Neanderpundit

This is what it looks like on the inside. The plastic baffle was from the original filter, the only thing unmolested.

I always have the foam around, and the cover pops neatly into place. I got a lot of mowing done so I know it works fine.

Tilling was another challenge; the old Troy Bilt was recalcitrant so I pulled the filter… to discover the carb and the top of the engine was full of fuel.

This has happened before, the brass float pinholes and it’s usually a couple minutes work with the torch. Except this time it’s been soldered so many times it may not even float.

I don’t have high hopes for finding a float; this is a Lauson Engine (A company that later became Tecumseh) and I figure I’m going to have to order it. So I go to the local hardware store and show the counterman my float.

And he returns in two minutes with a plastic replacement. I pay for the float and head home. A quick oil change and five minutes later, this 45 year old piece of lawn equipment is purring like a kitten, and tills my garden to a consistency approaching flour.

I have the original paperwork that accompanied this tiller, including a letter indicating the ship date signed by the manager of the company itself, sent to my uncle in September of 1967. he ordered it in August, sending a cashiers check for just over $300. Calvin farmed a 6 acre strawberry farm with this tiller until he died.

Every season I use this, I think about Calvin opening the crate and assembling it for the very first time. I try to take care of it the way he did.