RIP - Smokey

[Speedbag]

Today my friend Smokey died. 

Smokey was a vintage Ariens garden tiller of undetermined age. My guess is that he was old, as he possessed no safety guards or equipment of any kind, nor did he have evidence of ever having any. I obtained him over a decade ago for the always great price of free, and used him to churn up the garden in the spring and fall.

Known by other names such as 'That Goddamned Tiller' or 'The Orange Piece of Shit', his official moniker stuck due to his thirst for straight 50 weight oil. Once started and running, Smokey would emit plumes of blue smoke rivaling that of most 2-stroke snowmobiles or motorcycles, ensuring a bug-free tilling experience as long as there was a slight breeze at your back to keep you out of the cloud.

'Once started and running' is a key phrase to describe him. Smokey's seriously clapped-out 5HP Briggs and Stratton pulled over like the spark plug wasn't even there, and each use required a thorough plug cleaning and at least three or four good shots of starting fluid combined with very precise throttle and choke settings and dozens of pulls. In case the smoke wasn't a good enough indication to the neighborhood that he was back in action, the clatter from the crankcase and the rusted-out shell of a muffler was. But he would always start and perform, despite my under-the-breath mutterings that he would toss his connecting rod sooner or later.

Today I invested roughly a half hour to stir him from his summer slumber, roughly the same amount of time necessary to complete the task of pulverizing my meager garden plot. And, finishing the last row of the garden, Smokey's engine belched a righteous, firebally BANG from his perforated muffler and clattered to rest, never to start again.

Rest in peace, Smokey.



(anybody got a horizontal shaft Briggs laying around that they don't want?)

[Grampa]

I got's me a dead tiller in the yard too.

I cant find a replacement carb for it.

[red baron]

 

RIP Smokey

[mitt]

they don't make em like they used to..

rip

mitt

[Got Duc]

Damn!

RIP trusty steed.

Get a Troy bilt as a replacement (after the pain is gone) you won't be disappointed.

[Howie]

Poor Smokey   RIP

I use a much more basic tool to till the earth, a shovel

[Buckethead]

Gotta love the "common sense" approach to safety. 

He's in a better place now. At least I presume you took him to the dump.

[Speedbag]

He's in a better place now. At least I presume you took him to the dump.

Oh, no. He's back in the garden shed waiting for his engine swap. 

[akmnstr]

Oh, no. He's back in the garden shed waiting for his engine swap.  Grin

There ya go.  Don't let him Die.   

I picked up a tiller at a garage sale years ago.  It didn't run so I got a short block, rebuilt Tecumseh and got it running. 
It wasn't much for safety features either and many components were from a different engine so it's performance was, at best,
funky.  I always took great pride in my tiller though.  I had taken a piece of crap, got it to work, and then grew my own food. 
That's what happens when you combine a motor-head and a greeny eco freak, ya get vegetables with motor oil.   

[akmnstr]

That is a thing of beauty

[Buckethead]

Oh, no. He's back in the garden shed waiting for his engine swap. 

Even better! He's on indefinite convalescent leave while he's on the organ-donor waiting list.

[herm]

i confess i was expecting a much different topic here,........

[TiNi]

me too 

[akmnstr]

i confess i was expecting a much different topic here,........

me too 

Yeah but, in these troubled times, wasn't this a pleasant surprise

And what about that photo of that piece of industrial art, truly a classic. 

Speedbag, got any more photos of the tiller, one just ain't enough.  Maybe one from ground level.  But
nothing that would embarrass smokey   

[Got Duc]

So technically he didn't die he is just getting a bypass