Went on a little road trip Sunday and "rescued" a Seamans tiller from its resting spot in the woods. After one front tire blew while adding air I was concerned it may be a chore to move it out from its temporary grave. Two diesel 4 wheel drive pickups were connected with strapes, one on each front corner and with a coordinated pull it popped out of it settled in resting spot. We towed it down a steep little crooked trail with three long chains in front to one truck to stay away from it and the second truck hooked behind to hold it back. All went good and we had it loaded and on the way home in about 2 hours. This evening I attempted to start the 4-71 for the first time in 5 years. It fires and runs at a very low idle and then slowly dies out. Give it a touch of starting fluid it will fire and run slowly for 30 seconds again. I will start at the fuel tank and go thru the fuel delivery system to insure its getting fuel to the injectors before I try any more. The engine sounds healthy and has good oil pressure so its just a matter of sorting out the fuel issue. I looked for a emergency shut off on the engine like our old 6-71 truck engines had but I can find none. Anyone know if there is one on these.
Interesting, never seen one before. Rick
The Detroits could be had either way, with or without the air shutoff. A word of well worn advice, disconnect the intake at the flat flange there and get the flex out of the way, keep a metal clipboard or some such piece of flat metal handy to slap over that intake flange should she decide to run away. Detroits seem prone to that, especially after setting a while. Looks pretty good for having had a long rest!
If you have not done so, change the fuel filter and strainer. (Path: tank to strainer to pump to filter to inlet on the head to return to tank) Make sure the filter housing are full of fuel and change the gaskets. Use a seal pick to make sure all of the old seal is removed. They get old and crack causing the engine to suck air and not run right. Good luck.
I hear you on the means for an emergency stop if it runs wild. In th second picture you cn see the intake hose hanging down near the blower. I have a piece of 8"board laying on the running board at the ready to cover the intake in case of a runaway. Might be a better idea to take the hose off completely. I will do that before I try it again. Other than I have to put the clutch back in, (The new one came with it) and weld up a couple spots on the tiller sheetmetal brackets that they tore pushing it around some time back, it looks to be in pretty good shape. I have the parts manual for the machine less engine, and the operations manual for the tiller itself, but I need the operators manual for the Seaman power unit. If anyone hears of one I am interested. Rick, These were used as a step up from mixing asphalt in place by added oil and blading it back and forth before the days of pavers. They are a heavy duty old bugger. It says in the operations manual if grinding brush with 3" or smaller stems it is best to just grind it up into fertilizer. Then it goes on to say that if you use it to try to grind larger stumps it will lead to a bad day with lots of cursing involved. It is hilarious the way the book is written.