124 restore in southwest Ohio

[aclift]

Am considering restoring the family heirloom 124. But am not sure who locally is best to help. There is a Case IH implement dealership in town, and a few small engine repair. I expect willingness to help, but am worried their focus is just getting it running again. But they probably know someone local most experienced in Cub Cadets.

Goal is to do good job, but not a show model.

What are the recommendations for engine rebuild? And best place to get help on restoring the body?

Thanks,
Alan Clift
Eaton, OH

 

[kmcconaughey]

Alan, WELCOME!

Most if not all of the restoration/refurbs shown here are done by the owners. It's part of the fun doing it yourself. The engine rebuild is the one area that often get's farmed out. You might want to farm out a portion of the engine rebuild such as the machine work, boring/honing the cylinder, the valve seats and any regrinding of the crank journal. The chassis service manual the one named "1x4-5 Service Manual" can be downloaded from HERE There are plenty of forum members here that can help out along the way. Most of us learned how by just going for it. Be sure to take plenty of photos as you take it apart. It's a good idea to place the bolts in baggies with a label for what they are for. Same for some of the smaller parts. Hopefully some others will posts suggestions as well.

 

[jstertz]

Alan--Welcome to the forum!!! you came to the right place for information about restoring and maintaining your cub cadet. Please take time to browse the site especially the various restoration threads. It will give you a good idea what is involved in a refurbish/restoration project. There are men on this forum with expertise in a wide variety of fields pertaining to your cub from paint to mechanical to electrical and so on. This is a helpful community. Please post pictures of what you have as soon as possible so we can see what you are starting with and share the story how this machine is linked into your family. Who has owned and what they have all used it for. I look forward to following your progress. I ditto everything that Kraig said too!!!

 

[jchamberlin]

Alan: One thing I've learned reading this forum is to buy your pistons before-hand and bring them with you to machine shop in order to get the proper fit. The boring and honing can't (or shouldn't) be done to spec but to the actual piece part.

The work that most of us do to our Cub Cadets includes, but is not limited to:

1. Going through the steering to take out any play, which often includes replacing the ball joints, the axle pivot pin, rebuilding the steering gear, and repairing the spindle bolts and bushings.

2. Replacing worn clutch parts and springs, including the drive shaft and/or drive hubs and connectors as well as resurfacing the clutch face.

3. Tire replacement is always a utility/user taste & style issue; and front wheel bearings frequently need replacement.

4. Most of us repaint our tractors to make them look pretty.

5. Gear drives often need attention at the gear shift lever and sometimes the axle seals (something they share with the hydrostatic models).

6. The seat often needs replacement or repair.

After these items, it just depends on how far you want to take it, if you want to add attachments and IH accessories that the tractor may not have originally shipped with but that you always wanted.

The dealer can sometimes be a source of useful information and parts, but you often find better service and more knowledge from online retailers like the sponsors of this site. They can frequently source parts no longer carried by MTD or the CaseIH dealer. For instance, the sponsor of this site is the best available source of information on which belts fit your tractor and its attachments; check out Charlie's FAQs link from the FAQ link at the top of this page, it is VERY informative.

 

[aclift]

Thanks everyone for the feed back.

I can't post pictures for a few days, since am away from home. But will get them up when I do.

It was purchased used around 71 and worked hard for 7 years. House was located in the middle of 20 acresof woods, and the tractor mowed around 2 acres, hauled fire wood, cleared snow, and a long list of odds and ends. It looked the funniest moving 16ft camper trailers around the yard. My parents moved to town and it wasn't worked as hard afterwards. I think the last time it was running was about 10 years ago to roll yards.

I do plan on sending engine out for the rebuild. But am not sure if local machine shop is best bet, or better to find someone more specialize to avoid parts issues etc.

 

[jchamberlin]

Alan: Give Kirk Engines a call (see link above), he comes highly recommended, several forum members have availed themselves of his services. There is a link to the story of his "Killer Kohler" build on the "Bettern' New" modified page on this site.

Happy Cubbin'

 

[kmcconaughey]

Jeremiah, Alan, Kirk Engines does not offer rebuilds or machining as a service, though David has done a couple or three rebuilds for people but those were anomalies done on the side over a long period, fit in when he had time. (Basically winter projects over a couple of winters.) He might be able to recommend the shop(s) in the Wisconsin area that he has used for the machining but the cost to ship the block back and forth from Ohio would, I think, be prohibitive. Being one of the fortunate few that has an engine (or 2) that were rebuilt by David, I can say he does excellent work. I also have several of his Cub Cadet/Kohler related products on my Cubs, all high quality stuff.