Archive through October 29, 2009

[dfrisk]

JERRY M. - IMHO (Kendell will disagree with Me and tell You to get a Hydro!

But on a "Working tractor" I wouldn't worry about the top shaft. Unless You really weight up Your tractor, way over 1000#, and are on really good footing with chains or lugged tires on packed dirt You can't put 15 HP to the ground. MWSC does offer a alloy steel top shaft that's much stronger than the OEM shaft but I don't think it's needed unless You hurt Your existing shaft.

I've had My 72 with the "Killer K321" spinning both rear wheels all the way across My concrete driveway in 2nd gear. I have about 65-70# of weights per rear wheel on 23-8.50 Firestone's. And the transmission & rearend are Just as IH shipped them back in 1968. I did rebuild the reduction unit back in about 1990, new rear needle bearing & drive pinion, & seals & gaskets & brake pucks, and also replaced the factory rear axle carriers with the bushings with carriers from a 123 with needle bearings on the outboard ends about 3-1/2 yrs ago.

But Yes, the top splined shaft is the weak link, but it's more than up to the task of pushing snow, plowing at PD's. The roll pins in the rear coupler joining the driveshaft to the reduction pinion should shear before shaft twists, or the clutch will slip.

 

[kide]

Dennis:
New faces, old topics...
Gear drives are OK - my first work was on a NF (coulda been an "O", but I think more like a 100), I'm lazy..and it seems like most of the things I do with the Cub require a lot of back and forth - hmmm, I guess I could use a gear drive with the flat belt PTO to drive a buzz rig..wait - rotation's backwards...

I've got to put some 129 footage up on Yoootoobe - I left it idling yesterday while loading apples to dump back in the woods and it sat there shaking like a wet dog drying off...really - the front wheel bearings aren't THAT loose, but you coulda made a milkshake on it.

I remember the first time putting the anti-rattle springs in the PTO-it wasn't real clear in my mind what they were supposed to be doing, and after the third reassembly, I think they disappeared into the parts drawer..that may be about the time I decided that a few broken tabs on the driven disk were OK, too....

 

[kmcconaughey]

Kendell, regarding the lugs on the front PTO, the <FONT COLOR="ff0000">I</FONT><FONT COLOR="000000">H</FONT> service manual states:

 

[rstreeter]

Thanks for the responses, on starting i use maybe a 1/10 of choke and throttle and is really easy to flood (soaking wet spark plug) maybe a little rich in the mixture? I will get some pics soon on the pedal mod(it seems to work well,i might add a block to the front as it is a bit of a reach with the foot under full acceleration) Can i use the rear wheels if i fill them with the RV antifreeze mix and use the chain (we can get a foot a night where we live) and i will post some more pics of the snow blade set up as i have some questions about how to set it up right(it doesn't have the locking button and just holds itself in place with weight)i am hoping to get some lights for it to. Told you i had some questions.Rory

 

[jmuncie]

Okay, I'm feeling better about my plan now. I'm going to be switching the 126 from it's current 23-8.50 ags to 23-10.50 ags and the wheel weight setup I have planned will allow me to stuff up to 100 lbs inside each wheel without the weights protruding. I'll have plenty of bite, but it's not for hard pulling. I use a Trac-Vac to cut alfalfa, grass, leaves, etc. for garden mulch and I have to pull up some grades. When the trailer's about half full it lifts on the drawbar because the trailer loads from the rear forward. I have trouble with tire slippage when climbing with the trailer if the ground is the least bit damp--bad enough that I have to back down. Most severe usage will probably be pulling a disk plow after I build one. Also wanting to build a front mounted flail mower which will need the wheel weights for counterbalance. Jerry

 

[snicklas]

Jeff Baker,

That is a 42" blade and that blade will fit the subframes for a NF and a WF Cub Cadet.

The subframe does appear to have the bent upswept rear to the "forks" at the back. If it is indeed upswept as it appeard, it is a wideframe undercarrage, looks just like the one I have for my 1450. The NF undercarrage the bars going toward the rear are straight. The WF bend up and in as they go back from the blade...

