hello, ilossened up entire an 8 foot disk last year witha setaline torch. i kinda dought u just have a seteline torch laying around but u could prolly do a job like that with just a plumber's torch. the only thing is if the axle has lube, grease or gasoline any where near it there is a fire danger...this is definetly a job for a full ploy face mask or a welders helmet. if u used wd-40 or anything like that yes it will catch on fire but it woulnt explode to the extend that gass will...wd-40 could possibly help to heat up the inside of the joint as it burns. i would suggest trying to drive the machine with out the bolts as the previous poster said first and this as ur last result. do not heat the metal to hot as it can get so hot that it becomes brittle and breaks easily(should only be problem with a larger torch. also make sure u dont melt ur tires(deflating and removing them wouldnt be a bad idea). if u have any qpestions about this just post them...ill be checking back.

the method of tilling with the pins out will likely onl;y work if the tiller has counter rotating tines. another method which im not promising woulnt screw up ur front end but would likely get the wheels loose to SLOWLY drive the tiller up against a tree or some other hard object. another option is heat the rim around the axle with a sedaline torch or plumbers torch and then once heated(not red hot cause u could possible bend it but good and warm try to pull the wheel off. this will work especially well if there is a grease knob inwhich u can pump grease into inwhich will heat and make a molten lube.

We inherited a Troy-Bilt tiller with Gardenway TH 1018 on the tiller and a B&S engine # 171437, prob 1992 built. Engine runs great, tines move forward & back, but not fast enough to do more than make a scratch on the ground. Looks like a place for 2 belts, but only one there. Need 2nd belt? Also, don't see any levers for the tine and wheel speeds to be run separately. Only tillers I'm familiar with are the front tine models where you have to pull back really hard to make it dig in. Shouldn't the tires and weight of the machine do that work for me? Any help would be appreciated. Have a friend that "dabbles" in mechanics, but we need a manual or something. -- THANKS!

My Dad(rest his soul) bought his horse new in 1983 and it still runs great! My mother and I use that tiller every year without trouble. We don't use as much as we used to but I just drained the original SAE 140 out of it and it did not look bad at all to what I've seen in my own years. Now I'll have to find some, but I will put the GL1 or GL2 in from comments above so thanks! BTW...the book says to use straight 90 or 140. No multi-viscosity oils at all. The comment above about the Kohler engines is spot on. They are indestructible and run like clocks(with a few misses here and there...lol...gas these days stinks!) but it is still running strong with no issues. Wish they still made machinery like that. Too many bells and whistles now a days.