Troy Bilt shifter frozen

HI Y'all,

I have a 1977 6 HP Troy-Bilt Horse. After a few years of storage, the tiller will not shift; i.e., the forward/reverse lever is frozen. You'll recall that going into forward requires the engine assembly to "lift-up" and engage. I think that somehting in the assembly is frozen with rust.

Has this happened to anyone? Any thoughts on how I might quickly fix this?

Thanks,

Popes53

[james dilley]

shoot the linkage with penatrating oil then try it , now it mite take several times to free it up. unless you have a large tub and can disassemble it thats the best way.

Thanks, James. I have tried that already. I did find out though, that I can pound on the engine "mount Bars" (that's what Troy-Bilt calls them), and try to free them up that way. It would have been nice if Garden Way would have put some Zerk fittings on those bars so they could be properly greased. That is the procedure they recommend to disconnect the engine from the tiller body. I'll try to loosen them up with a fews taps and see if that works. I think the problem is that those mount bars are frozen with rust.

I also have to replace the carb and the muffler on this pig. Getting those muffler screws off is a challenge. I got the one off on the face of the muffler, but the other is semi-hidden behing the carburetor.

Moral of this story: Store your equipment indoors, guys and gals.

Originally Posted by james dilley

shoot the linkage with penatrating oil then try it , now it mite take several times to free it up. unless you have a large tub and can disassemble it thats the best way.

[moopups]

It may be necessary to heat the area with a torch to get the metal to expand enought to regain motion, try BP Blaster while it is hot.

The two metal pins the engine rides up and down on is probably where your problem is. Clean them with w wire brush or sandpaper and spray them with penetrating oil. I think they can be removed easily once free and cleaned completely.
There is a very good reason for no grease fittings on a lot of equipment. Grease attracts and retains dirt. the dirt would stick to the grease and wear out the pins and the part that rides on the pins.

I would spray it thoroughly with PB Blaster. You can get it at Autozone or NAPA, etc. Spray it, tap it, wait. Repeat this till it breaks loose.