Howard Rotavator

I bought the tiller "barginday".When I first drug it home,I had a piece of field disced and the original launch showed promise. In loose material this thing will shred anything. I could not hold the travel speed. We are marginal farmers. My big tractor is a MM Jet star 3 that's really tired. I figure it's 45 hp. I'm assuming I'm underpowered. The low range in the jet star is obviously not a straight gear reduction like those described in some of the posts I read. When I got the extension arms welded on the second voyage was somewhat disappointing. I did get the shaft lenght right. the pitch of the arms needs to be adjusted to allow me to carry the unit higher off the surface. At the moment my draft drops at the bottom of the range and alows the tiller to full depth.This kills the engine. I read about the possibility of adjusting the the slip bolts on the clutch.Not sure this might not help, I'm sure the clutch is frozen at this point. I also read and thought before that maybe I could finesse a 2or 3" cut and make several passes to get to full depth. Problem is, I can't hold the wieght at the bottom of the hydraulic. It's not in the lift cause she'll hold the weight 10" off the ground, all day. I've got the lift point to low. In any case, in unbroken earth, the tiller pushes the tractor too fast or kills the engine if you try to hold the tractor with the brake and engage any depth.

I'm hoping one of you guys can offer some advice on a couple of questions. 1.) Is there anywhere else to look for a model number? 2.) Does anybody have a book or how to get to one? 3.) are the follower wheels supposed to be fixed or "stopped"? mine travel up and down along the slides. I'm thinking some of my depth control may be connected to the lack of some axel action that the wheels are supposed to provide? Maybe not. 4.) I'm sure my tines are worn out. I don't have any idea what they looked like new. Would new tines help me with depth? or hurt? 5.) Does anyone have an economical source for tines? 6.) If I removed say, two rows of tines to reduce effort needed, does anyone think I can slow this mother down and get it to till with my Jetstar? 7.)Any advice on how to go about freeing and setting the proper adjustment on the clutch? 8.) I'm thinking I will eventually try to hunt a Case 930 or 1030 to handel this beast. 9.) Does anyone have a photo of the upper structure of the factory three point set up they could send? My upper three point is a colage of shop scrap that has not performed as hoped by the original fabricator.

Basically, I need help. Any and all information would be appreciated. I would love to get this thing to work as I know it can. I just don't have any idea what it looked like when it was complete, what's missing, or how to set it up for proper operation. Thanks

Steve
Howard USA
Bloomington, IL
Phone 309-820-1090 Ext. 110

First off "HR" is only half of the model designation. For instance, it could be an HR20?? HR30??, HR40?? or any of several others....

For a rotavator eight feet wide, you need 80 plus pto hp for it!!! More will be better!

"Select-a-tilth" means you have a multi speed gear box on it!! This is good! It also means you can change the rotor speed by switching the gears around inside the gear box. The back cover comes off and you change the gears around to change the speed. Putting it on the LOWEST rotor speed will take LESS power to run it!

"If" it has side wheels, these are what you ajust up and down to ajust tiller depth.

Normally HR models have 6 tines per flange. There are holes for more, but 6 is the normal number. Also they are bolted on there in a pattern, not random... You can take some off and it will take less power to run it, but 45 pto hp just isn't enough for this rotavator!!

I use my 6 foot Howard with my AGCO 45 pto hp tractor and do a LOT of custom rotavateing with it. I've made more $$ with this combo than with any of the 3 rotavators i own. It works very well...

Here's a pict of my HR30 80" that also got plenty of use this summer...

Robert

Hope this helps Dave

I'm not sure where you came to that conclusion, but think about it.....

Gearing "anything" higher requires more power to run it. I can put a rotavator in a field with a tractor that's a bit undersized for the rotavator. Then start changeing the gears in the gear box and you can watch the temp of the tractor go up every time i gear it up, to the point the tractor won't have enough power to run it without lugging.

The slowest tine speed requires less power.

This isn't BS, anyone can stop by my farm and i'll show them so they can see for themselves.

Opening the back door does take LESS power, but unless your in a garden or sand you may not like the job it does...

I rotavate comercially in a fifty mile radius around my farm, and i run into different conditions all the time. When you do this for a liveing for a few years you learn fast that different soil, moisture content ect.. changes everything.

A tiller in a sandy spot doesn't take much power, put that same tiller in a muck field with damp soil and you'll over heat that same tractor.

Personally, i believe the origional poster has "too small of a tractor" and all he's going to do is trash it trying to make it work with this rotavator.

Robert

Dave

I think what "i" missed in your post was, your compareing two different ground speeds along with two different rotor speeds and depths.

Anyway, i hear you guys in the UP grow potatoes that are hard as rocks!! I knew a guy one time that spent some time up there in the "crow bar motel" and that's what he was telling me.

Next time your headed to lower Mi. send me an email and stop by, we can solve all our rotavator problems.... :>)

Robert

Dave

Howard used several different designs for ajusting the depth of there rotavators. Mine does NOT use hydraulic cylinders, it uses what "looks like" a screw jack to ajust them. You turn the crank on top, and the guage wheels go up or down...

Here's a pict. of the gear box on my HR30 "open".

Robert

I"ve done my time in the machine shop long enough to know when I"m asking for everthimg iron can give on the margins. I asked for help and some good souls tried. The attitude that reads through is counter productive to the spirit here at YT in my experience.

Who cares if your the smartest guy that ever sat on a tractor, if nobody wants to talk to you because you sound like a know it all? Long before I learned to understand steel, I learned how to be courteous.

The smartest guys I ever learned anything from were, to a man, sharp, kind, and courteous to "less informed". Ignorance ain't a sin. Education cures it. I don't know about arrogance. Wisdom is not a weapon, it"s a gift. It ain"t worth nothin" until you give it away! Thanks for your contribution. Here's mine.

I"ve done my time in the machine shop long enough to know when I"m asking for everthimg iron can give on the margins. I asked for help and some good souls tried. The attitude that reads through is counter productive to the spirit here at YT in my experience.

Who cares if your the smartest guy that ever sat on a tractor, if nobody wants to talk to you because you sound like a know it all? Long before I learned to understand steel, I learned how to be courteous.

The smartest guys I ever learned anything from were, to a man, sharp, kind, and courteous to "less informed". Ignorance ain't a sin. Education cures it. I don't know about arrogance. Wisdom is not a weapon, it"s a gift. It ain"t worth nothin" until you give it away! Thanks for your contribution. Here's mine.

Good luck,

Bill