OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Tip & Curb Side Finds Old Rotary Hoe

Hi guys...Picked this old rotary hoe up at the tip on the weekend, Not had a good look at it yet but looks old...
The Honda is definitely not the original engine Id say...The hole thing does not look like it has been running in the last 30 years lol...

And a question for Grumpy What kind of Honda is it? as Ive not had one like this before, are parts hard to get as Id like to get it up and running.....
Yeah also got an old 160cc Victa utility as well...Cheers Chris

Here is the specification sheet for that Honda G42:


As you can see it is one of the older Honda side valve engines, from before they began naming them by capacity in CCs (it is 170cc). Those old engines had their supporters, and were well regarded in their day. You can look at the Illustrated Parts List, and still get some parts for it, from US dealers such as this:
http://www.ereplacementparts.com/ho...ine-parts-c-37657_37658_37986_37771.html

When you know what you want I suggest you begin by contacting the ODK On-Line Store.

The model was introduced in 1975, and probably became obsolete when the G150 and G200 were introduced about 1988.

Thank you Grumpy for the very useful information on the G42 Honda,Ive had a good look at this G42 and apart from a stuck exhaust valve from sitting so long it all looks good to go...Also I cleaned up the (very old) Albion 3 speed gearbox and the little I know about them thanks to Google it also seems in great shape as does the cork clutch...Also with this gearbox I dont need to worry about a pull start as it has this feature built into the gearbox just pull the handle to start (when this gearbox was fitted to an old motorcycle it would of had a kick start in place of the long pull handle as this one has)This gearbox was used in all kinds of machines way back when with the little I know about them..

It's old enough to be well worth resuscitating, chris, and to my inexpert eye it looks as if you are doing an impressive job. I'm not sure I'd recommend using it seriously for its intended purpose though, not because it won't stand up, but because I think it would be a problem to obtain most of the parts.

I agree Grumpy ,but its such a well made/solid machine and Ive not found any faults with it as yet( not 100% sure but I think it had a villiers engine originally?)...
I only have about a 6m x 6m veggie garden so it wont be working that hard,I guess time will tell if it holds up but Im pretty confident it will at this stage...Am going for a little more modern look with the John Deere yellow and green....

Every time I look at chris125's work it makes me want to do the same. Be encouraged mate.

Thanks Christo, I only do things on the cheap really with my restore work,and even though I have access to the family bizness(nothing to do with spray painting) 10k screw compressor and more air than I could ever use....
Im more than happy to never pick a paint gun up lol,as I get really good results out of the spray can and no need for clean up and such at the end ..And yes I hate rust and its why I paint bolts with a light coat of Hammertown or silver metallic paint to keep rust at bay I don't like using silver frost spray paint as fuel and degreaser will wash it clean off most the time ..
Also I use everything I restore no matter the weather(even if its raining)lol .....
One day Id like to send bolts and such off to get replated when I get better at restoring things....Cheers Chris

As always, I love ya work mate!
The gearbox looks fantastic, and the John Deere green and yellow will really suit this hoe to a tee!

I doubt you'd cause it any wear or grief by tilling an established veggie plot Chris. I've seen other light-medium rotary hoes get traumatised when they hit rocks or buried rubble in hard ground, especially when they were being used commercially so that happened to them 50 times a day, but compacted clean soil is a walk in the park for that grade of machine. (Solid clay is a much bigger ask, but still rather mild compared with solid, well-consolidated clay that has concrete rubble in it.) In your position, if it were my own garden that I knew had been tilled over to full depth previously, I'd use it. The trap comes when a friend or neighbour wants you to till his back yard that still has the builder's rubble under it, though of course he swears it hasn't. Or much worse, he wants to borrow your machine to do it himself.

My yard has anything from 10cm over concrete rubble, to 20cm over some kind of stone. I can just cut the stone to 4 or 5 cm depth with a wild mattock-stroke, but since it is mostly more than 30 cm thick, realistically it is probably beyond most back-hoes, even with tiger-teeth on the bucket. It's jackhammer country. I'd hate to see your nice classic machine exposed to that kind of thing.

Regarding lending of your lawnmower, blower, chainsaw etc., there is an old adage that goes " You never lend your lawnmower, power equipment or your wife, because if you do, they will all come back in the same condition....Well and truly .......!

Grumpy no need to worry as my veggie plot has taken me years to establish the soil,it should be a walk in the park for this old Rotary hoe....
Makes me cringe to think of someone tilling hard pack clay soil with concrete rubble and such as you say some do ,sounds like a good way to destroy any machine new or old.....

oh yeah excluding the Honda,the rest of the old hoe does not have any bearings as I know them lol...It's all old school brass bush type stuff....
Lucky all brass bushes are soiled with no play so I should get a few more years work out of the old girl,that is if the old Honda holds up ....

The bronze bushes can work very well if you lubricate the machine regularly. They are often designed so that the grease that enters through the grease nipples can only get out by passing through the small clearance between the bush and shaft, forcing out the old dirty grease as they do so. Just check as you go, though. Traditionally such machines has no grease seals, which was fine as long as you greased them regularly, but awful otherwise. Later ones had grease seals installed backwards, so that grease pressure lifted the lip and allowed the dirty grease to pass through. However, I once had a Japanese scooter that had the seals in the "right" way around. First time I greased the front hub, both seals popped out. Irritating.

Hit my first hurdle, even though I've been working away at this nut for days it gave up the ghost and snapped . I guess my best bet is to weld in a new bolt and cut a new thread in the old nut to match as Id like to keep the old nut....

The nut was frozen onto the stud. It needed to be freed up by soaking in Penetrene for days, rather than just repeatedly wiggled back and forth, which has fatigued the stud until it broke.

Can we see the far side of the object the stud is screwed into please? It is possible that what has broken is a bolt rather than a stud, and it has a bolt head on the far side. If so the situation can still be remedied, provided you soak it in Penetrene before you go any further. If you don't soak it, you'll probably break off the bolt head as well, and make the situation worse.

Thanks for your help grumpy , I had been soaking it with WD for days and when I was working at it maybe heat would have helped. Its a welded in bolt

I agree that cutting off the weld and bolt-head with an angle grinder may be the easiest way to go, chris. The alternative seems to be to drill axially through the bolt-head and then tap it so you can screw in a stud.

In my view WD40 is a lousy penetrating agent. You might try soaking the nut in Penetrene for a day or two, then clamping the stump of the bolt in the vise and having a try at unscrewing the nut. If you don't get it to move, 20 cycles of heating it to dull red and letting it cool, then another soak, might do it. Other people will have favourite solutions that are worth considering also.

Hi Chris,
I have to agree with grumpy here that Penetrene is the way to go. CRC and WD 40 are good products for displacing water, fixing squeaking hinges etc but not for penetrating stubborn rusty threads. A good long soak with Penetrene will often do the trick easily.

A little bit of grease or anti-seize on those threads by the previous owner would have been a good idea.

I find in these situations, heat is your friend.
Soaking is good, but for those real stubborn areas, heating and cooling is the way to go.

Hi Murray,
I agree mate, heat is your friend, but there are some situations and areas on machines where you can't use heat, in that case Penetrene is a safe way round it.