Troy built tiller again

I have a bad seal in the left side of the tines and need to replace it. the part number I can find is GW-
9618099. Is this a common seal? Am I better to find it local or order one one line? If you ordered one online
where is a good place to order from and did yours fit properly?. I have tilled about half of my garden back
where we are going to move back to. it is clay/rocky soil and the tiller works the best I have ever had.
the sticker for the transmission has the number 1239(73) on it, is this the model number? I know the build
date on the transmission casting is 5/13/73 so this tells me
how old this one is. Thanks for the help.

Frank

It is something you can find local. I have tried several types and brands and never could get those to hold up well. I even tried putting a felt packing in between the tine holder and case to keep dirt out. No luck !

Unless it's just completely gone, might want to fill it with corn head (simi-fluid) grease. Sometimes a loosing battle to keep seals in those.

troy built has a good parts supply online. i just ordered from them. they also have a tech support on line to help you to get the correct parts. troybuilt.com/parts

You probably already know this - there is a bronze gear in there that won't last very long without lube, and you won't notice it leaking in the tilled soil of your garden. I have a wrench that I keep hanging on the handlebars that fits the check plug on the gearbox, and I check the fluid level EVERY time I use it. I don't know yet how compatible the cornhead grease is to this bronze gear, but I've been using it for 3 or 4 years with no problem that I'm aware of. I can't keep the seals from leaking on my Troy-Bilt.

Terre Haute has a place that carries bearings and seals, mostly for commercial applications. I just take my seal there, let them measure it and out the door. I would measure the shaft size or take the shaft with you .

You can get the tine and axle seals in a variety of places, I've ordered mine directly from MTD, (see link below)

Cornhead grease is NLGI 0 grade

The third link is for Sta-Lube Hypoid SAE 140 (API GL 4) which is the correct lube for the troy bilt horse. It is compatible with non ferrous gears and similar components. This will not harm the expensive bronze worm gear and is what the tiller left the factory with, per the manual I have for my horse.

Cornhead grease is often used for applications where grade will not seep as much as 90 wt, ie; gearboxes on rotary cutters. I do not know if it is compatible with the bronze gear.
Seal

Cornhead Grease Specifications

Sta Lube

I've always had great luck with Amazon for parts. And if you're a Prime member, shipping is free and you get it in 2 days.
Seal On Amazon

I got my seal from eBay. Even original parts.
Good price.

That rear worm gear drive gets its oil from the main transmission case. Checking the oil in the rear gear box doesn't tell you how much is in the main gear box since the tiller is used and always tilted to the back. You also want to check with the engine off, how much movement/rotation the rear tine shaft has. If it has a lot of movement you need to buy shims for the rear cover on the very back of the rear gear box for the main worm gear shaft. This is a quick and important check. It tells you how much wear the inside parts have.
My dad had a Horse model years ago and that rear main shaft bearing went out. It had oil in too But too much excessive end play in the main shaft coming from the engine. This allows the worm gear to ride high on the mating gear on the tine shaft so then there is very little tooth contact between the gears. At that time the rear main shaft bearing was not sold seperately so Dad had to buy the whole shaft with both worm gears on it. I later pulled the bad bearing off and got a number off of it. But the worm gears on the shaft were bad anyway. I've rebuilt quite a few of them. There's a lot of shims throughout the transmission.