Rototiller slip clutch slipping

[tbronson]

B48CA rototiller.

While tilling, a stuttering noise started to come from the tiller and it stopped turning. I thought it had hit a big rock, so I backed up and reengaged the tiller in the already tilled soil. It worked until it hit untilled soil. The stuttering noise started, the tines stop turning, but the PTO shaft was still spinning.

I looked in the manual and it seems to be the slip clutch. There are instructions for opening it up. It sounds like it could be worn out clutch plates.

You can see I pushed the spacer out to one side. It's quite loose. Dunno if that's how it's supposed to be.

Before opening it, I'm wondering if it could be something else other than worn clutch plates. Could the assembly be loose and need tightening? The tiller shaft can be turned easily by hand, and seems to be fine.

 

[JerryMT]

You probably need to adjust it unless the clutch plate is worn out. It looks like there is oil on the housing. If that's the case, you'll need to find the source and repair that too. Pull the slip clutch out and examine it. It is spring loaded so before you remove the bolts measure the spring lengths so you can put it back together to have the correct tension on the clutch assembly. If you're not familiar with slip clutches, you might go on you tube and see if you can find a video of it.

 

[tbronson]

Finally got to take apart the slip clutch. First time so I'm not sure what the liners are supposed to look like. Here are pics of both sides of each. I guess they're worn out, because photos of new clutch liners all have what looks like an abrasive side?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Looks to be the disks are solid material and not lines steel disks, so I would say they are fine, just need to tighten them down properly.
If they were worn out they would be there!

If it makes you feel better sand or scotch bright the surfaces slightly, especially the metal ends to break the glaze off of them.

 

[tbronson]

Looks to be the disks are solid material and not lines steel disks, so I would say they are fine, just need to tighten them down properly.
If they were worn out they would be there!

If it makes you feel better sand or scotch bright the surfaces slightly, especially the metal ends to break the glaze off of them.

Thanks! Dunno if it would make a difference, but can I swap positions and/or flip them over? The contact side of only one liner (left end of the photo strip) seems to be the only one with a lot of wear, with pits and worn in grooves.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Thanks! Dunno if it would make a difference, but can I swap positions and/or flip them over? The contact side of only one liner (left end of the photo strip) seems to be the only one with a lot of wear, with pits and worn in grooves.

You could do that, but the pits and groves don't really effect it much.

 

[tbronson]

Looks to be the disks are solid material and not lines steel disks, so I would say they are fine, just need to tighten them down properly.
If they were worn out they would be there!

If it makes you feel better sand or scotch bright the surfaces slightly, especially the metal ends to break the glaze off of them.

No success.

Reassembled and tightened. From fully backed out, the set screws are pretty much as tight as they go with 1-1/2 turns.

Lowered to only go in a couple inces, it tills for a minute, then stops and there's a loud grinding. Lowered deeper and it stops immediately. The PTO shaft keeps turning. The loud grinding sounds more like gears slipping than plates spinning.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I would need to see all the parts of it to give you more directions to go.
Have you pulled the shield off and make sure the input shaft is not spinning?

 

[Russell King]

Sounds like the internal gears of the tiller gearbox are grinding. Look and see if the pto shaft and the shaft into the tiller gear box are rotating as one shaft. Be careful when you look if you take all the shielding off. I would have someone else helping you to immediately turn off the PTO if anything happens.