Maintenance and Common Troubleshooting Methods for Small Rotary Tillers

The small rotary tiller is a frequently used agricultural machine in agricultural production, especially in spring plowing. Proper maintenance and upkeep of the rotary tiller is very important for keeping it in good technical condition and ensuring tillage quality. So how should a small rotary tiller be maintained? How are common faults troubleshooted?

I. Maintenance and Upkeep of the Rotary Tiller

Cut off the power and carry out maintenance and upkeep with the engine turned off.

1. Check whether the blades are broken, deformed, or missing, and replace them if so.

2. Check whether the oil seals on both sides of the blade shaft are damaged and whether the bearings are seriously worn; if so, replace the oil seals and bearings.

3. Rotary tiller maintenance includes shift maintenance, seasonal maintenance, and annual maintenance.

Shift maintenance is generally done once every 10 hours, mainly to remove weeds, check and add oil, and inspect parts. In addition to shift maintenance work, seasonal maintenance also includes changing the gear oil, checking whether the bearings and blades need replacement, and checking whether the transmission gears are excessively worn; if so, replace them with new parts. Finally, apply grease or used engine oil to the blades to prevent rust. In addition to seasonal maintenance, annual maintenance also requires storing the machine indoors in a higher place and carrying out comprehensive maintenance to prepare it for use the following year.

II. Diagnosis and Troubleshooting of Common Rotary Tiller Faults

1. Excessive load

Cause of the fault: tilling too deep, or soil that is too sticky, heavy, and hard.

Solution: reduce the tilling depth and lower the operating speed.

2. Universal joint seized and burned out

Cause of the fault: the inclination angle of the universal joint is too large, or the universal joint lacks oil.

Solution: solve it by adjusting the upper limit stop of the hydraulic cylinder piston rod and adding lubricating oil.

3. Abnormal noise from the gearbox

Cause of the fault: foreign matter has fallen into the gearbox, serious bearing wear, missing gear teeth, broken gearbox bearings, or dropped ball bearings.

Solution: it can be solved by replacing with new parts.

4. Blade shaft will not turn

Cause of the fault: tangled weeds, seized gears or bearings, deformation of the left support arm side plate or the transmission box, bending deformation of the blade shaft, damaged bearings, broken transmission chain, etc.

Solution: it can be solved by repair, correction, replacement of parts, and removal of tangled weeds and accumulated mud.

5. Oil leakage from the rotary tiller gearbox

Cause of the fault: damaged oil seal, damaged gearbox paper gasket, cracks in the gearbox housing.

Solution: it can be solved by replacing with new parts and repairing the gearbox housing.

6. The rotary tiller intermittently throws out large clods of soil during operation

Cause of the fault: broken or missing blades, or severe bending deformation.

Solution: repair them or replace them with new blades.

In “Made in China 2025”, the state proposed that “agricultural machinery and equipment are indispensable tools for improving agricultural production efficiency, achieving effective resource utilization, and promoting sustainable agricultural development, and play a very important role in safeguarding national food security, promoting increased agricultural production and efficiency, changing the ways farmers increase their incomes, and advancing rural development.” Therefore, it is hoped that the knowledge introduced in this article on how small rotary tillers should be maintained and how common faults should be troubleshooted can provide help to farmer friends.