Thread: Gear off of a Howard Roto-Tiller Model K, need to make or buy one

A local farmer has an old Howard Model K Roto-Tiller that has had a gear failure. The gear is about 4" in diameter, 1.5" thick, has 20 teeth, and it is hard. To top that off, it has an internal spline.

It operates at 1000 rpm and about 100hp.

A quick search on the web didn't turn up much in the line of parts.

I would imagine much over $500 would make a new Roto-Tiller look real tempting.

Image attached.

Open for ideas and recommendations.

Howards themselves went a long time ago, couldn't find anything in the UK.


However it looks like Kongskilde have the name at least - might be worth a punt.

HOWARD Rotavator / Rotalabour 500/600/700

And a new gear shouldn't be ran with an old gear.

500 bucks (at a dollar a minute) implies the gear can be made by end of the day

Probably $1500 is closer to the truth.

You might contact Rush Gear, or Al Meekins: Any Gear Made Quickly Inexpensively & Perfectly Al Meekins GearsMade.com. --Delrin gears Plastic gears Bevel gears Worm gears Spur gears Helical gears Phenolic gears Stainless steel gears Cast iron gears Machine gears Steel gears Metric gears Bronze

Either party would most likely require you to ship off the gearset and the axle, in order to get a quote.

And "ship the housing, so we can check for distortion or damage" is also a possibility.

If you get really lucky, the gears are basically a stock item requiring some finish work, but that isn't how mass production usually works.

If that "gear" was driven by a chain, it is actually a "sprocket", not a gear.

Good Luck,
Steve

Gear

Why does it look like a standard 20 tooth sprocket?

The thing about old farm equipment, is that a lot of bearings, gears, seals, etc, used on them are standard parts, or where at the time. I have taken old bearings, gears, seals, off old bushogs and trenchers to gear shops and driveline shops. They often measure them, then walk in the back to retrieve the part. A lot of times they will have the right gear, but you will need to bore/grind it out to fit. remember this is farm machinery, it does not require super tight tolerances. If your near a major city, try a local gear shop.

BTW last time I checked a 3pt hitch 5'ft rototiller that was worth a damn cost about $1500, plus shipping/tax.

I believe Johnoder is correct about it being a sprocket. I have an old Howard around that has a chain drive. Just cut the old sprocket off the hub and weld a new one on, get new chain though so it wears right as it probably has stretched some.

buy a sprocket,turn or mill(cnc)the old sprocket round(od) to fit in a hole you machine in new sprocket,weld it,job done?
Gw

I don't think it is a sprocket. There are no wear marks on the side where a chain side link would have worn.

Tom

I agree with the OP, that is a gear alright, however badly worn. Look around 11:00 - 12:00 and you will see some relatively sound teeth. SW Bausch is right, if that gear is so badly fungled, the mating one can't be much better. You need both. Getting a gear like that will be, to put it mildly, a challenge. Check the tiller to see what these gears are doing. If they are a pair, you are stuck. If there are three, including an idler, try rejiggering things to use a chain and sprocket setup, modifying the gears as mentioned to use welded on sprockets.

Steve

I'm back. He said it was a gear and it really is badly worn. I have not seen the setup yet, but will soon. Getting this one made will be costly, probably more than practical. When I look at it I will take some images to study.

Might be time to measure center distances, etc and see if you can reverse engineer it, especially to something out of the Boston catalog.

and...100hp isn't typically driving your garden variety 5ft x 3pt tiller....my guess is its a lot more than $500 or $1500 for the tiller if its rated for that much thru the driveline...

check here for pricing on Maschio 100hp class tillers - a different brand...but not cheap!
Beaver Valley Supply Company - Maschio Rotary Tillers

I have a 5 foot John Deere that is rated at 85HP and it is driven by a heavy double roller chain.

Saw the unit, pics below. It is an 8' wide Rotavator. Attached are the images. I wonder if I could find an existing gear and cut the spline?

Well, a search for a standard gear shows this from Amazon. Yes, Amazon. Boston Gear NJ20-1 1/4 Spur Gear, 14.5 Pressure Angle, Steel, Inch, 6 Pitch, 1.250" Bore, 3.666" OD, 1.500" Face Width, 20 Teeth

For 92.00, but with no spline.

I have a slotting head on my Deckel. How hard would that be?

What about cutting the spline out of the old one and opening up the bore of the new and pressinng & welding it in.

I thought about that but there is hardly anything left, plus, the existing gear is hard.

Get two new matching gears and do what Limy says to each. Or call Boston Gear and find out what they would cost with the proper spline. I know old farmers are notoriously tight though!!

http://www.bostongear.com/products/open/sg.html#

If you do repair this, it would be wise to service the slip clutch on the pto shaft. Generally they seize solid resulting in some serious overload and damage.

Winmac, that is exactly what happened. First run of the season and the clutch was not loosened up. Zip goes the teeth.

Originally Posted by Winmac

If you do repair this, it would be wise to service the slip clutch on the pto shaft. Generally they seize solid resulting in some serious overload and damage.

Good point Winmac, I should have remembered that, OTOH it's 30 years since I worked on them