Picked up a Jacobsen today with tiller

[ribs1]

Hi Fellas,
First time posting on this section. I've mostly been on the Deere section lately.
Monday I picked up a Deere 455 for mowing, plowing etc. but that's another story.

Since then I started looking for a tiller for the Deere. Much to my dismay, I realized that a tiller would probably cost me over $3000 when you add up the hitch, pto and tiller. SO I decided to look on craiglist and ebay for a walk behind or something else. Well, I stumbled upon a guy with a 1972 Jacobsen Super Chief 1000 with a tiller attached. He wanted $300. I figured I couldn't beat it and as long is it runs I would buy it. I didn't even see any rear tine walk behinds for that price. I will probably only use this tractor for tilling.

The guy was about 45 miles away from me. I figured I would go out there and if it looked good, I would come back with my buddies trailer and take it.
After looking over the tractor and driving it around a bit I noticed the guy had a trailer. I offered him $250 for the tractor if he would deliver it.
Guy accepted.

I just recently purchased a new house with 2 acres so I am still very new at this tractor thing so please forgive me if I have a lot of newbie questions.

These are my first questions
1. Do you guys think this was a good deal?
2. The tiller seems like it is always engaged. Can it be disengaged when I am just driving it around? There is a handle by my left foot that I think engages the tiller but it is missing the knob and I can't seem to move it although I haven't forced it too hard.
Thanks guys.

[m25pa]

get any manuals with?

[ribs1]

Originally Posted by m25pa

get any manuals with?

No manuals. I just ordered some from Ebay though.

[Mickeymotormount]

That silver shaft just below the muffler is the pto engage/disengage lever. It looks broken off to me. They should be longer with a black knob on the end. That lever is what's used to engage/disengage the tiller or mower deck or whatever attachment is hooked up to the tractor.

[Zippez]

The stub of shaft sticking out of the cone shaped "PowerDrive" PTO clutch is pointing to rear. This is the disengaged position. The lever is not broken off, rather missing. The actual lever slips over this stub and secured with a thumbscrew or on later models, a longitudinal wire spring. The lever is removable so the belt of accessory can be slipped over the PowerDrive.

I do believe Wheel Horse drove their tiller all the time on earlier models. In fact, I think some models drove it off the transaxle input shaft. Yours looks the same. I don't see a belt coming from the PowerDrive other than trans input.

These Chiefs are very well built. I never had one with hydro but the steering is lightening quick and easy one handed with that big 15" wheel... none of these sissy modern things with dinky toy steering wheels.

[Mickeymotormount]

Zippez, thanks for the correction. I didn't know the handle was in 2 pieces. It makes sense though.

[Bart]

Originally Posted by ribs1

These are my first questions
1. Do you guys think this was a good deal?

$250 for something that runs and has a tiller attachment is a good deal in my book.

[ribs1]

Originally Posted by Zippez

The stub of shaft sticking out of the cone shaped "PowerDrive" PTO clutch is pointing to rear. This is the disengaged position. The lever is not broken off, rather missing. The actual lever slips over this stub and secured with a thumbscrew or on later models, a longitudinal wire spring. The lever is removable so the belt of accessory can be slipped over the PowerDrive.

I do believe Wheel Horse drove their tiller all the time on earlier models. In fact, I think some models drove it off the transaxle input shaft. Yours looks the same. I don't see a belt coming from the PowerDrive other than trans input.

These Chiefs are very well built. I never had one with hydro but the steering is lightening quick and easy one handed with that big 15" wheel... none of these sissy modern things with dinky toy steering wheels.

Just found a pto clutch lever on Ebay. (hopefully I didn't spill the beans for someone else that is looking for one)
Same guy has a steering wheel cap and some other stuff that I'm missing.
I think my plan for this tractor is to find all the missing parts and maybe spruce it up a little. Maybe I'll take the rims off and paint them, maybe paint the hood and put on new decals and try to get the motor running a little smoother.

Thanks for the tips so far. I can't wait until the manuals come that I bought so I can figure out if there is a way to disengage the tiller while driving around.

[ribs1]

Another question,
Someone suggested that I might need to add weight to the front of this thing for better steering while running the tiller. Is there a weight bracket for these things or any other good options?
Thanks

[hammerhead]

No. Very bad deal. Terrible tractor. You better drop it off at my place...




OK, OK... it's actually pretty schweet!

[Bill56]

Looks like a good deal. Nice rugged tractor.

[stonykill]

really nice deal!
I don't know of a factory weight setup, but it wouldn't be hard to fab something up.