HEY ALL,
First off, let me say that I haven't been around tractors much. Most of my life was consumed by working on guns, for the last 30 years or so, I have been a gunsmith.
But up until my neighbor gave me my 1450, I've never even owned a tractor, let alone worked on one.
I will say that everything that I have accomplished so far on my 1450, I have gleaned from this forum.I read with much interest, posts on the Quietline series of tractors by Richard C. and all that he does to his.
I used his posts as a guide in trying to fix what 30 years of hard service can do to this wonderful machine.
I did the rail mount modification, and installed new iso-mounts, rebuilt the steering sector and did the ugrades. I replaced the couplers and both front and rear drive shaft bushings. Cleaned up all the electrical connections and replaced all of the switches, points, condenser, coil, plug and plug wire.
Rebuilt the carb, welded up the trunion bracket, and put in new springs and buttons.
I also replaced the brake pads.
After I changed the oil, and Hytran and filter, I was feeling pretty pleased with all that I had accomplished on my own.
I was in the process of adjusting the brakes and hydro linkage before I put the sheet metal back on. Got the brakes adjusted, then worked on the Hydro linkage. I got those accomplished and noticed that the hydro lever didn't return to neutral, so was working on that.
I was having a hard time with getting the clevis to turn because of rust and old paint on the threaded portion of the rod.I put more pressure on the clevis trying to get it to turn. And the cross pin that rides in the cam slot on the other end came out.
I took the cam end apart and put everything back in place.
I finally got the lever to come pretty close to neutral when you step on the brakes, so figured that was as good as it was gonna get with a worn cam and linkage.
I put all the sheet metal back on, and decided to fire her up and see what all this effort had accomplished.
I turned the key and lo and behold she whirred faster than I ever heard her do before! On the second revolution the engine came to life, and idled contently.
I do not know whether or not I outwardly smiled or not, but I was definately smiling on the inside!
I opened up the doors to the shed and pushed the lever forward and gave her some throttle and out we went.
With the phrase in the FAQ'S on changing the hydro fluid that states "pop a wheelie"
floating around in the back of my mind, I was amazed at how responsive this tractor had become!
I was turning laps around the driveway. The steering was easier and the brakes literally would almost throw you off if applied too fast!
I took her over to a hill side and drove right up with out having to move the lever up like I used to, then I applied the brakes and even on that hill they held!
Well,I was pretty full of my self and my great Cub abilities at that point.
That is where the Cub Gods decided I needed humbled.
Feeling pretty smug about things, I turned the ole girl towards the shed, punched the throttle up to full and did the same with the speed control.
We were motoring along at a good clip, and when we got to the entrance of the shed, I thought I could just step on the brakes and she would stop on a dime, just like she did not more than a couple of minutes ago. Right?
Wrong!!
I stepped on the brakes just as I came to the door, and it felt as if something was fighting against the pedal. I could feel the brakes being applied, but it wasn't slowing down!
At the last second I turned the wheel to avoid my tools and turned off the ignition, but it was already too late.
I took the side wall of the shed with a BOOM!!
I got off the tractor, and ran out in front to see what damage was done to the object of my obsession for the last month or so.
The tractor was unhurt, save for a little paint
knocked off that heavy built front lower grille.
The only thing that was really damaged was my pride... and my Granddaughter's new bicycle. The bicycle was probably what saved the tractor and the wall. It slowed down the tractor cushioned the blow.
The after crash evaulation revealed to me what happened. when I was turning that clevis and the cross pin turned out of the slot, the cam got bent ever so slightly that I didn't recognize that it was bent. That bent cam and the worn slot allowed the linkage to slip out again, probably when I came back to the shed at full throttle, on the rough pasture, it slipped or bounced out of the slot. giving me no control over the hydro that was in full speed ahead position.
SO, now I have to spend some of the Cub funds to buy a new bike.
Wonder if I can find one in yellow and white?
Anyone here ever had one of these days?