DO NOT SCRAP THOSE TILLERS. I will come save them if need be.I do!
Back when I was a little kid (50 years ago +/-) my father scrapped his crappy little front tine tiller for a Troy Bilt Horse. That was sometime in the early 70’s (maybe late 60’s) way before MTD. He loved that thing. Never wanted any other tiller. Wore it out about 4 times. Got to a point he was having problems finding some parts for it. So he bought a “parts” machine that wasn’t running. Turned out the parts machine wasn’t nearly as worn out as his original. Not long after he got the parts machine, he had them both running perfectly and was debating with himself which to run and which to cannabalize. He hadn’t run either for probably 3 years before he passed and that was almost 2 years ago so neither has run in about 5 years and I’m honestly not sure which is the “good” one and which is parts. Or maybe they’re both good or both parts. I know the original has a Tecumseh engine and the other has something else.
My father’s estate has been quite complex and time consuming. Add a 60 to 80 hour a week job and some stuff like those tillers and the Panzer just got stuck somewhere until I could get to them. I retired at the end of 2023 so I’m starting to get to the “until I can get to it” stuff.
The Panzer is sentimental to me and my brother. If it’s practical to get it running with the original engine, I’ll get it running. I know it’s been over-bored and rebuilt at least twice so if the bore is bad, options may be limited. If it isn’t practical to get running, not sure what we’ll do with it but I ain’t selling it. Right now, not much into re-powering, but might. Might put it back in the shed if it’s dead or might not. I’ll mount it on the end of a wide plate beam and fly it like a flag up by the road just to piss off the developer next door before I sell it.
The Horses… I have a bunch of hours following the original around when I was a kid/teenager, but for whatever reason, I have no sentimental attachment to it. The other one; I’ve never even tried to start it. If my brother wants one or both, I’ll strap them to my equipment trailer and drop them at his place. If he doesn’t want them I’ll probably research their value and send them off to someone else. They’re on the list of “until I can get to it” after the Panzer.
I am rebuilding one myself. Just about every single part can be had from https://www.custompartsinc.com/. I have bought new tine shaft and wheel shaft along with all seals and bearings. Literally everything is still available.