This is common in soft soil with a front tine tiller. How deep is the drag bar set? Try holding it back in hard pan clay, I was not long figuring out why it became my job as a kid.

I've had that happen too in soft, loamy or sandy soil. You just have to give it a nudge and try not to let it sit in one spot for long. The plus side is it's tilling the ground up very nicely.

Posted by canguy British Columbia (My Page) on Mon, Apr 30, 07 at 21:06

This is common in soft soil with a front tine tiller. How deep is the drag bar set? Try holding it back in hard pan clay, I was not long figuring out why it became my job as a kid.

I have tried all the depths on the drag bar and it made no difference

Manhandle it.Front tine tillers are'nt made to be fully self propelled,although they will pull forward most of the time.A forward nudge while tilting the machine back towards you usually works everytime if the machine wants to dig down too much.
You pretty much have to be a 'part' or extension of the machine and learn to control it with your leverage.

I'm waiting for someone to invent a nice easy remote controlled tiller so I can sit back in my lawn chair with a cold brew and a joystick without even having to break a sweat..a robotiller so to speak.LOL,not really.I like a good few hours of tilling the Earth.after 6 months of cold Winter,it sure feels and smells good after I'm done.

Lone

I just saw an interesting design of an MTD tiller recently.

It has one front NON POWERED wheel.

It has a drag bar in the back.

It has the bolo tines between the two and the engine above the bolo tines.

From a strictly theoretical standpoint, this seems like a perfect design as you can lift it up to move forward on the single wheel, bear down on the handlebars to till until the drag bar goes to the preset depth and then lift again to move forward if the tines themselves are not moving you forward.

Does anyone on this site have one of those and does it work as easily as I envision it?

Fairyprincess

Honda has had a similar design for years. Works like a wheelbarrow. The wheel is strictly for transport and swings up out of the way for tilling

Canguy:

Do you know anyone who owns or has used one and does it work better than a rear wheeled front tine tiller?

Thanks!

Fairyprincess

Bump!

Can anyone give me first hand experience about the Honda or MTD tillers above?

Fairyprincess

FP,

"Can anyone give me first hand experience about the Honda or MTD tillers above?"

I suggest using the Dealer Locater for Honda mid-tined tillers and if there is a dealer within a reasonable distance from you, go by and handle one of the tillers firsthand.

I am an enthusiastic Merry Tiller user myself. The top-of-the-line Merry Tillers cost bout the same as the Honda FC600.

Whether you prefer the wheel in front, or the wheels in back, depends on whether you prefer to push down on the handles for on-wheels transport, or to lift up on the handles for on-wheel transport. It is easier on my back for me to push down on the handles than to lift up part of the tiller. But for most of my tiller transport, I just relax and let the Merry Tiller pull itself along on the tines and wheels. Of the Honda tillers, the Honda model FC600 would be my first choice.

MM
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maineman,
i have a merrytiller about 16-17 years old. are you familiar with that era? it has an encased tine drive chain. my chain housing leaks a little, lent it to my neighbor about 8 years ago and he broke the chain > had it replaced ($125.00)but it leaks and i never replaced any oil in it, what type of oil does it use and is there a gasket for that assembly? i guess i have been lucky. i also have a horse that needs some tlc.someday i'll get to it.thanks ,
john
jackson, n.j.

John,

I had an old Merry Tiller Exporter model back in that time period, which was the "top-of-the-line" back in that era. It had the triple reduction transmission the same as my current International model, and the dual V-belts as well. It was basically the same as my current Merry Tiller.

But there were differences. It had an oil fill plug at the top of the transmission case and an oil drain port at the bottom. The transmission used 90-weight gear oil. I changed the oil in the transmission case as part of my yearly maintenance regimen. I never had any trouble with the chain, which was very heavy weight.

My current International Merry Tiller transmission case looks the same as the old one, except that there is no transmission oil fill or oil drain and it uses a sealed-in "lifetime" grease instead of a gear oil.

