shadownowbot

Gilson Brothers Co. Was a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of outdoor power equipment and recreational equipment. It operated independently between its. An early Gilson Brother tiller brochure cover, believed to date back to the 1950s. In my opinion by the 1970's Gilson Brothers Company was producing outdoor power equipment with the best of them. The machines frequently featured robust cast iron components no doubt a hallmark extending back through the generations. The company seemed to be.

1. Gilson Brothers Tiller Manual
2. Gilson Brothers Rototiller

I bought a trailer load of small engine items, and among the lot were two old B&S 5hp powered tillers. One is a Huffy and the other is a Gilson Bros.

I believe both are 70's era 'American Iron'. I gave the Huffy to a guy who works for a friend of mine in an antique hot rod shop, and I kept the Gilson Bros. To make things interesting, and to make sure I don't leave too much non-functioning hardware laying around the shop, I challenged the guy to whom I gave the Huffy to a '70's Muscle Tiller Till-Off' in his garden patch, in which he'll pit the Huffy against the Gilson Bros.

'Orange Crush'. After a couple of hours poking around at the Gilson, I suspect the reason it went out of service was due to a bad idler pulley.

It looks like someone tried to rig something to make it work, 'cause it doesn't look like a stock idler pulley. Also, the belt that drives the reverse gear is missing, and I have no idea how to route that belt even if I had one. The model no. Of the Gilson Bros.

Is 7311C1 993. If anyone knows how I can obtain a schematic of this model with the part numbers, I would be much obliged. I tried a couple of Toro dealers today with no luck. (Lawn Boy bought Gilson in 1988.

Toro acquired Lawn Boy in 1989, I believe.). Welcome aboard jfenn.

I have an old Gilson Bro's rear tine tiller w/the B&S 5hp engine. I'll have to check to see what model it is, will do that over the weekend. The idler pulleys are the weak link on these tillers. I've replaced all of them atleast once if not twice.

Back when I worked it hard oin a large garden I'd get 3 - 4 seasons out of them. It's been awhile since I've ordered the pulleys. Still have the original belts, I think. The only other problem I had was I had to replace the starter clutch, other than that it's been a pretty hard worker for me. I'll check it out this weekend and post a pic or two on the belt routing as it's fairly complicated Dave. Heres some pics.

Pic 1 shows the tiller w/the belt guard on. Pic 2 shows the belt(s) and pulley(s) in neutral Pic 3 shows the belt(s) and pulleys with the drive wheels & tines engaged. Pic 4 shows the belt(s) and pulley(s) in the reverse or transport position. In this position you spin the handle around over the engine and pull back on the shifter and it drives the wheels but not the tines for transport. I rarely use this position as the shifter doesn't lock so you have to keep constant pressure on it while balancing the unit. I find that it's easier to just put the depth lever at it's highest position which will keep the tines elevated above the ground and just let it drive itself If yours is similar and you've got any other questions let me know.

Nice looking machine you've got there. Thank you very much for taking the time to take and upload those photos. Unfortunately, mine is nothing like yours. Fortunately, since I first posted, I located a dealer in Pennsylvania who had a microfiche of the parts schematic and was able to tell me how to route the reverse belt. It actually runs in a figure 8. If anyone needs info about this dealer, please send me a PM.

They were very helpful. I also learned why the idlers are the weak links. They do not have bearings. Instead, the idlers spin on bronze bushings. I'm in the process of hunting down some idlers of approximately the same dimensions as stock that spin on sealed bearings.

If I cannot find any, I can press out the bronze bushing and press in a 3/8' ID, 1-1/8' OD sealed bearing into the stock idlers, then make some spacers to align the idlers with the engine pulley. But once I do that, I'll have to change its name from Orange Crush to The Six Million Dollar Tiller, as I will have rebuilt it 'better than it was before.

Better, stronger, faster.' Heres some pics.

Pic 1 shows the tiller w/the belt guard on. Pic 2 shows the belt(s) and pulley(s) in neutral Pic 3 shows the belt(s) and pulleys with the drive wheels & tines engaged. Pic 4 shows the belt(s) and pulley(s) in the reverse or transport position. In this position you spin the handle around over the engine and pull back on the shifter and it drives the wheels but not the tines for transport.

I rarely use this position as the shifter doesn't lock so you have to keep constant pressure on it while balancing the unit. I find that it's easier to just put the depth lever at it's highest position which will keep the tines elevated above the ground and just let it drive itself If yours is similar and you've got any other questions let me know. DaveI just picked up a Gilson just like yours today for $30. Mine is currently not running so I have not figured out how it operates.

Mine doesn't seem to lock into reverse which from what you said seems correct??? I also see that the throttle says stop all the way up but mine has nothing that resembles a kill switch on anything associated with the throttle. The engine was off when I got it and the screw and tab that hooks the throttle cable on the carb are missing so I can't hook up the throttle.

The engine has weak spark, I cant actually see it jump the plug but I shocked myself once so I know it has some. It has brand new points and condenser but the gap was always closed. I adjusted the gap but it still has weak spark. My dad has a coil tester and boxes of parts from junked engines so I'll have to go over there tomorrow and see if I can round up a new coil. Tpournaras, the kill switch is actually the throttle when it's all the way in the slow/stop position. The throttle cable closes the contact to ground which grounds out the ignition.

It's mounted on the side of the engine. A weak spark can also be due to a bad capacitor (condensor), pitted points, loose connection and even loose/worn flywheel key. You may also want to clean the corrosion off of the permanent magnets mounted on the flywheel.

