The Real Rottotiller

The Real Rototiller

this page updated on 8/23/2002

My tiller at our 1999 show.

My 90 year old Grandfather recently gave me his Frazer Rototiller. He said that it was too much for him to handle anymore. It is hard to tell exactly when it was manufactured, because it is a Hybrid of two different models. The company made four different models, they are: B1-6, B1-6RS, B1-7,and B1-7RS.
The B1-6 is the basic model. It has no reverse and no steering clutches on the drive wheels. The B1-6RS is a little better model with reverse. The B1-7 is the same as the B1-6 but it has steering clutches on the drive wheels.
The way the steering clutch works is, when you push the lever on the handle bar it disengages the power to that wheel, making the tiller turn on a dime.
The B1-7RS is the best model they made, it had reverse and steering clutches. They also made two different widths 20" and 26". The 20" had 10 tines the 26" had 12 tines. They made accessories for the tiller that included a dozer/snow blade, a planter, and a potato furrower.
Mine is a combination of a B1-6 and a B1-7RS. It has reverse, but it doesn't have the clutches of the B1-7. When the clutches went bad my Grandfather replaced the clutched wheel axles, with the solid axles of a B1-6. This basically made it a B1-6RS. This is really easy to do since all of the tiller parts are interchangeable from one model to another. He had bought a model B1-6RS for parts some time ago. I still have this tiller and was glad I did when I found that 3 piece crank assembly was bad, it saved me $200.
Although mine doesn't have an I.D. plate any more, you can tell by the controls on the handlebars, and the air cleaner placement, that it is a model B1-7RS. The B1-6 has 4 controls on the handle bars, the B1-7 has only 3. The B1-7 air cleaner is mounted on the gas tank, while the B1-6 air cleaner is mounted lower on the handle bar bracket.
My Grandfather has had this Rototiller for as long as I can remember. He bought it used in the early 50's from a orchard. It has a 5 BHP 2 cycle engine with no governor and weighs in at about 450 lbs. The color scheme is mainly pre 1955 Caterpillar YELLOW, the wheels are Glidden Imperial blue. The head and cylinder are Hi Temp silver. Also the handle bars are either the blue or the yellow. I went with the blue when I refurbished it.
The tiller is not going to be just a show piece but it is going to have to work for its keep. This was part of the deal I made with my Grandfather, that I till his garden with the tiller if he gave it to me. I also want to use it to till my garden in the Spring and Fall.
The Frazer Rototiller was made from 1946 to at least 1988 when you could still buy a new one from Frazer Farm Equipment in Auburn Indiana. Even now you can buy most parts for the tiller at, Frazer Farm Equipment Company, 1921 S. Wayne Street, P.O. Box 391, Auburn, IN 46706, phone 260-925-2210. Or at www.e-rototiller.com. . My tiller has sat for about three or four years. I just put some new fuel in the tank pulled the pull starter two or three times, and it fired right up. The tines on the tiller are really different than any other tiller. The tines are mounted on springs so that they can give when they hit rocks or other obstructions. This system is both good and bad. If the tines hook onto a root they will pull the tiller down until the tiller stalls or the tine lets go and launches the tiller into the air. The tines are great for breaking new ground. Since they are pointed they go into hard untilled ground easily. The tines will also handle small rocks better than the bolo type tines used on most tillers.
So if you get the opportunity to buy one of these tillers, do. They are the best tiller to start a new garden, or to till up an old garden in the spring and fall. I have used many different Rototillers, I even own a Troy-bilt tiller. But I have never seen a tiller that can pulverize dirt like this tiller can. You will probably only have to make 2-3 passes to break new ground. Just remember watch out for those roots, etc.
Just a little story about this tiller, just to remind you of how dangerous they can be.
When I was about ten my Grandfather was tilling in his garden. I, as any small kid will do, was following along beside. I was dressed in my usual attire for the summer, as a boy. I was wearing my shorts and old rotten Keds type sneakers. Everything was going along fine when the tiller hit a stone and suddenly kicked the tiller my way. I felt my foot under the tiller. I fell to the ground when the tine cover hit my leg. I looked at my foot expecting to see blood. but some how the tines missed my toes and tore the rotten toe of the sneaker. I was really lucky, but I did learn a lesson. I can only imagine what could have happened to me, I shudder to think.
So remember be careful, especially with antique equipment.

