring a cub cadet 1a tiller. 40 year old grease is pretty dry. But was still a lot in it. They dont build stuff like they use to.
However one of the best tillers made! Went thru two king cutter tillers under warranty. Have a rocky farm this brand of tiller held up to the abuse! Mine was sitting outside at the store 2 years before purchase so mine was rusty too.
Great video.. I was gonna buy one of these tillers because I hear it is reversible.. I really like that fact.. and it’s a really good price compared to other tillers.. gotta expect some faults for sure but rust is bull crap cuz they could have easily pre-greased or lubed all the bare metal gears and casings and not had this happen.. if/when I buy one, I’ll be making sure it’s a new unit that hasn’t been sitting around long, and I’ll be sure to check it over carefully before sale. Thanks for your video!
Yeah they are good units overall. It's a shame they let them sit outside and like you said don't prelube the cases. Good luck with your purchase and glad to hear the video was helpful
NoNonsenseKnowHow thanks man, and it sure was 👍🏻
They have improved them since. Mine came with oil and has worked well.
It was assembled in the USA. They import most of mechanical in shipping containers. That is why there was no oil and rust. They can't ship it with fluids.The containers are not always water a tight and salt water spray gets in everywhere. The gearboxes still are influenced by atmospheric through breathers. BS that no one at tractor supply went through it.
I bought one but it was only on the lot for a month, I looked at seals and in gear box, moisture in there but no rust. Thanks for the heads up!
Gotya. Thats good. And no prob.
Wow thank you, hope to be buying a tiller in the next 12 months! I’ll skip TSC for my tiller!!!
I purchased a 5' tiller 15 years ago from TSC I have countless hours on the tiller, tilling tree rows and large garden, I have hit big rocks hard with it and it just bounces up comes back down and says give me more. The tiller is a beast and I believe the absolute but tiller on the market. The volume of gear lube in the gear box is more than adequate to combat a bit of rust. I'm 69 years old and don't believe I'll need to purchase another tiller in my life time but would not hesitate a second to buy another from TSC!
Dang...I was just getting ready to plunk down $2600+ dollars on a 60". Thanks for the heads up on that!
Osphoric acid on bare metal where rust pops up wire brush clean spray ospho on bare metal let dry wire brush then red oxide primer then yellow paint
Do this your rust issues are history. I do this method on bare engine blocks or any metal ...your 100 % dead on being picky paying that kind of money
For equipment. 75w -90 valvoline synthetic gear oil should last few years . With frequent changes. Great video great information and definitely would have
Bearing failure before 100 hours if you didn't give a good pre run inspection.----..... again great video
If you can find a date of Mfg it just may give you some indication of just how long it's been sitting outside at that box store. If it does not have a date stamp then ask the manager when they got it . It's pretty sad to see that on new piece but the heads up is worth a million bucks.
Man thanks alot for your time and the video but you must have 20 hours+ figuring all that Crap out not to say your travel time and GAS!!!
Thanks again😇😁😇
I looked at one of these at the store by my house at Tractor supply.. Being in phoenix, AZ we have less rain etc and they looked much cleaner than this... but there are bad stock sitting at various stores for sure.
You'd think the company making these would have seen these issues and corrected them a long time ago. Quality assurance is a must.
It's called Chinese communist junk.
@@silent1967 : Not necessarily the cause of this review....
@@regdor8187 Wanna bet.
Great the company stood behind their product
Looking to buy a tiller for my tractor, sure glad I saw this video.
Very informative! You were much more accepting that I would have been. I hope county line compensated you somehow for all of the work that you had to do to get the gear boxes changed. I assume you did it yourself? Great video!
Looks like something that was used and then returned for whatever reason...then touched up and resold... Good luck 🤞
Being new, It should be bright and shiny. Nice of them to make you do the labor. I would of exchanged it.
Long story, but i needed it for a job next day that was paying alot. So it made sense at time
This makes me happy that I spent the extra money. On a better quality unit. The salesman at the implement dealership told me to steer clear of any gear driven tiller also. He said the chain driven ones are less prone to catastrophic failure.
Yeah I got no beef with a change-driven tiller. My Kubota R40C lasted around a thousand hours until the shaft snapped in half. But that was very heavy use
I like to watch you work, reminds me of when I was young.
Appreciate you watching. and good to hear
Just bought this same tiller two days ago. Same issue with rusty side gears. Had 1/2 cup wtr in bottom. Amazing bearings weren’t rusty, only gears and cover. My tillers paint job was fine so I might believe the salesman that it was only 3 months sitting. Tines were a little rusty. I think yours may have been from last season given the severity of external rust. My gear box seems ok. Will scope it tomorrow. Thanks for misalignment tip. Will be checking that next. Unbelievable SOBs at Tarter too damn cheap to spray these insides with 10c worth of lube before shipping. My vent ball on the side cover was also rusted shut. Honestly I think it happens in transit on the back of an open flatbed semi in winter when they ship most of these. Or even just in rain going down the highway.