After about eight years of heavy use on my old Merry Tiller, the lower seals at the tine drive eventually did wear out and it started leaking gear oil there. I purchased a replacement seal set and a transmission case gasket, because replacing the tine drive seals required the transmission case to be opened up. That replacement made the transmission "fit as a fiddle" and it never leaked a drop of oil again, right up until I lost that tiller and all of its attachments in the "Great Flood of '93" in the St. Louis area.

I was dealing with the original Merry Tiller company at that time. Since then, MacKissic acquired Merry Tiller and I don't know if MacKissic has parts for the old models. Just out of curiosity, what is the model of your old Merry Tiller?

MM

maineman,
i'm sorry i never got back to you on this some how i never new the post had been answered again.i'll check it out and get back to you asap!
thanks and my appologies,
john

maineman where is the model # located?
john

John,

The model name may have been applied with a decal, which may not have been very permanent. My old Merry Tiller had a serial number pressed into the metal of the angle iron frame. I would suggest carefully cleaning your tiller with soap and water and look all over it for details that might identify it, including the engine.

Merry Tiller has been acquired by MacKissic, and you might want to contact them to see what they have in the way of replacement parts, if any, for your tiller.

Just out of curiosity, is the handle on your tiller adjustable for height?

MM

MM,
i'm sorry but i'm back to work , i will return around the 30th and check that info for you. i don't believe it has adjustable handle bars.
john

I'll wait until you get back.

MM, On Friday I took possesion of my grandfathers Merry Exporter (barely enough sticker left on it to tell me this) which wouldnt start. My 3 year old son and I rebuilt carb, changed fluids and replaced points with electronic sparker and now it runs like a little kitten getting its belly rubbed after a bowl of warm milk and starts with one gentle tug of the rope and this morning while digging holes for my wife's azaelas, I noticed little chinese people at the bottom of the hole when I left it digging in one place for too long.....laugh, laugh.
But, the lower seal on gearbox leaks and the tine shaft wobbles so I figure the seals and bearings need replaced. If I can get the parts, is this a job a laymen can do without special tools or is this just to big a job? I thought you would know cause you said you replaced your seals.
Dont want to get anyone too misty eyed here but I did the math and my grandfather bought this tiller new when he was about my age now and used it like clockwork every year until about 4 yers ago. And now, not to be negative, his time is short. So today while he and grandmother were making what may be his last roadtrip to a reunion with his WWII infantry buddies my brother and I were in our garden watching my brother's 11 year old son plow potatoes with the Merry Exporter and I thought "Thats really neat, if only every thing would last at least 4 generations", and with that I had a mission set before me to replace the lower seals and bearings.

I know its a long post but I am just as happy as rooster in a hen house to have +-40 year old tiller still getting it done. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jason

Jason,

It's been several decades but, as I remember it, replacing the seals involved disassembling the entire transmission clamshell case. That was easy enough, but a lot of bolts and nuts were involved. And there was a gasket you had to be careful with or you had to replace it. You had to take care of all the parts. You might need something like a drift pin to drive the bearings out.

The Exporter transmission had a lower drain plug and an upper fill plug to add 90-weight gear oil up to the level of the upper fill hole. So the first thing to do was to drain the gear oil before you started loosening bolts. The gear oil will be black, if it hasn't all leaked out through the leaking seals. The present day International models have sealed-in-grease transmissions, so there are no oil fill plugs or oil drain plugs in the transmission case.

When my Exporter started leaking gear oil at the tine shaft seals I just kept adding fresh 90-weight gear oil until the leak got too messy with the danger that soil and sand might be taking out the bearing. I don't remember whether I had to replace the bearing, but I think I replaced the seals before I had to do that. I bought an extra set of seals to be ready to replace them again.

If your Exporter lost all of its transmission gear oil, the roller chains may also be badly worn. It might be that the easiest thing to do would be to replace the entire transmission and tine drive assembly with a new one for an International model. You might find someone at MacKissic who could discuss that with you. As I recall the outside dimensions of that assembly were very nearly identical, if not identical, to the present day International model. Or you might study this transmission parts diagram to find possible replacement parts for your transmission.

