Troy-Bilt 12087 Owner's/Operator's Manual page 45

Maintenance/Repairs
TIGHTEN BOLTS AND NUTS
WARNING
To help avoid personal injury,
stop the engine, remove the
electric start key, disconnect
the spark plug wire and move
the wire away from the spark
plug, and let the engine muf-
fler cool before inspecting or
servicing the tiller or engine.
Check for loose or missing
hardware every ten (10) operating
hours. Failure to tighten or replace
fasteners can cause poor perfor-
mance, equipment damage or oil
leakage. See your Parts Catalog
for complete fastener descriptions.
Most hardware on your tiller is
visible. Pay particular attention to
hardware shown in Photos 5-1, 5-2,
5-3, and Figure 5-3A.
1. Check the transmission pulley
mounting bolt (Photo 5-1). If the
washer behind the bolt head is
loose, the bolt needs tightening.
To do this, first insert a punch or
thick screwdriver into the hole
next to the bolt and wedge the tool
against the side of the motor mount
casting. This "freezes" the pulley
while you tighten the bolt.
2. Check jam nut on left side of
neutral plunger assembly (photo 5-
2). If loose, immobilize bolt head
with one wrench and use another
wrench to tighten the nut.
3. Check the three rear bearing
cap screws under the depth regula-
tor mounting bracket ("A", Photo
5-3). If any is loose, it can cause
an oil leak or drive shaft end play.
4. Check the five bolts securing
the tiller housing cover to the left
side of the transmission ("B" in
Photo 5-3). Gear oil can leak from
a loose housing cover. To reach
the bolts, remove the left side tine
holder. See "Bolo Tine
Maintenance" in this Section for
tine holder removal directions.
5. Check both swing-bolts ("C",
Photo 5-3) that connect the power
unit transmission to the tine attach-
ment. Both bolts should be
checked every 2-1/2 hours of oper-
ation. If loose, wear can occur on
the locating pin on the power unit,
and cause enlargement of the locat-
ing hole in the tine attachment.
Using a torque wrench, tighten
these bolts to 70-to-80 ft.-Ibs.
6. Check the locknut that fastens
the shifting linkage to the eccentric
shifting lever ("D", Photo 5-3). Do
not tighten the locknut against the
eccentric lever. It should be very
close to, but not touching the lever.
7. Check the four bolts and nuts
securing left and right tine holders
to the tine shaft (Figure 5-3A).
IMPORTANT- Give screws or
bolts that go into the transmis-
sion housing a coating of oon-
hardening gasket sealant to pre-
vent gear oil from leaking.
Figure 5-3A: Tine holder hardware
must be tight.
Photo 5-1: Check bolt on transmission pulley.
Photo 5-2: Check jam nut on plunger assembly.
45
Photo 5-3: Gently tilt tiller forward to check fasteners.