Roto-Ruster

It's springtime in the northwest and that means time for gardening. Last week I tried to wheel our rototiller out of the shed. It was in neutral but the wheels wouldn't budge. I started the engine and tried to put it in gear but the gear shifter wouldn't budge either. Finally, I dragged it into the garage and took it apart. I knew it was a bad sign when, as soon as I broke the seal on the gear box, reddish brown water dribbled out onto the floor. It's not quite as bad as it looks. After I started wiping the rusty residue away from the various gears I found that most of them were in good shape. The sliding gear that actually transfers power was the worst. I scraped and filed and sanded and chiseled at it until the outer gear would slide freely. Then I cleaned out the old grease and packed all of the gears back in with new grease. It was then that I wished that I had been a little more methodical about organizing the various nuts, bolts and pieces when I was disassembling it. In spite of it all, I got it back together without serious mishap and, more importantly, without any leftover mystery parts. And amazingly enough, it actually works! I got the garden tilled and we'll be planting in no time. Anybody want some zucchini?