Glad I'm not the only one that had a crummy experience. Luckily after I reaching out to them they sent me new gear boxes after seeing the pictures though
Let me know what you find with the alignment. I'm willing to bet it's off like both of mine were
Pulled the cover on my center gear box. Luckily was clean as your new one. Had a time with the outer hub. Was pumping grease into it an it let out a loud crack. Thought I had blew the grease seal. Turns out was just some amber factory grease exploding past the seal. Seal goes in from the outside behind the bearing so it can’t really “blow out”. Ran out of weekend re shaft align check. Might just leave it be for now.
Got you. Well glad to hear your gears werent crusty like mine!
Also, FYI that the “outer hub bearing” is a “self aligning bearing”. Marked as “LAB 1310”. I thought the damn thing was bad at first. The whole inner shaft/flange was wobbling around like crazy after I took the hub off. Makes sense though with all the misalignment between the tiller frame, the tine shaft, etc. Was a chore dropping the shaft to pull that hub but now I have some piece of mind and a bit of info not mentioned in the manual or by Tarter. They don’t even list internal parts for the outer hub. Gotta buy the whole thing for $110. Or source your own parts. FYI
The reminds me of the Chinese metalworking lathe I bought, back in 2004.
It lasted 5 hours, before going up in flames.
Yeah, sure, I fixed it, but heck, I was expecting at least 10 hours out of it, before it went boom!
Rofl. I got a cnc router from china that was wired backwards. By the time i got the dam control box rebuilt im pretty sure i was a certified electrical engineer.
@@riverotterluresericdenson9216
Yup. It looks like Chinese products have the power to turn us into repair experts ;) .
Thanks for giving us a heads up on this matter, I appreciate it.
W o W good thing you checked ! Nothing like breaking down when its 30 above ! 🤗
I'd find a used Woods or BushHog brand before buying any implement from TSC, unless I was planning on severely abusing it and didn't care.
Holy shit snacks. I'm going check my tiller next chance I get. I bought my tiller new, different brand, and it sat out in the dealership's field for a couple years. I got it dirt cheap bc he went out of business
Hopefully you're luckier than I was and everything's all good
We just bought the 7 foot model this summer and tractor supply and it was at least that rusty if not worse
Thanks for sharing. The inside should have been coated and they should not have painted over the rust. Imagine what they are putting in our medical supplies and food items
Tractor supply stores keep their ag equipment outside even through the winter. Sometimes so long the paint fades.
appreciate the video, BUT, and I know people hate that, but, any metal that sits through a winter in a non heated environment, is going to have condensation happen, it's a fact of life. That's where the moisture inside came from. condensation. This is why I change my oil in EVERYTHING before I start using it after sitting for the winter, can't afford to heat my storage buildings. I'd say this tiller obviously sat through a winter in a warehouse or even outside.
Great video
Thank you for sharing..
If you have a welding machine..
I would have plug well the two top holes and re-drill them
Mine was bought from a reputable dealer, not TS. It's never been rained on the whole time I've had it because it's garage kept.
Man, that thing needs a whole redesign! I certainly wouldn't be buying one of those!
Haha yeah, I feel like I'm going to be doing a lot of future videos on tiller repairs. lol. I can't believe the massive gear side case was only held on by two bolts on the top. They use that same gear case for the 6 foot tiller as well
And it's also only held on with two bolts on the top
NoNonsenseKnowHow I'll bet they have a lot of warranty claims!
Yeah probably. Might be getting more claims now if people take a look inside of their gearboxes before filling them up on new units after seeing this video.
NoNonsenseKnowHow it's crazy to leave them sitting around without oil in them! It would be a lot cheaper to fill them with oil than replace the gearboxes!
Glad you made this bc I was thinking ab getting one of those That’s definitely unacceptable
It is supposed to be shipped with gear grease with a 'solid non vent' plug to keep from leaking. After getting it home, replace with a vented plug.
I bought one of their yellow County Line? hay forks that fit on a loader, it bent with a light (800 lb.) round bale of hay that I failed to put on straight and it turned. I don't plan to ever buy any equipment over $20 from them again. Their 7ft t-posts are okay.
They use stitch welding instead of a continuous weld, that allows water to get in and rust.
When you buy new, expect new. No you are not picky. I get ill with tractor supply also. In Columbus,Ga. They leave alot of stuff outside in the elements, not covered up or nothing. Bought a poulan yard tractor(riding lawnmower). SMOKED from day one,but its still running 3 years later after resealing some covers. Still have issues with it starting because the decompression dog (Flange) broke on the cam.
We have 2 of the 60" ones. They get used, never had an issue.
Sweet. Good to hear
Unfortunately oil filled units can't be shipped for some reason. But that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be grease coated on the internals for shipping, at the very least
They Should have at least shipped it with a spray on rust preventative, that’s how most bare metal parts ship from machine shops. Cosmolube is one brand but there are others. They ship dry to avoid having to worry about leaking oil (hazmat) since to fit as many on a trailer as they can they sometimes stack them in orientations where they’d leak.
That don't surprise me definitely need it to be coated with grease if they can't ship full of fluids