My "New" B-1-6

This is my new toy

As luck would have it I was at a Tractor Show in Ashtabula Ohio when I came upon a man with a trailer load of stuff. Right in the front of the trailer was a B-1-6 with a price of fifty dollars on it. After looking it over, I looked at the rubber on the tires, since my old tiller had a blow out I have been looking for some used treads. These tires seemed good, but low so I checked out the next most important thing the tines. The springs were in good shape almost like new. There was one broken tine and a couple bent ones, but the points were good. Then I looked at the pull rope and it was hanging loose, some one had pulled it and it did not return. So I could not try to turn it over to see if it was stuck. The tiller at first glance looked pretty rusted but for $50, it was worth it, for the tires and tines. (I really didn't think about it for too long only as long as it took me to read $50.) I talked to the man for a few minutes and asked him about the steel wheels he had in the trailer, and what he wanted for them. He said that they went with the tiller, BONUS. I told him I would take it. He said that the tiller belonged to his neighbor and he was selling it for him. The tiller was in the front of the trailer and he had alot of heavy items behind it so we couldn't get it out. After making plans to pick the tiller up at his house the deal was made.

Check out how good of shape this decal is.( I am saving this as is.)

The next day I called him by phone from camp and got directions to his house. I drove to his house and saw the tiller with its tires all aired up and waiting. I backed my truck up to the stoop of his garage and pulled out my ramps. Before I knew it I was in possession of a new tiller. The next day as I was looking it over I noticed how little use was on it. The more I looked at it the better it looked. After thinking about it I decided that this was to become my show piece. After removing the large mouse nest from the cowl and working some lube into the starter spring to free it up. I reinstalled the starter to the engine and gave it a pull, and it turned over easy. So I decided to squirt some Liquid Wrench and WD 40 in the spark plug hole to make sure the rings were freed up. There was no spark. So I pulled apart the Wico mag. and found that the wax coating on the coil had melted and got into every thing. Luckily I had another Mag. that my Grandfather gave me with my other tiller. After installing it, and cleaning and gapping the points I had spark. I put some mixed gas in the tank and started pulling the rope. It wouldn't fire though. So I gave it a shot of Either and it started. Boy did it start. It was about 10 o'clock at night and the air was dead calm. The windows in the house were wide open and the tiller was only a few feet away from the house. When the tiller started all the lube I had put in the cylinder made a lot of smoke and it just sat there due to the weather. Since in my fore thought I hadn't hooked up the kill switch, and the throttle cable was still rusted in one position. So by the time I realized my predicament, I couldn't figure what to do so I shoved it in gear and got it away from the house. Once I could see what I was doing I pulled the plug wire. Well all I can say is that house stunk for a week, but no one got West Nile Fever. Now I knew it was going to run any way. The next day after work I gave it another try. It started again and after a few minutes it stopped smoking and ran good, but not great, I still needed to do some carb work. While I had it running I went up to my Grandfathers garden to try it out in an untilled and rock hard piece of ground. The tines went right in the hard ground and hardly bounced. It sure made a lot smaller path than my other Frazer tiller, that is the wider style tiller. It was great when it suddenly quit, I had a good idea what was wrong. So I waited till it cooled down and I removed the plug. Sure enough there was a pice of carbon across the electrodes. So I cleaned it off and reinstalled it and it fired right up. This is one of the minor problems with a 2 cycle, engine especially when it has sat for 30 years. The carbon flakes off from time to time. So now I was ready to do it. So after calling up Frazer Farm and ordering some small items (gaskets, float valve, decals, etc.) I was ready to put it together

Steel wheel all painted up and ready to go.

I called Frazer Farm and talked to Phil and after giving him the Serial #7997 he said that the tiller was made on September, 3, 1946. He also said that it was shipped with steel wheels. So I am now in the middle of refurbishing it and will post more when I have time so for now "Happy tilling."