Incidentally, does your Exporter have the optional adjustable handle? Apparently that option was discontinued by MacKissic. Also the triple finger tine set was discontinued, apparently only a year or so before I bought my International model. Those extra wide finger tines were very useful to me on my old Exporter model.

Someone at MacKissic should know more than I do about this. It has been a lot of years.

MM

MM,
Thanks for the diagram it will help and yes the Merry Cadillac does have the adjustable handle bars, up-down, left-right to stay out of your furrow. Its such a simple design, its just amazing there not still using it.
Thanks,
Jason

Jason,

I forgot to mention that you should remove the transmission case from the tiller before working on the transmission. It's tedious enough without having the annoyance of a tiller attached to it.

If you ever want to sell that "Merry Cadillac", let me know. I might be interested just to get that adjustable handle system.

If you were to post some pictures of your Merry Tiller Exporter, we would be interested in seeing them. Also, we could send the pictures of the handle system to MacKissic with an appeal to make the adjustable handle available as an option again. MacKissic very well may not have the blueprints for the adjustable handle system, because they weren't involved with Merry Tiller at that point in its history.

Also, if I had detailed pictures of the adjustable handle system, I could probably make one myself for my International model, or have it made in a local machine shop.

Enjoy your Merry Tiller Exporter, and think of your Grandfather every time you use it.

MM

OK, here are some pics I took just before I disassembled the transmission and removed the old seals. Wow what a nasty job and to make it worse I had called Mckissick and they said the new parts would fit the old machine fine, one guy in R&D said they had used the same transmission on the exporter/international since the 50's, so I went to the parts store and got the seals before I dismantled the tranny. And guess what...they dont fit, and wont fit.
So now I have the machine tore apart with no seals, what a bummer. If anyone has any old Merry tiller lower seals lying arround I will purchase them or any other suggestions would be great. I am still chasing them down myself so hopefully I can find them soon.

Well I dont know how to post the pics, There is no place to upload them or insert them, any clues?

Go to a Power Transmission store.
That's one that sells hydraulic pumps & hoses, belts, bearings etc.
2nd choice is an "old school" auto parts store.
Take the seals with you.
IF you can find a number on the seals, it's probably just a standard part that you can Google.

Jason,

"Well I don't know how to post the pics. There is no place to upload them or insert them. Any clues?"

Well, we can't link directly to the pictures in your computer, because you don't have a URL and your computer might not be on. So the first step is to put your pictures online in a URL. Assuming that you don't have your own website (I don't either, but I intend to get one someday), the easiest way is to make use one of those websites that offer free online picture space. There are several, but I have found PhotoBucket to be satisfactory for me. I use their free account, although for a modest annual fee you can upgrade your account for more space and other features.

Once you have a free PhotoBucket account you can upload photos there. After you have a photo on PhotoBucket, you can simply insert a hyperlink to the photo into the text of your message here. For example, this is a picture of a {{gwi:294336}} I made for my Merry Tiller.

Or, if you prefer, you can use HTML to insert a picture directly into your message, like this view of my Merry Tiller and its dozer blade.

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You might want to ask MacKissic what the cost would be for a complete transmission assembly. Although there are differences in detail between the older transmissions (like the old ones used 90-weight gear oil with a fill plug and a drain plug, while the newer one are sealed in grease), the overall dimensions of the transmission case appear to be the same between my present International and my old Exporter. I think they may have made improvements in the shaft seals that you are having trouble with.

Once you get pictures online I can show you the details of inserting hyperlinks and pictures into your messages here. It's actually quite simple.

MM

Well, I'am back in the Game. The seals I was sold were Briggs & Stratton and were too big, in the wrong bin or something. Now I got the correct seal in and have everything reassembled with new belts. It seems my carb has now gone awry with all the turnig over of the machine, prob have to take it down again. It won't crank without putting s little gas in the breather then it won't stay running very long and spark plug is very black......................But I did have it running long enough to test the transmission and it operates real nice. So hopefully I'll have it running slick as a button tomorrow.
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Thanks MM, here are the pics.

