Oil level too high? Never heard of a crack near a valve guide. I notice on my troybilt pony, if I get the angles a little sharp, it will blow oil. The tecumseh snow king on my atlas snowblower does the same thing if I get squirrely with tilting it side to side. A drawback of splash oiling. Peace

I just went thru this a month ago! And the answer was here on Gardenweb! Here's the answer, sort of; NAPA 4L210. They are shorter than the originals and work great, but on mine, so far, they don't allow the transmission to stay in gear. I have yet to try a stronger spring on the cam lever. Even so, it isn't too bad holding the lever down since the machine is so well balanced. Good luck! By the way, I am also getting the carb rebuild kit from NAPA. Bad timing for me as I have never done this (rebuild a carb, thanks Youtube!) and needed to use the tiller, but once it is running it will do several other things around my work place.

Thanks for the input. The fluid looks like ATF from a car. It's red but, like I said, it has sort of a weird milky quality to it. So, did someone replace 30weight with ATF? Or is it supposed to use 30weight? I went to Home Depot, Lowes and ACE and they had no "transmission fluid" for lawn tractors and that makes me think that oil may be the way to go. One thing is for sure, I'm not filling it until I find out exactly what goes in there. Thanks again for the input!

Check the tines for wear. If they are pointed at the ends, they are worn out. New tines are about $100 and the ends have about a 1" flat. For you use, I would recommend the hardened tines. Also, grab the tine and there should be little to no movement left and right. Check the vertical shafts on which the motor moves up and down for excessive play. They should be oiled and will have some play. The PTO came out around 1983. Be sure to check the trans and rear oil levels. If you buy it, I have the proper instructions on checking the levels. They are easily maneuverable despite their size and the PTO allows safe travel to the site.