What am I getting in to, refurbishing an old tiller?

In My Humble Opinion
1

A couple years ago I salvaged an old tiller with a ‘free’ sign on it from someone’s driveway. I didn’t need a tiller at the time necessarily, but I thought it might be fun to mess with at some point in the future. It didn’t start/run when I got it, but I thought it might be fun to tear it down and clean it out to see if I could get it to start. I’ve never done anything like that, so figured it would be a neat experience!

Well now, I need a tiller and a project. And I built 2 more workbenches, so I finally have space to lay everything out.

It’s a Gilson Model 51095 Compact Tiller with a B+S 60102 engine. Built c. 1976 best I can tell.

It’s not really a matter of ‘is it worth it’ from a money standpoint, nor really time. If I need one for my dirt work later this spring I can rent one for a day if I can’t get this one up and running.

So what am I getting myself in to? Apart from not running (ha!) it looks like it’s in really nice shape. I thought I might get lucky and get it running by just cleaning the carb, flushing the fuel system and changing the oil. But I’m also no averse to the idea of going all the way down and replacing gaskets etc. if necessary.

2

Does it turn pretty freely when you pull the starter cord? Does it sound like it might want to start at least?

I’d add checking the spark plug to your list. Good luck!

3

It does turn freely, and now that you mention it I remembered that I did try a new plug.

Also there is a lot of g oily residue around the gas full cap. Make me wonder if someone tried to use fuel/oil mix in it and finally killed it.

4

It’s a two-stroke, right? Almost all small engines are. It should use a mix of gasoline and oil, 32:1, so four ounces of oil in a gallon of gas. I would assume that the oil around the gas cap is from that.

5

Sounds like a fun project to me. If you can’t get it running with new plug, oil, and fuel system flush (and new fresh fuel), check to see if it’s making a spark. It’s probably a very simple engine. Even if someone put a fuel/oil mix in, thinking it was a 2-stroke, you should be able to clean it out. I did it once with an old lawn mower. The carb might be completely gunked up and need a rebuild.

6

Damn that brings memories. I used one that looked like that for many summers as a kid/teenager. Trying to keep the damn thing under control(they jump up and forward constantly if you haven’t used one) gave me delts before people talked about have delts.

I wouldn’t worry too much, I think they all have that. Spilled gas(leaded most likely) evaporates, but leaves behind a bit of stuff that builds up into a tar over time.

7

No, it’s almost certainly a 4-stroke engine.

8

It’s not a two stroke! [As Arrendajo noted]. I found the manual, which says “DO NOT MIX OIL WITH GASOLINE.”

So, someone careless like me may have screwed that up, as you surmise.

The good news is that if you clean it out and get it refueled, it might start. Failing to use pre-mixed fuel in a two-stroke is worse. The engine usually seizes pretty quickly and it’s hopeless. Te bad news is that your engine was designed to run with leaded gas. I don’t know what years of running unleaded gas might have done to the valves.

9

Nice find! Saves me the work of finding a manual :slight_smile: I think I’m going to end up learning a lot about small engines with this project!

10

The Achilles heel of small engines is the carburetor. They can get clogged up or otherwise damaged and fixing them is a pain and seemingly random. Replacing the carb is often the simplest thing to do. Given it’s B&S the replacement should be easy to find.

Other things can go wrong, esp. on a tiller. I have an old tiller that seems to work just fine until the tines hit the dirt. Then they stop. The transmission piece is damaged. Costs more than it’s worth to get a replacement. Sealed in and not really repairable. Just hoping some time to come across a cheap match some day.

11

Haha amateur tip of the day:

If reach down to steady the thing when you pull the cord…don’t put your hand on the spark plug.

On the bright side, I know that it makes a spark. :smack::smiley:

But it didn’t show the least bit of interest in starting. No doubt everything’s gunked up.

Yeaaaaahhhh, looks like the parts for this engine are pretty pricey. Carb on E-bay doing a quick search was ~$50. Gaskets and seals seem to be equally pricey.

If I can’t get it running with a good clean, I’ll have to abandon the project. Reminds me too much of rebuilding an old bike and throwing good money after…well, questionable money.

12

You can open the carb and spritz a bit of starting fluid in, may let you know a bit more where you stand.

13

I was expecting this to be about a sailboat tiller, which seemed like an odd thing to refurbish. But I see the thread title steered me wrong.

14

First it is a four stroke engine. Running two stroke fuel/oil mix will foul the spark plug eventually. That is all the “harm” it will do. I have been known to use my chainsaw fuel/oil mix in my four stroke lawnmower when I run out of mower gas.

For inexperienced folks like yourself, I recommend buying a service manual for the engine at least. It will have instructions on these kinds of procedures. I still use one after 50 years working on these engines.

To get it to start, we need three things; compression, fuel/air mix, (in the right ratio), & spark, (at the right time).

If it spins very freely when the rope is pulled, you do not have compression. If the rope pulls with obvious pulses of resistance, it will have enough compression to start. If no compression, a deeper dive is needed. Stop & fix this. It could be the valves, +/or a hole in the piston.

If the compression is good, & if the spark plug is new, we need to check for spark. Get a fire extinguisher & keep it handy. Remove the big wire from the spark plug & using an insulated pair of pliers, hold the wire 1/4" away from the engine. Set the throttle to idle, really any setting that is not the stop setting will work. While a friend pulls the rope quickly, watch for a spark between the wire & the engine block. The spark should be bright blue. If it is not, you will need to file the points. That is very doable but I will not go into that at this time.

If you have spark, pull the air cleaner off of the carburetor & shoot a small, 2-3 second squirt of starting fluid down the carburetor, leave the air cleaner off for now. Next pull the rope with the throttle set at or above idle. If it starts, or tries to start, the carburetor is most likely dirty & will need cleaned. However, first check for a full tank of good fuel. These engines start easier with a full tank.

Before you pull the carburetor apart, remove the tank & the carburetor as a unit from the engine block. Be sure to watch how the linkage for the carburetor is hooked to the governor so you can reinstall it correctly. This makes it easy to drain the fuel from the tank. Empty the tank & flush it out with known good gas. Reinstall the assembly, fill the tank, & try starting it again If it does not start, try the starting fluid again. If it still runs, or at least pops on starting fluid, but not without it, You get to disassemble & clean the carburetor. Buy a carburetor kit for your carburetor. It will have all the parts you need for this. It will probably have a few extra parts, as the kit is for several different carburetors. No worries, one can always use a few extra parts.

Let us know how this goes please.

IHTH, 48.

15

Thank you! That is good info. And I will definitely be updating as it goes.

I really should finish the crown molding and paint touch-up in the kitchen, as well as install the exhaust hood before I start on this… but I might sneak some experiments in, in the meantime.

16

I’ve seen a lot of videos of engines mounted on boards… Should removing the engine from the tiller chassis and doing something similar be my first step?

17

Look at mustie1 YouTube channel. He has dozens of vids fixing mowers, snowblowers, tillers etc. He’s also has a lot of classic VW repair videos. He’s a good mechanic.

Searching for mustie1 tiller
I see six videos

18

LOL I thought the same thing.

19

I would much rather work on a small engine.

20

Like all the other stuff too; who knows, after this I may rather work on a small engine as well!