Jason,

You are a fast learner. Thanks much for the pics. I downloaded them to use as reference for an adjustable handle. I may send them to MacKissic in an attempt to get them to bring back the adjustable handle.

Incidentally, those look like Bolo Tines. They are supposed to be self sharpening, as opposed to the Slasher Tines that came on my Exporter and International. Your grandfather may have had the Slasher Tines at one time or another. I think your Exporter will work with any of the available Merry Tiller tines & accessories for the current International model (which also fit the current Suburban model), because the tine shaft is the same diameter and the drag stake fitting is the same size. Or, you could purchase right & left Inside Slasher Tines, right and left Outside Slasher Tines and right & left Extension Slasher tines separately, if you wanted them. The MT1701 slashers till to a width of 14 inches, adding the MT1702 set brings the tilling width to 26 inches, and adding the MT1703 set between the MT1701 set and the MT1702 set extends the tilling width to 37 inches. I usually till with my Slashers at 26 inches, although my tiller came with a complete 37-inch set standard at the time I purchased it from a local dealer in the Spring of 2005.

West Power Tools offers a fairly complete list of Merry Tiller accessories. I bought my Pick Tines from them, and they ship free on orders over $250.

MM

MM,
Your welcome, it was easy after I knew what to do. And thanks for the tine info, these seem to be wore out but my garden is such soft soil I think these will work for a while, besides the new ones are a bit expensive for now. The guy at Mckisson that may the best contact is Bob Ritenhauer (unsure of the spelling), he is over Research & Development and he use to be in parts sales for many years so he prob knows Merry tillers inside and out, although he seems to be a bit grumpy or maybe he didn't like being bothered with the questions I had for him. Either way he did help and he was correct with his info.

Now back to the carb and figuring out the throttle linkage.
Thanks,
Jason

Jason,

Thanks for the Bob Ritenhauer contact. I didn't even know that MacKissic had an R&D department. He is probably the one I should suggest the adjustable handle to.

Your present Bolo Tines are probably ideal for your situation. Their relatively slender blades slip through the soil with a minimum drag and they can till very deep.

Hope you get the carb problem solved. Happy tilling!

MM

Wow. I was searching for 3 weeks to find out what type of tiller I had. Finally last week I found out that it was probably a Merry Tiller.
Suddenly today, I see Jason's photos which look like a twin to my tiller.

Jason' do you know what year yours is?

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I bought mine ~10 years ago from a rental place. And like you, I am currently changing the seals and bearings (both shot)

This summer's project is to restore the old lady. I can't wait to get her back to a shiny red and white again. Maybe I'll be able to find and old decal too.

-Chuck.

Chuck,

MacKissic might be able to supply you with a decal. I see that you have Slasher Tines on yours. And also the adjustable handles. I can't believe MacKissic discontinued that feature.

MM

Jason,

I just noticed that a drag stake isn't in any of your pictures. You will need one for satisfactory tilling, to restrain the forward motion and to control the tilling depth. If you don't have the drag stake you could probably buy one from MacKissic as a replacement part.

MM

Jason, I found a manual for the tiller, all the part numbers are there.

goto this link:

http://www.allotment.org.uk/articles/Merry_Tiller_Rotovator.php

-Chuck

MM,

the adjustable handles are great! Actually, I think that's one of the things that sets it apart from the other tillers I've used: the Merry can adjust in so many ways to suit the job.

-Chuck.

Chuck,

I agree 100% about the handles. I lost my original Merry Tiller Exporter model in "The Great Flood of 92" in the St. Louis area. I also lost a very extensive assortment of tines, plows, cultivators, and even a factory-made dozer blade attachment.

Incidentally, from your photos, I notice that one of your two V-belts is missing. If you do a lot of slip-clutching, as I do when I encounter a rock (a common experience for me), you will benefit from a two-V-belt setup. Now might be a good time to look for a couple of spare V-belts.

