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Model 30, 31, and 33 OEM replacement tiller tines

58K views 31 replies 12 participants last post by  striperon 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Okay WFM model 30, 31, and 33 rotary tiller owners this is for real;

Have some good news for those who wish to replace some, or all, of their Right Hand - John Deere Part Number M43480 and Left Hand – John Deere Part Number M43481 Rotary Tiller Tines for Models 30, 31, and 33 units. I've recently become aware of the company who manufactures OEM replacement tines for the above tillers. The company that manufactures the tines is Empire Plow Company Inc. Headquartered in Cleveland Ohio. Now, although Empire Plow Co. Inc. manufactures the tines they are a wholesaler and will not sell direct to the public. One other note: although they manufacture these tiller tines they <u>DO NOT</u> manufacture ANY of the sub-assemblies that are welded as in the extensions required for these tillers. However, the company Empire Plow Co. Inc. has told me I can purchase OEM replacement tines from is Maxim Manufacturing Corporation in Sebastopol Mississippi. Below is Maxim Mfg. Corp. part numbers and pricing for the tines:

Remember Maxim Mfg. only sells the single Right Hand and Left Hand tiller tines NOT any sub-assemblies! Empire Plow Co. Inc. will not sell these tines only <u>Maxim Manufacturing Corporation</u> so please don't contact Empire Plow Co. inc. asking to purchase these tiller tines.

Maxim Mfg. Part No. 130762 (JD PN M43480) Right Hand tine price $10.95 ea.
Maxim Mfg. Part No. 130763 (JD PN M43481) Left Hand tine price $10.95 ea.

Maxim Manufacturing Corporation
16741 Highway 21 S
Sebastopol, Mississippi MS-39359
Maxim Manufacturing Corporation's website

Phone: 601-625-7471
Contact: Ask for Adam


Kenneth
 
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#2 ·
Kenneth,
I would like to thank you for all your research you did for me in this matter and all WFM members.
What a great guy to ask a few question.
Jim Hartman
MSG U.S. Army (RET)
 
#5 ·
Robb - I'll assume you're not addressing your question towards me but I'll post a response nonetheless. Here's a preliminary fitting of the R.H. and L.H. tine shaft for my model 33 rebuild. Maybe more individuals will find the information about the tines more useful as it gets closer to spring. By posting the tine information when I did I wanted to make sure I gave everyone interested plenty of time to order and replace their tines in time for spring tillage if they so desired.

I replaced all the bolts and lock nuts on both shafts as well.

Shown with the old R.H. tine sub-assembly in front. I distroyed the original L.H. sub-assemble and extension. I tried heating them off the pin shaft but they were too worn tight to the shaft, I ended up torching them off.

Complete R.H tine shaft (sub-assembly, pin shaft, and 8" extension).

Complete L.H. tine shaft (sub-assembly, pin shaft, and 8" extension).



Kenneth
 
#7 ·
Ron Geer - Yes, as I was telling Robb a while ago I ran this 33 tiller when I was a pretty young boy doing a lot of tilling not only in my parent's garden but a lot of work was done for my grandmother as well. My father purchased this tiller new with the new 140 in 1973 and the tines have not been changed since then. This 33 tiller's been working in the dirt for a lot of hours over the years - it's worked pretty hard over it's lifetime.

Here's a picture of what's left of the tine blades. Not much. Funny, before I started this rebuild I was only going to replace the lower bearings and leave it at that, but like most projects the fix-this and fix-that list continued to grow the further I moved through the project.

The two tines at the top of the picture are two tines I purchased a couple years ago to replace the two far outside tines. I'll keep 'em around for replacement tines.



Kenneth
 
#11 ·
randy becker – I purchased all new sub-assemblies and all new 8" extensions as well from John Deere. I'm not using the one I got from you.

Don Stock – When you take a closer look at your tiller tine assembly this will make much more sense. To replace all the individual R.H. and L.H. tines (this does NOT include the welded sub-assemblies and the 8" extensions) you will need (4) R.H. tines and (4) L.H. tines.

Now, if you want to rebuild the entire tine shaft assembly you need to order the additional (2) welded pin shaft sub-assemblies which is John Deere PN AM31701 and (2) 8" welded extension which is John Deere PN AM31702.

Kenneth
 
#12 ·
Kenneth

Those new tines look nice. Mine may last a couple more years, I've used my tiller quite a bit since I bought it about 3 years ago. I may go ahead and save up and get some of the tines and shafts though so I'll be ready when the old tines wear out.

If you don't mind my askin, how much did all this cost you to rebuild the tines and shafts?

