Tiller question

I was out doing some tilling today and had some issues with my Woods GTC60 tiller. First, the corner piece of steel that holds the bolt which holds the rear gate broke off. I welded another piece of stell on there and fixed that with no problem. Then a couple hours later, I broke a link in the chain. Here is my question, can I replace just the link that broke or do I just get a new chain? Right now I am leaning towards getting a new chain as I'm afraid that some of the other links may be on the verge of going.

This has been the only issues I have encoutered with this tiller that I bought new over 5 years ago and I till quite a few gardens every year for people in the community. I think the slip clutch might be seized up from setting out in the weather which caused the chain to break when it hit a rock.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Welcome to the site!

It certainly is possible to replace broken links instead of buying a new chain, however, as you said, replacing the chain would probably be the way to go. Other links might be damaged from whatever caused the chain to break.

I don't have any experience with tillers, but some with other equipment. I agree with mith, think I'd replace the chain, if possible. I would also check the clutch before I used it again, a replacement would be lots cheaper than breaking something in your tractor.

BTW, welcome to the forum! Be sure to stick around & post some pics!

k-dog, welcome.

How cheap are you???? If you're like me, with more time than money, I'd probably repair the link but, on the other hand, it'd be a lot easier and faster just to replace the whole chain. Besides, it might give you more peace of mind.

I'd make sure the slip clutch is working right away. You could be looking at some serious (expensive) damage to the tractor and/or the tiller gears if it's locked up.

Thanks guys, I went to TSC today picked up a 10 foot long chain (half the price of a new one for the tiller) fixed it to correct link and now have it ready to go. I also picked up a packed of links and I was going to just fix the old chain and keep the new long section for backup but one of the rollers was messed up on the old chain so I will need to fix that later as well.
I'm holding off on installing it until I can check the slip clutch. How do I check the slip clutch? And if it is seized up slightly from the weather (it sets out all year long) how do you go about getting it free?

Thanks again, I came over from Forums Forums. I had been meaning to join over here just never got around to it.

How do I check the slip clutch?

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I would also like to know the best way---I have an old tiller that's been setting for about, oh, who knows how many years? (I got it in a package deal with some other equipment, & have been meaning to post some pics & see what I can find out about it.) I've never hooked it up, but hope to this spring. It has a slip clutch also, & I need to check it out, too.

I've never done it on a tiller. My one has a shear pin. I've done it on a bush hog though when I had to replace all of the friction pads. It was a case of backing off the adjustment bolts and separate the pads until you could turn the PTO shaft by hand and then make it back up, tightening the bolts in sequence a little at a time. I was lucky because there were instructions on how to do it in the manual. You come to a point though when you have to fall back on trial and error for the final adjustment.

Thanks, ETF, that sounds logical. Time consuming, but logical. I can't even read the brand of my tiller, much less have a manual.

I checked my manual and it said adjust the clutch every 400 hours and the slip clutch adjustment should only be done by specialized mechanics. I'm going to give mine a try later on today. I figure I'll loosen it up and make sure it is free and then use a small torque wrench to ensure all bolts have the same tension. Then I'll keep adding torque and trying it out until it seems good.

Thanks! Please keep us informed. I only have the "manual" type torque wrench now , guess I need to invest in the "mechanical" type for this.

Well, I got the new chain put on, put the case back on and filled with gear lube.
Now onto checking out the slip clutch. I think the slip clutch was too tight. I loosened up all the bolts with springs to the point where I could have the PTO engaged (of course tractor was off) and then turned the tines on the tiller. I could see the clutch slip like it was supposed to. I then torqued the bolts on the slip clutch to 40 inch pounds (not foot pounds but inch pounds, used 1/4 inch torque wrench) and while it held I didn't think it was tight enough and would cause too much slipping. I then torqued all the bolts to 65 inch pounds.

I went out and tested the tiller. I'm thinking I got it pretty good, but it is hard to tell. I didn't want it slipping too easy or it would just wear out the clutch plates. It did seem to give some when I hit some rocks. I still may have to adjust it some more. I'll probably give it a workout this weekend.