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I bought a Troy Built garden tiller back in 1985 and after many years of service the engine finally gave up last year. I took it apart last year, thinking I could overhaul it but after checking the cost of parts, I decided to look for another route. Found a nice engine at Harbor Freight(HF) for $100.00 and figured it was worth trying, the problem is, it might be too big. The old engine on my tiller is a 3.5 HP and the engine from HF is 6.5 HP, do you think a motor with double the HP, is more than that old tiller can handle?
I figured all I would need to do is idle a motor that size to keep up with the old motor but I was worried about running the gears too fast, if I throttled up, think it would be a problem? Thanks for any insight anyone is willing to give.
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I don't think you'll have any problem. The horsepower does not mean it will have higher RPM's, it will just have more torque. If the new motor fits it should work just fine.
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I agree with Scott on this. Just make sure the lower gear case is well serviced. I've rebuilt my share of them after the brass gear has sheared to toothless operation.
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Thanks Scott, I'm going down there right now to see if it will fit. I already measured the mounting base and I think is is the same size, now I'm taking the tiller down, hopefully they will let me sit the motor on the tiller, to make sure there is enough clearance.
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LOL, yea, I remember that episode, but I doubt 3 extra HP would cause a problem like that. Got the new motor yesterday and it fits just fine, tomorrow I'll fire it up and see how it does.
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I swapped a Harbor Freight 6HP motor with a Briggs 5 HP on a Sears rear tine no problems for 3 years. The only issue I have had is the new motor has a low oil shut off, if you tilt it to much it will switch the motor off. Not a big deal tend to tip the tiller when turning it has only happened a couple times and I think it is probably a good safety feature. I had bought a new Snapper commercial lawn mower with a Honda engine to replace my old Snapper with a Briggs engine that had died.. After putting the Harbor Freight motor on my tiller and it working so good I decided to pull the motor off the old Snapper and replace it with one from Harbor Freight. The mount up was the same but the shaft size was a smaller diameter. Snapper sold the pulley with the smaller center hole same size outer diameter and the part the blade mounts on with the smaller diameter mounting hole. Motor and two new parts the mower was running like new for $125.00. Wish I had the $800 I spent on the new Snapper back. The Harbor Freight motor starts easier than the Honda been using that one for three years doing my lawn I use it and let my son use the new one.
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I was surprised that the pulley from the old engine fit perfectly on the new Harbor Freight(HF) motor, all I have to do is get a new bolt to secure it to the HF motor but all the mounting holes lined up, so I'm surprised it's working out so far. The HF motor cost $119.99 but I got a supper coupon for $99.99 so that turned out to be a deal, as long as everything else works out OK. I do see one issue with the throttle cable not lining up but even if that does not work out, it will not be a big deal because they are designed with a large lever, on the motor, so having to reach down to the motor to slow it down, will not be hard, just won't be able to do it while tilling. With all the warm weather we are having now, it's a good opportunity to get out a till my garden before Spring[cool].
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