Has anyone cut the plate on a tiller enough to pull the motor and clutch without having to pull the entire assembly, handle and all? Got to pull it all, remove the clutch and then remove the motor from the plate. Seems it would save time if you could just disconnect power, ground and gas and pull motor and clutch...

So you want to cut a hole big enough in the top plate for the clutch to fit through?

What ya got going on?

Yea, thinking about it... Cutting a new one first if nobody's tried it before.

Case gasket is bad enough im adding oil now. Pulled it yesterday and noticed what you gotta go through...

The more I looked at the hundred pics you sent me, the more I think it will work. The only thing that is in the back of my mind is once the hole is cut, would it put stress on these spots with the motor torque.
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But like you said, when I pull my block, might fire up the miller and cut a bigger hole in that bitch.

Worth a shot, could always replace that plate if it don't work. Lots of things are overkill when it comes to strength, maybe this is one of them and I'm sure PD has tried it, or maybe not. It would be easier not to mess with everything if you just want to work on the power head.

You still have to remove the clutch to replace the case gasket

Is the drawing of the proposed cutout close to actual size? If so, I think you have enough plate left to not cause integrity issues.
Where's bayouboy??


Jesse
27 PD FPR 16x36 skiff - aka - DITCH WITCH

no, just to give an idea.

There's only 4 small bolts (13mm head and nut) holding the power head to that plate. Then there are the 4 big bolts holding the top plate to the bottom plate. Structurally, I don't think there will be an issue. The hole for the clutch will take out the middle but leave webbing between the bolts. When I get home today, I'll lay out the hole and snap a photo to get a better idea.

Those that are familiar know the two long bolts that hold the clutch still is how big that side of the clutch is, maybe not cur a straight clear path but big enough to be able to tilt the motor to get the front "lip" of the clutch out...

just thinking out loud right now.

Step back a little:

1-How often will you be pulling the power head?
2-How much time will you spend modifying the plate with the potential of structural problems down the road?
3-Given 1 and 2 is it worth your time and the risk?

I'd pull it once a year if it were as easy as I want it to be just to clean out the tower and check things out. The first time I pulled it the splines on the collar was so rusted it had to be replaced. I put grease down there now on top of the upper tower seal to keep junk from building up directly on the seal..

As far as the plate, I'd get a new one cut and keep this one, if it ever gave a problem, just swap it back.

Thinking out loud...asking if anybody else ever thought about, will I do it? Probably not.