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garden tiller made by Burns info>>>>>

21K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  Lifttruck 
#1 ·
I picked up an old green garden (rear tine)tiller made by Burns Outdoor Power Equipment. It has no motor but I have one for it. This thing is way older than 20yrs. I have searched the web until my eyes got crosseyed....trying to find a parts list and or owners manual. There is nothing out there, except the one and only company in Oregon called Burns Outdoor Power Equipment, and they had no info and would do some searching. THis is unbelievable that I can't find any info on it. If anyone out there has info and can help in any way......I would appreciate it a WHOLE LOT.
Thankyou.
Ski Z.
 
#2 ·
well, it looks like it was made by Draper Corp, Louisville, GA. Might also be listed as "Penfield". Also found some info that they were called "Burns by Gilson".
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the info but I found nothing for draper or penfield, but found some info on Gilson, but still no info on parts...diagrams...or owners manual for Burns. The metal tag on it says...made my Burns outdoor power equipment.
Thankyou.
Ski Z.
 
#4 ·
Nowadays, all the garden tractor brands are being bought out by MTD. And this is nothing new. Back in the Forties, Fifties and Sixties everybody with a shop was turning out various kinds of gardening equipment. Some of it was good, some was not. Over the years most of it was bought out or went under. And now we are left with trying to find parts and manuals for them. A lot of the stuff was pretty low tech. So, if they could build it, a good mechanic should be able to make new parts for it.
 
#5 ·
I picked up an old green garden (rear tine)tiller made by Burns Outdoor Power Equipment.
Ski Z.
Does it look anything like this one?


I've had this for about ten years, got it when my stepdad passed away. He bought it new, I don't know how long before I got it, but I guess it must be around 20-25 years old. Right now, mine doesn't run, but I'm sure it's just a gummed-up carb issue, as it makes a good spark, the engine spins, and it ran great about a year ago, the last time I used it. It is a pretty nice tiller, heavy as **** because of all the weights hanging off it. They are stacked pieces of steel plate. The handle pivots side to side so you don't have to walk where you are tilling, and it has an adjustable foot to set the tilling depth. It has a 5 hp B&S engine with reverse shaft.Other than that, I don't know anything about who made them, where, etc.

I will look at my Mom's house for any info I can find. My stepdad was real anal about keeping manuals, etc, so it may be lying around up there. If he could see it now, he'd give me a lot of crap about how dirty it is; hey, it's a tiller!
 

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#6 ·
That's it man!!!! That's the same tiller I have. There's actually another one out there in the world besides mine!!! My biggest problem right now is the side cover is missing, and there is a rod hanging and not sure where it goes, plus not sure where the cable goes that engages the tines. I think there must be some parts missing. Plus no engine on it and I don't know what kind of pulleys are on the engine and where the belts go on.
If you could please do me a huge favor if you took a few pics without the belt shroud cover off. I have searched over 7hrs on the web and could not find one single thing about the old burns tiller...or any diagrams ect ect, only that burns was bought up by Gilson.
Thankyou!!!
Ski Z. :bannana:
 
#12 ·
Make that TWO more! WOW! a blast from the past! I have the same tiller only it's orange and is badged by Montgomery Wards Mine will still run and till fine. Every year I have to pull the flywheel/magneto and clean and gap the points to get it to start. The only real problem with mine is the venturi housing for the carb is broken where the governor linkage pivots. There is nothing there to retain the linkage lever and it will fall off causing loss of engine throttle control.
 
#7 ·
I'll get some pics for you with the cover off. Be a good excuse to clean it up some, anyway. I let it sit too long and it won't start now, I'll have to see if my 85 year-old neighbor can get it running for me. he used to have a garage years ago, next to his house, fixed cars. The building is still there, and he fiddles with lawn mowers now and again. He owes me a favor, I've been mowing his lawn for a couple of months, ever since his wife broke her hip.

I also thought mine was the only one in the world like it. Figured I could get millions for it since it was unique:biglaugh:

Well, you blew that idea out of the water:biglaugh: :biglaugh:
 
#8 ·
Made some pics of the tiller today. I was cleaning up my tractor and tiller and mower, so I power washed the tiller, too. Skizman, if you'll PM me your e-mail address, I'll send you these pics at full rez, if you'd like. I have quite a few closeups of the pulley system and linkages. Here is the basic side view with the drive cover off, and also one of the mfg plate. ist pic shows the drive in neutral, you can see that the belt to the tine drive is slack. 2nd pic show it in drive (forward), you can see the difference in pulley position and the tight belt.

The toothed belt drives the tines, the small pulley is connected to a chain drive to the tines. The large pulley goes to another chain drive to the wheels. The forward motion actually comes from the reverse shaft on the engine, while the crankshaft drives the tines directly.
 

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#9 ·
Thankyou VERY much for the pics. You don't need to send them to my email. I was able to save them in the same resolution. Wow....you're machine looks almost new. You're stepdad would be proud. Now the bad news. I am missing that whole entire contraption towards the front with all those pulleys ect.That's a **** strange...one of a kind design with two shafts coming out of the engine. A man got in touch with me from Oregon who has all the parts, but it's not worth it to pay all that money to fix my machine. I could buy a little cheap brand new one for that amount. What I might do is just hook a belt from my engine to just drive the tines. The machine will walk forward by itself from the tines spinning. That's all I can do.
So the burns tiller saga comes to an end. But I want to thankyou very much for your time and for being so helpful. I really appreciate it. Good luck to you and I hope your tiller serves you well.
Ski Z.
:thanku:
 
#10 ·
That's a **** strange...one of a kind design with two shafts coming out of the engine.
:thanku:

That's actually a very common engine setup, made especially for tillers. In the engine case, there is a small gear on the crankshaft that drives a larger gear attached to the reverse shaft. The reverse shaft turns at a slower rpm than the crankshaft,and in the opposite direction, and the belts are routed so that it is either slack (neutral) or tight against the crank sheave (engaged forward), or tight against the reverse sheave (engaged reverse) In reverse, you generally have to hold the control lever to keep it in reverse.

This one is a bit odd in that the wheel drive gets its forward motion from the reverse shaft from the way the belt is routed. When you hold it in reverse, the belt snugs up against a secondary sheave and gets power from the crankshaft.

Too bad about the clutch mechanism being gone. How much did the guy want for it?

I need to get this one running again. I only use it to till between rows after the garden has grown up, so it doesn't get much use. I don't think my stepdad used it more than a half dozen times.

Where are you in SC?
 

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#11 ·
Thanks again for the pic's, I really appreciate your time.That machine is quite a contraption with all those pulleys ect. Yeah...I'm in S. Carolina. I didn't get an exact amount from that guy for the all the parts, because I couldn't order them for the simple reason that I would need one of those old two-shafted engines. So I won't let the ole burns tiller die yet, I think I will just hook a belt from my engine to the tine pulley and off we go. It will still walk forward and that's all I need. The last two years, I rented a heavy duty tiller that wasn't self propelled. It does the job....just need a little muscle to maneuver it at times.
Thanks again....you've been very helpful!!!
Ski Z.
 
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