Faithful 106

[Neil Mullins]

T ole girl was given to me by a gentleman (neighbor) that I had done a bit of backhoe work for. When I was done with the work, & was asked how much? I simply said 15$ that’s about what fuel had cost. The fellow had noticed me looking at it on a break from the digging. It had a kiddy pool covering it. 3-4 days later I found it sitting in my driveway. That was at least 15 years ago. It needed a bunch of TLC. But really didn’t take much to get it running & mowing again.

 

[jkoenig]

Great story for a nice machine Neil. What are the weights?

 

[Neil Mullins]

I own a machine shop/fabrication business. The weights are 3/8” & 1/2” thick mild steel plate that are “scrap” from my CNC torch table. I drew up a pattern & over a bit of time accumulated the weights

 

[Neil Mullins]

I own a machine shop/fabrication business. The weights are 3/8” & 1/2” thick mild steel plate that are “scrap” from my CNC torch table. I drew up a pattern & over a bit of time accumulated the weights add carriage bolts & you have it.

 

[jkoenig]

Awesome!

 

[RAllison]

Love that tractor!

 

[Neil Mullins]

Love that tractor!

When it was dropped on my driveway, It was let’s see if it will run… cleaned carb, no coil so I had an old Chevy coil. Cleaned points, changed oil, fired right up

 

[Neil Mullins]

The deck was in very bad shape, so that was the first major fix. Fab up a new deck & rebuild all spindles.

 

[Neil Mullins]

It would start & run just fine but wouldn’t charge battery. Turned out that was the wiring harness itself. NO bad parts other than the wiring itself. When I stripped the cotton off the bundled harness all the insulation fell off the individual wires & they were green & wanted to just crumble apart. KID glove time!!! Replaced wires 1 at a time.

 

[Neil Mullins]

After that it was main drive clutch, PTO clutch, it ate deck drive belts. So mule drive rebuild. On & on, but after 3-4 years of fix this fix that it’s very dependable & has been almost trouble free for years.

 

[mgwin]

Nice job on the deck, way to go.

 

[Mike Hoover]

Got a sister to yours! Been in family since new, but has seen better days. I too am rebuilding wiring harness. Guess they never expected to last 52 years. LOL.

 

[Neil Mullins]

No. I did go to NAPA & but Belden brand primary wire so I could be comfortable the the insulation was quality. I bought yellow plastic wire loom to cover It with

 

[Neil Mullins]

You can get complete wiring harnesses today. Maybe could have when I replaced mine wire by wire. Which ever way you go. These old IHC cub tractors are worth every penny you spend. Once they are “fixed” to anywhere near the condition of near new. They are truly something to be proud of!!!! Pardon me but there just isn’t anything today built to stand the test of time like these were.

 

[Neil Mullins]

From a guy that worked a commercial dairy farm.. I ran Allis-Chalmers. JD, & IHC (corn binder). None of them were as user friendly, or got the job done like IHC.

 

[Neil Mullins]

I came out of the coal fields of WV running Cat D9- D10 dozers. In the early 80’s to farming in VA. Nothing to this day has impressed me as much as a IH 1086 2 WD with duals 7-18” bottom plows ripping through the dirt. Hit something a bit tough… front wheels would lift. Brakes were so good I could just feather one wheel or other & ride it out. Never lift on the throttle. It was Awesome!!!!

 

[mgwin]

Neil,
What part of Va. did you farm in? My grandpa came out of the WV coal mines in the 40's and bought a farm in Marion Va.

 

[Neil Mullins]

I was just east of Marion in/near Rural Retreat. About 10 miles west of Wytheville

 

[mgwin]

Wow! Just next door. Did you ever get to go to any tractor pulls in Rural Retreat?

 

[Neil Mullins]

Yep went a couple of times. They were held at a fair grounds somewhere close by.