Garden Tiller Maintenance

Check out this tiller maintenance schedule to keep your machine pristine

Proper tiller maintenance is essential to keeping your rototiller in good condition over the years. Know what to look for when you're doing tiller maintenance and repairs to determine if you need to make a simple adjustment or order new tiller parts for your machine.

	Before Each Use	After 2-hour Break in	Every 5 Hours of Use	Every 10 Hours of Use	Every 30 hours of use	See engine manual for freq.
Check motor oil level	X		X
Clean Engine	X
Check drive belt tension		X		X
Check nuts and bolts		X		X
Change motor oil		X		X
Check transmission gear oil		X			X
Lubricate tiller				X
Check tines for wear					X
Check air pressure in tires					X
Clean engine						X
Service air filter						X
Service the spark plug						X

Find tips for rototiller maintenance and repairs

Before starting and tiller maintenance, disconnect the spark plug wire.
When you check the belts, look for cracks or glazing of the "v" surfaces, or for areas missing pieces. This will mean you need to replace the belt.
If you don't check the nuts and bolts during tiller maintenance you could miss them coming loose and do greater damage to your machine.
Tiller maintenance for air filters and spark plugs should be done once a year. It is recommended you change these out, but if you don't use your tiller that often, you may be able to simply clean them at the end of the season.
Rocks in the soil can cause tiller parts to loosen and blades to dull. Check the tiller blades often to see if you need to repair or replace them.
Bent tiller tines mean you'll need to order replacements.
A good tip for tiller maintenance is to wash the tiller after each use to prevent rust. Remove grime and grease from the engine so you can locate leaks if they occur. Then make sure tiller parts are greased up again to prevent unnecessary rototiller repairs down the road.
If you need to purchase tiller parts, like a new filter, spark plug or blades, use the Part Finder from MTD to ensure you have the right equipment for your machine.