Thanks,Jeremy
 
#13 ·
jeremy benton bryant - Go to JDParts.com, there you'll find pricing for the "Inner" welded tine sub-assembly (John Deere PN AM31701) and the 8" welded extension (John Deere PN AM31702). Your John Deere dealer may add a certain percentage above the JDParts price to cover his fixed costs, but the cost should be somewhat close. Now, I would purchase your individual Right Hand and Left Hand tines from Maxim Manufacturing (look at the first post for contact info.). They'll be much less expensive than purchasing them from John Deere and they're the very same tines John Deere will sell you (made by the same company). As I stated above you should pay $10.95 each for both the R.H and the L.H. tines, again you'll pay shipping on those as well. In addition, of course, if your dealer has a difficult time locating any of the parts such as the 8" welded extension you'll end up paying Freight-in on those parts as well. This information should get you a pretty close estimate on what an entire tine shaft replacement will cost. Hope this helps?

Kenneth
 
#14 ·
Finished my model 33 rotary tiller rebuild. It's nice to have new tines included. Now it's a brand new tiller!

Sorry, I didn't get any good before pictures but here are some of the teardown and parts cleaning.





Finished model 33 rotary tiller unit. I replaced about 90% of the bolts and nuts on this tiller project. I did replace all the lock nuts and bolts on the tine shaft assembly because the original bolts where fairly rusty on the head side. I did find the drive chains were stretched somewhat, about a full link on the outside case and about a half link on the inside case. If you do a tiller rebuild by all means replace the chains - pretty inexpensive replacement in my opinion.

I'm not sure yet if I'll install the shroud end covers. My father removed them because he felt (and I do as well) they held the tiller out of the ground and we've run this tiller without them for many years. The OM suggestion is to be sure to use the shroud end covers to avoid damaging foliage and this would be while cultivating crops. I don't use this tiller to cultivate.






Kenneth
 
#16 ·
That is Grade A workmanship and attention to detail Kenneth! Speaking of chain replacement did you have to replace anything to the slip clutch? These units sound like they'll last for decades of use. I wish mine would quite rusting on the hinge for the leveling flap.
 
#17 ·
Andy - Thanks for the complement. No, I didn't replace any parts on the slip clutch and yes you're right these tillers are very well built units. However, I did take the clutch assembly to a John Deere mechanic friend of mine to consult him regarding parts replacement. His first question was "Was it functioning properly prior to your rebuild?" Yes, it was working fine. He told me not to mess with it until it begins to gave me problems. In addition he told me: "Keep it [slip clutch] clean and never oil the clutch itself (which I knew) and it should be fine."

Regarding your "rusting on the hinge for the leveling flap" you mentioned. Under the section labeled Removal and Storage of the John Deere 33 Integral Rotary Tiller Owners Manual (OM-M45272 Issue K2) states to "Place a few drops of light engine oil along Leveler blade hinge."

Kenneth
 
#18 ·
Jim Hartman and Bill Robinson - You and all WFM members are very welcome for the information regarding replacement rotary tiller tines. I hope that everyone who needs this information is able to use it. I remember finding replacement tines was a big topic of discussion on WFM at one time long ago. Glad I was fortunate enough to find these replacement tines and pass the information along.

Well, it seems as though it's been a long time comin' but I was finally able to get the 33 mounted back on the 140 today for a test fitting and drive engagement session and assessment. It ran like a dream. I don't remember this tiller running that quiet before. I guess I was so familiar with the way it ran and sounded prior to the rebuild that I didn't know it could sound so good. The next stop is the garden just as soon as I can get in there.



Kenneth
 
#19 ·
Hi Kenneth. The tiller looks great! I have never really had my end shrouds keep my tiller out of the ground, but what will is the drag bar that you can add on the back side of the chaincase. Although it sounds like a good idea, I had problems with mine wanting to get any depth with it installed. I removed it and things worked good (other than that initial "lunge" when you drop it in the ground).

Kent
 
#20 ·
Hi Kent – Thank you for the acknowledgement on the tiller. That's cool you've never had issues with the shroud panels before and it may be in part due to your soil conditions. I realize the tiller is only able to penetrate the ground as far as the bottom of the tine shaft considering the soil conditions and that's cool. When I align the bottom edge of the shroud panels compared to the bottom edge of the tine shaft there's a fare difference in distance between the two. My father did use the shroud panels for a while, long enough to wear the paint off the bottom edge pretty good before deciding to remove them (I refinished the panels). You know what I'd like to do is have another pair of the shroud panels and cut them in half lengthwise then mount'em.

I know what you mean about the rear drag bar and shovel limiting the depth. If you think about it that would make sense since the drag bar follows the bottom path of the outside chain drive case where there are no tiller blades breaking the ground hence the bar and shovel is following semi-unbroken ground. I vaguely remember my father complain of the very same thing you mentioned. I was also thinking how well would something like a center breaker (or center buster which ever you prefer) work in the place of the drag bar? I was thinking the center breaker could have a weed sweep (cultivator shovel) on the bottom to clean up that chain case path. Just a thought.

Kenneth
 
#21 ·
Hi Kenneth. The #30 & #31 tillers had a shovel you put on the front side of the chaincase. I have one and have used it, but only for cultivating purposes in the summer, as that is normally the only time I use either of those tillers. Of course, cultivating is the only purpose for the shovel that the owners manual calls for too (which normally means somewhat mellow ground, not hard pack).