MM

Been busy for a few days.
Chuck that is a fantastic looking machine. ( never thought I would say that about a garden tiller). I dont know what year mine is but certainly pre-1971. I will ask when it was purchased. Thanks for the manual info. By looking at your wheels, grips and engine yours appears to be somewhat newer than mine or just stored inside. These babies are so easy to work on, I can now take the carb apart, clean it, reassemble, all while blindfolded and putting a jigsaw puzzle together and never get a spot on my white shirt! The tranny is also easy just nasty as a dog rolling in a dead oppossum. I wouldn't wear a white shirt when working on it. Mine is now running smooth (although not as easy to start as befor, now takes two pulls on rope, I'll keep working, any advice welcome) and has returned to service in the garden and is performing superbly I might add. Will prob search for new tines next winter.
MM, yes the drag bar was out in the picture but i have it and your right it really is the bees knees for controlling tilling depth. Along with the drag Came 3 different size furrow plows and what appears to be a 2ft wide root rake that attatches where the bar and plows do. I am telling you weeds wont have a snowballs chance this year.
We have a 1.5 acre garden and the "Merry-lac Weed Exporter" has covered every row and is hungry for more.

Anyhoo, I'll find out the vintage on my my machine asap.

Jason

Jason,
I thought mine was in pretty bad shape, so thanks for the compliment.

I have it broken down right now into several large parts and a bowl-full of small ones. I already overhauled and tuned the engine and the bottom portion has one coat of red paint and the top portion has a first coat of white. I will post new photos when its done. The new paint will make it much easier to hose off after use.

I have a nice machine shed to keep all my equipment in. So she should stay pretty nice for the next 30-40 years (or at least until someone else needs to fix her up a bit).

I didn't get many other accessories with mine except aerator tines. I haven't had much use for them.

-Chuck.

MM,
Yes, you're right, I only have one belt on it in the photo. I took the other one off to take to the auto parts store for comparison.

Do you have any suggestions for how to keep the right hand from cramping-up from holding the clutch catch? I've been using a piece of twine tied around the handle to slip over the clutch handle.

-Chuck.

Chuck,

"Do you have any suggestions for how to keep the right hand from cramping-up from holding the clutch catch?"

My old Exporter had a special thumb-operated button that let you latch the clutch lever on. My new International does not have that button. Any tiller desperately needs that. I just finished tilling our garden today, and the most tiring part of the job was holding that clutch lever. I suppose that safety regulations are behind discontinuing that feature. The clutch lever serves as a kind of "dead man's clutch" that automatically stops the tiller if you lose your grip on the handle.

I think Jason's Exporter has the feature. I have taken the liberty of creating these two annotated details from his photos. If we can get Jason to take some closeups of the details of that little mechanism, we might be able to reproduce it on our Merry Tillers. I doubt that MacKissic would be inclined to add this feature, although they should do something, because it is tiring to keep squeezing that clutch lever.

Never mind that I labeled it slightly differently in each photo. Hopefully you get the idea. Using it was simple. You squeezed the clutch lever, depressed the button with your thumb and it "latched" the lever. Anytime you wanted to quickly de-clutch, you simply pressed the button again and the lever would spring free. The clutch button has a small coiled spring that jumps it out when you release it.

MM

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Chuck,

The clutch latch would also release if you squeezed the clutch lever a bit more. Releasing it was quite easy either way, with the clutch lever or the thumb latch button.

MM

Hey yall, yes I will take close up photos. Its funny cause I have that pin out right now trying to find the correct spring for it. the spring was rusted to dust. It appears to be a 1/4" pin with a thin gauge 3/8" compression spring slipped over it then inserted into the handle (just forward of the clutch lever pin) through a 5/16" or 1/4" hole drilled on the vertical axis. THen the pin is bradded flat to prevent it from ever coming out of the hole, I had to file mine down to get it out. The pin is about 2.5" long but length would not matter as long as it intersected the path of the clutch lever and prevented it's return when you wanted to "lock" it in the till position. It would be a very simple modification and the diameter of the pin wouldnt even matter as long as the spring and drilled hole size were appropriate. All you need is the pin, spring and metal drill bit.
It may be a couple of days but I will post the pics and MM if you need closer pics of the adjustable handle system i can get those for you.

