proper oil and lubrication for old merry tiller

[vhgmcbuddy]

hi it’s me Tommy again,I’ve reached Finley purchased and old merry tiller built sometime probably in the 50s.a real barn find this Beast was in original condition original paint and original. It has seen very little use as shown by the paint wear.I bought it from the son of original owner who replaced the engine oil before using it for a small job in his yard. before using it myself I thought it’d be a good idea to change the gear oil in the drive mechanism. when I drained the original oil it was thick black with shiny Golden/copper Flakes inside.it seems like the Flecks weren’t from the gears inside but more like a feature of the original oil. it really looks beautiful. I’m confident it was the original oil as when I took out the drain plug I broke the original paint which was on the drain screw/ Bolt. I replaced it with a 90 weight gear oil from Walmart.I used it for about one hour in the backyard since. I’d hate to damage my tiller using the wrong lubricant. any information on the proper oil for this machine would be much appreciated.

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[wristpin]

What a coincidence , I’m just doing a mechanical renovation on a similar UK spec machine that was marketed as a Merry Tiller Titan. Not nearly in as good cosmetic condition as yours. UK spec machines just used a standard SAE 30 or 40 engine oil in the chain case, but as the machines got old and unloved and suffered from leaking rotor shaft oil seals the chain cases were often topped up with semi fluid grease.
Most UK machines had handle bars that could be swung to either the left or right so that the operator was not walking on the freshly turned ground.
The 5hp Briggs on my machine has a 1969 date code.

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