Kent
 
#22 ·
Oh, as for depth, here is a good picture of mine at what I would consider maximum tilling depth, as I was bottomed out on the back side.



Granted, my garden is mellow soil and it had been tilled up around a month earlier, but for the most part if you want maximum depth you will need to make at least two passes anyway, rather than trying to get it all in one pass.

Kent
 
#24 ·
Hello Kent – That's pretty cool about the cultivating shovel location on the 30 and 31 tillers. But as you know the drag bar and shovel on the 33 is used when tilling sod or hard ground. "The drag bar reduces the tendency of the tiller to propel the tractor forward." Your soil profile does look pretty sandy to me making it easier for the tiller to break up the soil allowing the shroud panels to penetrate the top surface of the soil. The soil profile here in Colorado tends to lean toward the clay end of the spectrum making it heavier than sandy soils. When the soils are heavy like this the shroud panels want to ride across the top crust of settled soils leaving the tiller raised above the sub-soil not allowing the tiller to fully penetrate the lower areas of the soil.

I notice you have your 33 tiller set up in the aggressive setting on the tiller's lower link. Meaning I see you have the pivot link bolts in the upper hole "A" for more aggressive tilling. My father placed those bolts in the same location. I decided to shift those pivot link bolts back down to hole "B" which is the factory setting, "which is the setting used for most tilling operations." Since I don't plan on using this tiller as hard as it had been used in past years I felt it appropriate. If you look at the first picture of the finished rebuild post above you can just make that out in the picture.

Resource:
Operator's Manual – John Deere 33 Integral Rotary Tiller/OM-M45272-Issue K2

Kenneth
 
#25 ·
Hi Kenneth. Yes, I got my #33 tiller with it in the middle hole but what I found was that I would get "high sided" (or in more simple terms, stuck) when making my second pass to get that good depth for a well worked up seedbed. So, I thought by putting the tiller in the "aggressive" setting it would help push me along, which it does and I haven't gotten stuck since then. Actually, I shouldn't say I got stuck more than the tractor quit moving forward so I would have to raise the tiller, back up, drop the tiller and get a running start to get through the "hole" that I had left. I have worked in some more clay type ground before, it was breaking virgin ground with grass on it for a flower bed and I had to till it probably 4 times. As for the depth cam, I normally run in either the 4th or 5th hole back from the transport position. Here is a picture of it in hole #4 (this is a patio tiller I no longer have, but it is a good picture of the depth cam).



Although I do like my 140 & #33 tiller combo (especially since I do not have any hydraulic lift gear drive tractors for my #30 and #31 tillers), because of the "high siding" effect I used to get with my #33 I think my #30/#31 tillers are a bit easier to set up and use. On side note, my #31 tiller is set up in the lowest hole and the aggressiveness of it seems to be just perfect.



My #30 tiller is set in the middle hole and seems to work OK, although I do not seem to have the range of lift on the round fender that you do on a later flat fender tractor, as I have it set so it just clears the ground when in the full raised position but it doesn't seem to get the depth I would like when down. Granted, this is an older picture before I was able to find and install the proper turn buckle assembly that goes between the tractor and tiller, but that didn't seem to cure the depth problem. I did move the lift link to the lower hole on the tillers lift arm, but that made it too heavy to comfortably lift (of course, if I had a hydraulic lift tractor that wouldn't matter
).



I do have to give you a big thumbs up for having and USING your owners manual Kenneth, as many guys don't do that. Although collecting vintage printings of these owners manuals is a side hobby of mine, it is nice as then when I do get a "new" toy, I normally already have the proper manual for it. I will say this, all this talk about tillers is getting me in the mood for the weather to warm up and the ground to dry out so I can go smell some freshly turned up dirt


Kent
 
#26 ·
Kent – Thanks for sharing all the information you do with us. I like hearing what you have to say. That's pretty interesting about the placement of the pivot bolts. I guess if I start getting high centered as you said you did I'll change the pivot bolt locations back to the "A" or top hole. I've always kept the depth cam set for the lowest setting. I only use the depth cam for transport uses. I would sure like to have a model 30 tiller for my 110 as well but I don't think that'll ever happen. Guess the novelty of having a model 30 tiller is what appeals to me and that's not good.

As for the usage of Owner's Manuals (OM) is concerned; I wouldn't have it any other way. Had a John Deere mechanic tell me once that I was one of the few individuals he's met who actually reads a John Deere manual. Not sure why individuals don't consults their manuals more often. Takes all kinds I guess?

, I'll agree with you about all this talk about tillers putting you in the "mood for the weather to warm up and the ground to dry out so I can go smell some freshly turned up dirt." How do you think I feel? There for a while it felt like I'd been working on this 33 tiller rebuild forever and now I can hardly wait to turn over some soil with it.

Kenneth
 
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