I will comment that when returning an engine to service that has been stored a long time without having had a "blueprint" (the OEM criteria) pre-storage preparation service procedure done to it, you should remove the spark plug and squirt some clean motor oil (the same stuff you plan to put in the crankcase) into the cylinder. About 3-4 teaspoons worth is all you need.
Then with the spark plug still out, pull the start rope very slowly to turn the crankshaft a few revolutions.
This will provide some lube to the cylinder walls and piston rings.
OK, now you can connect a spark plug to the spark plug cable and lay it on the head where you can observe the gap of the plug electrodes.
Give a good pull on the rope and watch the plug for sparks.
If you have sparks, I would then spray a little carb cleaner into the carb throat and pull the rope again to see if the engine will start and run for a couple seconds on the shot of cleaner.
If the engine runs on the shots of carb cleaner, it will be time to try some gas in the tank.
I suggest you mix some upper cylinder lube oil (Marvel Mystery Oil or equivalent) and some Seafoam in the gas before adding it to the dry tank. A dab of Stabil will be good too.
After that you will just have to see how well it does.
Good luck.

Mowie,

Good to see you here, it seems to have been a while since I have seen you.

You advice is nearly to the letter what I plan to do! :) I am just trying to decide if I should go ahead and put the blower cover back on yet.

Since it snowed last night I have a respite since I have no garage.

Cheers

Rolf

It sounds like you made a good find! My guess is that it would be a HH60 considering the application. I would leave the flywheel if you had spark. Rust on the magnets will not affect the spark. Aftermarket parts as well as Tec parts are available, though drop a linkage and you might be testing the waters....

Just remember.........running it more than about 1 minute with the blower cover off risks overheating the cylinder and head!! Without the cover in place, the fan is just recirculating the air onto itself instead of ducting it through the cooling fins on cylinder and head.
I suggest leaving the cover off until you see a running response from your efforts, then put the cover on back for a full warm up.

The message i sent in relation to rusty magnets, pertained to mostly lawn mowers with vertical shaft engines, or lawn tractors with the same configuration.
Lawn tractors, with the hood louvers (slots), should never be left out in the rain, as the hood slots allow rain and snow to get down into the ignition parts, causing a no-run condition. The Tecumseh engines had the points and condensers under a tin cover, which protected them a lot better than the B&S brand.

I have no garage, but when it gets warms again I am going to check for spark and take it from there.

I'll let y'all know how it goes. I planned on expanding the garden and this tiller will save me a lot of work, so once it gets warm it will move to the top of my list.

Thanks folks

Rolf

Hey,

MAJOR SCORE!

Best of luck getting it running. Depending on the model and condition, you could always put a Honda clone engine from china on it. There are posts of using them on the Horse tillers with good results. If you get into parts on a Tecumseh, $200 for a new engine may look good.

Ev

The original engine has a cast iron block and was a very good engine for Tecumseh. My opinion is to keep this going for as long as possible.

Couldn't agree more on the Tecumseh engines for it's not the engines but the people that own them that's the problem running them low on oil or out of oil, never changing the oil in them those are the culprits that destroy the engines.