Versatiller 30B

[hillsider]

Can anyone throw any light on the sealing arrangement of the rotor drive shaft on a Farmfitters Versatile 30B cultivator? The one pictured has a few issues that I am sorting out for the owner but there seems to be a distinct lack of any information. A parts list or indeed any information would be useful.
The engine is a Three HP Briggs and Stratton that now runs very well, the date code indicates that it was built in 1971.

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[hillsider]

Hopefully this pic shows the sealhousing

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[stuart]

I would guess its a similar set up to the Merry Tiller and countless other similar type machines…..the rotor shaft runs on needle type bearings or ball bearings with oil seals on the end.All will be apparent when you split the chaincase.

[hillsider]

Thank you Stuart for your thoughts re the Versatiller, judging by the diameter of the bearing housings I would go along with the needle bearing theory and like you I suspect that the seal arrangement is contained in the press fit steel caps that also form a shield on the ends of the bearing housing.
However as the machine is not mine and the owner rather likes it I am not intending to get into a situation where the machine becomes beyond repair until such time as the oil leakage becomes intolerable. Since my first posting I have tried removing the seal caps in the hope that maybe they contain a standard lip seal but they are very tightly fitted and to carry on with this route would probably have destroyed the seal casings.
During my investigations I did notice that some oil was leaking from the joint between between the two halves of the chaincase, the cause of this was that most of the bolts and nuts were slack so hopefully tightening these will help to reduce the leakage.

If all else fails there is always the option of removing the oil that is in there and refilling with a semi fluid grease.

[will-haggle]

I would go for semi fluid grease as the owner of a few leaky Merry tillers I’m not keen on splitting these cases. Paul Mackellow is the Farmfitters guru on here. A PM may wake him up!

[hillsider]

Thank’s for the tip off re Paul I shall send him a message.
Ray.

[vhgmcbuddy]

Hello chaps I am awake !!

Sorry Ray I don’t have any info on that machine, Farmfitters literature is pretty scarce, if I acquire anything relevant I will let you know

[Author]

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