 

[kmcconaughey]

Rory, the blade lift setup on your 125 is certainly, umm, interesting. Rather then the cable/pulley setup, the lift should be a 1/2" diameter solid rod. Do a search of the forum using "ramming speed", with the quotes and you'll get a bunch of hits on Steve Blunier's techniques of measuring for the proper length of a lift rod and for making a heavy duty lift rod. If the button is broken off on the lift handle that can be tricky to repair, lots of good quality penetrating oil, PB Blaster, Kroil or some other good brand, NOT WD-40. Then time to let it work, you might end up having to remove the lift arm and rock-shaft from the tractor and tip it upside down to get the penetrating oil where it needs to go. You might even have to replace the lift arm rock-shaft setup with one from a parts tractor, but it's worth the time to try to remove that broken button. Lots of people use RV antifreeze in the rear tires for weight, be sure to use an inner tube to prevent rust on the inside of the rim and to prevent flat tires due to breaking the bead.

 

[dfrisk]

JERRY - I have a home-made lawn vacuum patterned off a Trac-Vac. Maybe I can ask KRAIG real nice to post a pic of it off His computer. While cleaning the shop yesterday I also found my old Trac-Vac brochure from 12-13 yrs ago when I was building it. I made my blower unit "semi-mounted" to the tractor so as the cart fills back to front the cart plays with the weight of the blower, not the tractor. The blower unit is pretty heavy, has a K181 Kohler for power, and the blower is 16" dia and 5 or 6 in wide. Main reason for the semi-mounted design was so the cart trails exactly behind the tractor, in the same tire tracks in fact. Allows Me to trim around all my trees real easy.

When the cart gets full it gets HEAVY, those leaves & clippings settle and pack in really good.
Think it was 5-6 yrs ago when I was vacuuming up leaves I decided it was time to re-power the old 72, the K241 just seemed to struggle ALL the time with the vac. After the K321 was installed I ran the vac a couple times in just tall grass and dried clippings, Biggest problem I had was telling when the mule drive belt was slipping, Belt finally failed and the new belt seems to pull MUCH better.

KENDELL - To add to Kraig's post of the PTO service manual those PTO clutches don't work well when the friction disc break into two pieces. Seems like it was 25 yrs ago there was a change in the material to make them harder but more brittle for a short period of time and they broke. After extended use it seems like the PTO "Basket" grows larger in diameter and the plated rattle more. I guess IH didn't intend for these little tractors to still be running after 40-50 yrs!

 

[kmcconaughey]

 

[kide]

Amazing what we'll go to to avoid raking

On the PTO (and lots of other Cub related areas), I had to learn all this stuff the hard way - no web site, no forum, just the owner manuals, a repair manual I conned a L&G dealer out of and a good parts guy at our old line IHC/Case/Cub Cadet (as time went by) dealer. One of the reasons I get a "little" impatient at times is there seems to be a lot of jump on the keyboard, rather than use a little common sense, but then I only seem to remember what I learned the hard way - busted knuckles and all..

Dennis:
Did you fab that blower? I was surprised at how simple the impeller design was on the deck mounted add-on that my Sc.g uses - just 4 paddles of 1/4 plate.. Neat design - did you have a caboose for that train?

On starting a K motor (another old topic).. I use the wide open throttle and full choke, start cranking, then start unchoking it as I crank. This has worked for about 25 years..

 

[jott]

Kendell I, the "ha ha" was inregards to my first post about my 147. I said " i cant see where it (the oil) was coming from. then you replied with "I cant see it either".The "ha ha" was a sarcastic laugh. Thanks for the pto springs

 

[rstreeter]

Here are some pics of the pedal

FOOT CONTROL 1
FOOT CONTROL 2
FOOT CONTROL 3
FOOT CONTROL 4
FOOT CONTROL 5
FOOT CONTROL 6

here is the JD snow thrower
JD SNOW THROWER 1
JD SNOW THROWER 2
JD SNOW THROWER 3

and the rotary tiller:

TILLER 1
TILLER 2

and random pieces

RANDOM

 

[aaytay]

Oh no!! He's using an oil-bath air-cleaner on that leaf-picker-upper thingie!!! GASP!! That engine is going to wear out in no time with THAT old outdated contraption on there!!!

OK, I'm kidding... Seriously Denny, that is one NICE set up. I especially like the usage of a 7hp Kohler on there as the pony-motor. You're welcome to bring that "up north" anytime you want.

