I'm going to do this. It makes so much sense. I have the original fitting. I had it re-chromed last winter. I'll get some nice stainless carriage bolts and recess the nuts in the bottom of the tiller I'll live with the temp tiller until the end of the season (unfortunately pretty soon). My laminate has 11 layers at the butt end. A 1/2" bolt will go through 2 - 3 of the layers. Thanks for the excellent advise.