HARRY - The reverse speeds would be .78 MPH in U/D; stock 2.6 MPH in Direct drive,, & 3.85 MPH in O/D. Faster reverse speeds are handy in some situations. Dad's old 4010 JD had three reverse speeds, and even though you couldn't get shifted into it there was a 4th reverse in the transmission, there were four ranges and two synchronized forward and a reverse gear in each range. 3rd reverse was 8.5 MPH which wasn't able to be shifted into on the later 3020/4020's, and a 4th reverse would have been around 14 MPH. 8-1/2 MPH was fine at lower engine speeds, but the 4th reverse would have been just to darned fast for anything! A little work with a hack saw or die grinder and ANY of the later Synchro-Range trans. equipped New Generation 3020/4020's could have the 3rd and even 4th reverse. My Cousin modified his 4020-D for the 3rd rev.
PAUL - Yes, the steering on the '61/'63 CC's was different than the later tractors, but really not any better or worse when well worn. The brakes however were ALWAYS one wheel, where at least with the later internal disk brake you did have two wheel braking some or most of the time. The external dual disk brakes were the right way to go. Just wished IH would have put individual brakes on more models than just the SGT's.
I think the best use of the 12 MPH high gear would be when putting around the yard. A scene at RPRU down in Penfield about ten yrs ago of Tom H on Mein Kub running down the pulling track stirring up dust on his way to the CC Plowing demonstration somes to mind. Shift UP and Throttle DOWN. Run half throttle and still run 6 MPH. I think Tom put a bigger engine pulley on that stock so he had some faster speeds.
Far as the Gas debate.... Like John Underwood said, Kwik-Trip has 91 octane with no ethanol, they call it "Recreational Fuel". And Kwik-Trip has one of the strongest detergent packages of ANY major gas brand in it. I've been using it the last couple years. My little commuter car, which is turbo-charged, Inter-cooled, variable cam timing on both intake & exh. valves, and has knock sensors to pull ignition timing if it senses detonation gets as good of MPG & Performance on it as any 93 octane gasahol. Going to an ethanol blend or 87 octane costs me about 2 MPG fuel economy, which means I'm loosing HP. I don't use MMO, Stabil, or Sea Foam in my gas for my old CC's & Farmall's either, just a splash of 108 octane leaded race gas, either Sunoco or Unocal, whichever the station over by Paul R. gets for the racing season. The blend burns great and doesn't go stale for months, maybe closer to a YEAR or more. I had my old K241 start detonating once years ago right after I rebuilt it. I'd been running it about as hard as it could run for 15-20 minutes and even when I stopped and removed the load it still detonated for about 20-30 seconds at a medium fast idle. A hot spot in the combustion chamber was igniting the fuel/air mixture before the spark ignited it. A Kohler will only last maybe a Minute running with detaonation like that. Burned pistons, blown head gaskets, or a groove torched across the sealing surface of the head is the result.
So when I run my Cubbies hard for 3-4, even six hours straight, it's nice to know they aren't in danger of detonating. I'd rather have a good running engine than pretty paint, but having BOTH is better.