And based on the memory available, my machine is a 1972 model which corresponds with the 1972 briggs engine.

Jason

Jason,

"All you need is the pin, spring and metal drill bit."

That's great news. I hope so much to be able to make that mod to my Merry Tiller. Closeup pictures would help.

The adjustable handle looks like a much more difficult DIY project. I'll keep my eye open for someone who has a "junker" Merry Tiller (if there is such a thing -- they seem to have very long lifetimes) with this feature. Maybe I will contact MacKissic to see what their input might be.

MM

Jason,

"And based on the memory available, my machine is a 1972 model which corresponds with the 1972 briggs engine."

That is very close to the time when I bought my original Exporter (the one that I lost in the flood).

Incidentally, at that time Merry Tiller was making some of the tillers for Snapper and the Merry Tiller attachments were interchangeable with Snapper and vice versa. I had several Snapper attachments that I was using with my Merry Tiller, including a Wishbone Cultivator and a Dozer Blade. At that time, the Outdoor Power Equipment dealer that I was dealing with in Fort Worth carried both Merry Tiller and Snapper equipment.

MM

You know, I was wondering what that little hole was for. Now I can kill two birds with one pin: no more hand cramps and no more hole. Thanks for describing it to me Jason. I was scratchin my melon trying to figure out how the pin would work.

I have just about all the restoration complete on my tiller. Maybe one more week for final assembly and touch-up.

MM: unless you have access to a machine shop, I think a junker set of handles is the way to go. they attach with only 3 bolts so it's an easy swap.

Jason,
"And based on the memory available, my machine is a 1972 model which corresponds with the 1972 briggs engine."

The good folks at MacKissic replied to my inquiry and told me the same thing: 1972. I still need to ask them about a decal for the handles.

-Chuck.

I made a clutch latch from a bolt and a spring. I haven't installed it yet but when I tried it out it was great! Thanks for your help.

I've just about finished with the restoration. I still need to install the 2nd belt and the new clutch latch. I also couldn't find a decal so I'm going to try and paint it on. It shouldn't be too difficult.

What do you think?

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My kids had some friends over on friday to play and one boy (~5 yrs old) who was running by the shed stopped dead in his tracks and stared with his mouth open "what is that???" I think that kid will grow up to be a machine guy.

MM & Jason, thanks for your help and all the info!

-Chuck.

Chuck,

That looks amazing. Just out of curiosity, what kind of paint did you use?

There is a partial decal visible in a couple of Jason's photos. One is straight on, and you might be able to use that as a guide for painting on your decal. There is also a decal visible in one of my photos.

In case you want to add some accessories to your Merry Tiller, there is a company called Maxim that makes tillers very similar to the Merry Tillers, and I think there is a good chance that some or all of Maxim's accessories might fit a Merry Tiller. I emailed them a couple of years ago, and they seemed willing to make a set of their Till Hoes to fit my Merry Tiller. They were going to add transmission seal protection cups in the style of the Merry Tiller tines. So they seemed to be pretty knowledgeable about Merry Tillers. (I guess they should, because they are making something very similar). I was going to use the Till Hoes as traction for my homemade dozer blade, since I can't find the wide finger tine sets anymore. Maybe I should re-open my line of communication with Maxim. Several of their tillers have clutch latches, and some come with optional tractor tires for plowing. But apparently none have adjustable handles. I might bring that subject up with Maxim.

Incidentally, Maxim used to have an amazing machine called a "Plow Hoss", which is now discontinued. But, just for jollies, I am linking to an old picture of a Plow Hoss here. It's sort of like a high-wheeled cultivator on steroids. (I could grow better corn than that.)

MM

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