It must work good, I see you sucked up a printer with it...

 

[aaytay]

Rory-
Neat foot-pedal set up...

I think that snowthrower is for a 140/300-series JD. I'm thinking you could get enough cash for it to buy yourself a "correct" blower and probably have enough left over for dinner at the golden-arches.

Finally, this forum doesn't use the "IMG" photo posting format. We actually "host" the photos on the server, so take a look at the instructions in the FAQ on how to do that. If you're good enough to host them on a photo-account, you'll have no problems figuring this system out.

Thanks again for the pics...

 

[jott]

Anyone out there getting any snow? I saw on the radar that they are getting hammered in Nebraska.

 

[jmuncie]

I use a lot of lawn waste for garden mulch. I had been looking for a good Trac-Vac for several years, but it hadn't been a high priority because my daughter used to think raking was a treat. She's outgrown that now. I picked up a Model 580 pretty cheap but had to repower it because I didn't realize it was burning oil and ran it out. The Briggs on it was the cheap version with a bushing on the flywheel side of the crank so it seized the crank in the bushing. I didn't have time or desire to rebuild it--I really don't like to work on Briggs engines. The new engine is an OHV Briggs that burns about 1/4 the gas the old one did. Even with the repower, I have less in it than I was willing to pay for a good one.

Dennis, my cart is about the same size as yours, but the engine is mounted on the tongue. Your semi mounted arrangement would track better than mine, but I like being able to pull the chute and hitch pin and have everything off the tractor. I am going to make an extended drawbar so I can keep my trailer ball mounted and have a hole for the hitch pin. This extra 3" or so of hitch extension will make a big difference in how tight I can turn without getting the tires into the tongue.

Kendall, impeller design is pretty simple for these blowers. We've built some grass blowers for one of the major ZTR manufacturers and the impellers were of the same design--round plate with 4 paddles welded on. The paddles generally have a small lip bent over on the end of them. The big difference is in the blower housing. These had a moulded plastic piece that formed the radiused wall and the outlet chute, eliminating the sharp edge next to the output chute that catches wet grass on my Trac-Vac. The flat front and rear plates were 3/16" steel bolted through the plastic housing.

Jerry

 

[mwhoward]

Josh, No snow here south of Daytona yet, 80 degrees and overcast.....

 

[jpatchett]

Rory,

The JD snow thrower won't fit right up and would likely be a lot of fab work to make it work. Depending on where you live will determine the availability of a snow thrower. You should look for a IH: QA-36 or 42 and QA-36A” or 42A” snow thrower, I’m not sure if older ones (Danco BB-36 or CW36) will fit.

Remove the air cleaner cover and check the carb choke butterfly valve for correct position when the choke knob is fully in. The valve should be parallel with the flow of air, creating no restriction to air flow. If this is ok, you may need to check the mixture adjustments and/or the float setting. I always rebuild the carb on any newly acquired cubs that I get, nothing is more useless than a tractor that won’t start.

Jim

 

[kide]

Jerry:
My Sc.g uses a second pulley on the right hand spindle of the deck - the deck blows straight into the blower with really high velocity to start with. I've laughed that the blower was as much to make the right angle turn as to push.. The large diameter tube runs straight back to the big clamshell that gets mounted over the engine. The big problem ends up being weight - so much so that you have to put three counterweights on the front to counterbalance - the machine ends up weighing almost 1400 lbs, which is a real treat on soft lawns. I have to admit that the lawn looks like it was "Hoovered" after sweeping, but I ended up buying another tow behind sweeper and put a mulching plate on the deck because I tear the lawn up too much if it's been damp. If I was still using the 129 for mowing, I'd go after a trac vac type unit like you guys have got, even though you can't get as close to the edges with it.

 

[jmuncie]

Kendall, there are several brands that mount the blower on the end of the deck, usually requiring counterweights on the opposite end of the deck. I'd bet that most of the modern decks would have no trouble getting grass to the hopper without the aid of the blower. However, the other benefit is the blower chops the grass so that it packs tighter in the hopper than it would with the deck alone. That means more time between dumping and more grass on the trailer (if you're hauling it off). Both of those are desireable for commercial cutters for obvious reasons. Jerry