The coil could be bad too but I'd check everything else too as they're cheaper Reverse is provided by the reverse pulley on the gearbox mounted on the B&S PTO side. The levers/idler pulleys depress the drive belt against this reverse spinning pulley to drive the wheels in reverse. And as you discovered the control lever does not lock in this position. Other than those belt pulleys my tiller has worked out pretty well. I've been working it going on 17 yrs or so now, bought it used. This model tiller is just your basic rear tine tiller and the tines only spin fwd. If you try to take too big a bite out of hard soil it'll take off with you same w/hitting a rock or similar.

Even at that it's alot easier to work than a front tine tiller Any questions or pics needed just let me know. Heres some pics. Pic 1 shows the tiller w/the belt guard on. Pic 2 shows the belt(s) and pulley(s) in neutral Pic 3 shows the belt(s) and pulleys with the drive wheels & tines engaged. Pic 4 shows the belt(s) and pulley(s) in the reverse or transport position. In this position you spin the handle around over the engine and pull back on the shifter and it drives the wheels but not the tines for transport. I rarely use this position as the shifter doesn't lock so you have to keep constant pressure on it while balancing the unit.

I find that it's easier to just put the depth lever at it's highest position which will keep the tines elevated above the ground and just let it drive itself If yours is similar and you've got any other questions let me know. Dave I have the exact same tiller according to appearances and am having some problems. The customer brought it to me in parts and i had to order a couple of the missing idler pulleys, find out how the belts are routed and STILL do not seem to have the right size belts. I also need to know what the large bolt is for that is located behind the handle. It appears to adjust the tension of the shift lever but there is no difference when I screw it in or out. The original engine was frozen up and i took an old go kart engine, B&S Fun Power 5 hp, that fits to a T, and the tiller refuses to dig. When the tines are lowered into the dirt, they stop moving and the belt just spins.

Could you send me the belt sizes and or numbers and any other info you may have on the tiller. It is Western Auto Model GIS 2120-A97 and SN 597. Thanks a million. I got one of these yesterday with the agreement that if i fixed it and got it running, i could use it to till up my garden. Serial # 2 it appears that the pick up tube is not sucking any gas. It runs fine when spraying fuel into the carb but will not stay running.

I've already had the tank/carb off and cleaned and inspected things, did not see anything obvious. The fuel tank looked pretty dirty/or/rusty though, rinsed that out a few times. I couldn't figure out how the pick up tubes are held in the carb. I tried screwing one out and it didn't look like it was coming out, but did spin.

I took apart the fuel pump thing and inspected the diaphragm, it looked solid and was still flexible. If anyone has any info on the carb, please post it up. I have the exact same tiller according to appearances and am having some problems.

The customer brought it to me in parts and i had to order a couple of the missing idler pulleys, find out how the belts are routed and STILL do not seem to have the right size belts. I also need to know what the large bolt is for that is located behind the handle. It appears to adjust the tension of the shift lever but there is no difference when I screw it in or out.

The original engine was frozen up and i took an old go kart engine, B&S Fun Power 5 hp, that fits to a T, and the tiller refuses to dig. When the tines are lowered into the dirt, they stop moving and the belt just spins.

Could you send me the belt sizes and or numbers and any other info you may have on the tiller. It is Western Auto Model GIS 2120-A97 and SN 597. Thanks a million. Billthe drive belt is 3/8th by 44.5 (thats what the old one measured.) i just picked up a V-belt thats 44' long, a little bit smaller holding them side by side but i'm sure the old belt is probably stretched a bit. I have been 'trolling' this forum for a while and just joined MTF this morning.

I recently purchased this 1978 Gilson rear tine tiller and I need to track down some information on belts. First pictures. My questions are: 1) Has anybody actually measured the following part numbers on a belt measuring 'apparatus'? 2) Does anybody genuinely know the lengths and widths of these belts?

Here are the OEM belt numbers: Traction drive belt: 200555 Tine drive belt: 200554 Measuring the pulleys with a string does not work well as belts are measured on the wide/top surface and merely a string around the pulleys just gets you 'in the ballpark'. I'm sorry if I missed some information that might have been already posted on this sight, but, I have searched diligently and only came up with info that tranks posted 5/21/11 (see above). He bought a 3/8 X 44' traction belt.

Gilson Brothers Tiller Manual

I have been awaiting a follow-up post to see how it worked to no avail. I did receive a copy of the owners manual printed in 1977 from Toro but they only give part numbers and not lengths. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

If anybody would like parts diagrams/descriptions of this tiller, I would be more than happy to scan and e-mail them. Toro supplied some extremely clear and detailed diagrams. Just let me know via P.M. Hello Doug B from another newby. Two winters ago I bought a Gilson Swing Arm Tiller, also a 1978.

It was missing the engine, belts, etc. I found a 5hp Tecumseh with the needed dual shaft and was able to scale the correct pulley sizes off a diagram from Gilson. I found the belt size by cutting old belts to size and taking them to be sized. This seemed to work reasonably well. Although the tines still do a little slipping when I hit clay. The belt numbers you listed are both 46'. That seems to be right since the tine drive belt I have installed is 47' and as noted, slips, even with the adjustment all the way out.

Gilson Brothers Rototiller

The traction belt is a mystery thou. My research would suggest this belt should be a double 'V'. Currently I have a 54' 3/8 standard 'V', but, the tight reverse bends in the belt have caused major cracking. Any Ideas on belts would be great. Model 7 S/N 8040C1 208.