The 109: My first wide frame, My first hydro, and my first solo refurb.

[cmwkrill]

Well, like the name implies, this is my first in a lot of firsts.
A: My first wide-frame cub.
B: My first hydro ANYTHING.
C: My first 10 horse. (not much of a first,)
D: My first solo refurb.
E: My first thread on this part of the forum.

SO, having said that, wish me luck guys. I'm gonna need it.
A little history on the tractor: (what little I know of it.) It was built in June of 1972 and sold at Tavernier sales, Maumee, OH. I know nothing of its life between then and sometime last year, when the owner, (still unknown to me) brought it in for repairs. after dumping $300 in parts into it, he walked away, sticking my boss with the bill and the tractor. I was able to pick it up for the $300 in parts.

It does not run at the time, supposedly all it needs is a compression release spring. I get the feeling there's alot more work to be done, though...

 

[cmwkrill]

I have pictures of It at the dealership, waiting for me to come get it.

A far away view. (the tractor to the left edge of the screen is a very old sears.)

A view of the right side.

A view of the right side of the motor.

A view of the left side of the motor.

A closer view of the left side of the motor.

The tranny. (something tells me that could easily be the original filter...)

The deck. Like I've said, it's not a beauty queen. (yet.)

The dash. It is in fairly good shape, considering..

The serial # tag.

And, finally, the original dealership sticker.. It's almost a shame to paint over it.. Anyone know anyone who would make me a custom repro?

 

[jchamberlin]

Charles: There is a lot to like about your 109. I definitely think you got your money's worth. I trust you realize the front grille and hood are not together OR assembled to the tractor. But the dash is in near pristine condition (compared to the one on my 149), and there are no tell-tale oil weeping on the left side of the frame. The motor promises to be in good shape, once you get it running. A little fix-up and paint and you could have yourself a show-stopper.

Good job!

Thanks for posting the pics.

It is easily the best looking tractor on the lot.

If you want to save the dealer's sticker, you could just mask it off.

 

[cmwkrill]

True. I would like to get the sticker looking like new again, though. as for it being the best looking tractor on the lot, it was to me. However, there was a 5 or 6 year old simplicity right behind where I was standing, so, technically it would probably be voted second or third best in someone else's book. I just hope we don't get a lot of yellow and white sittin' out there, or I might end up ticking my father off..

 

[jharvey]

Charles
That should clean up very nicely. Looks to have been inside alot and the fenders are really nice. Most fenders around here have tire chain damage plus lots of other dents.

 

[hydroharry]

Charles - looks to me like an excellent restoration candidate. I think you may have caught it just in time. Most of the rust doesn't apprear really heavy and should clean up with some work. One thing that does bother me is the coupling bolted to the flywheel cup on the engine. It looks like someone added a piece of metal (maybe the cup is broken?). Can't tell for certain in your pics but if it is, then I just don't know how well something like that would work and I might unbolt and maybe remove the driveshaft to insure you don't tear something up when you get the engine running. The only other big thing that bothers me is that dang off color seat. Maybe you could swap that with someone on another Forum. Get us some more pics when you have a chance so we can see more of the engine, rear diff, inside battery box, etc.

 

[wshytle]

Charles-

The engine is going to need pulling right away with the flywheel screen missing. I'd find and dedicate a nice spot for the 109 out of the weather. It also depends on what you're after. Do you want/need a tractor immediately or do you want several things corrected so that things last? Splitting the tractor isn't something you want to do more than necessary (once). By splitting though you can address everything including a better paint job.

When all is said and done you will really like the 109; it's amazing what that little 10 horse will do.

 

[jbaker]

Charles out of curiosity what was the $300 in parts for?

 

[cmwkrill]

Hey, guys.. I worked on it for a few hours tonight but forgot the camera; I'll get pics tomorrow. I plan on pulling the motor since I have to replace a spring inside. the $300 in parts was for a new starter/generator and some other misc. parts. (basically, I didn't ask, was just told there was $300 in parts, including a new starter/gen.) I've gt a few things pulled off, and with luck i'll have the motor out tomorrow or Saturday. I did plan on pulling the drive-shaft out anyway, if for no other reason to paint it. I found out that at least one pulley on the deck is frozen. I don't wanna mess with it right now, anyway. So, I pulled the deck and mule gear off, labeled and removed the starter/generator, removed the tank fuel line, and carb. The carb will need a really, really good scrubbing and rebuilding. (maybe even replacing) the tank looks to be in pretty good shape on the inside, though. NOW TO MY BIG QUESTION. There is a small white lever to the rear of the lift lever.

What the heck would that be? It doesnt feel like it does anything when I move it, and that worries me..

 

[jchamberlin]

Charles, are you referring to the hydrostatic dump valve lever?

Look at Item 12 on the list from page 7 of the manual for the 1x8/9 series.

It is supposed to have a "flapper" on it that depresses the Hydro Forward/Reverse valves --"releases" them-- so that the tractor can be moved manually when the motor (for whatever reason) doesn't work.

PS: Don't worry, I left my 149 sitting in the rain for two weeks when I first got it because the motor quit and wouldn't restart. My lever would not have helped me anyway because there was no "flapper" on my lever, and besides, I didn't know what the lever was for either. After a few hours the pressure drains away anyway and the tractor can be moved.

 

[cmwkrill]

WHEW.. THANK YOU for saying that the pressure drains away.. I read "hydrostatic dump valve lever" and this kind of scared, garbled, incoherent "aaarrrwwwwuuccckkk" noise escaped my throat, because I thought that meant I was going to have hydro troubles.. But, all is well now.. Oh, will a deck from a 126 work on my 109? (just the deck, not the mule gear) If it will, I might just end up pulling all the salvageable parts off of it and scrapping the rest of the deck, if a little PB Blaster doesn't take care of my frozen arbor problem. Or I might put it up on the classifieds and let somebody else deal with it.. I don't know yet. I'm takin the camera with me today, so, any requests for pictures?

 

[kmcconaughey]

Charles, if the 126 has a 42" deck it should mount up just fine.

 

[cmwkrill]

Awesome. Thanks. Gotta eat quick and get to work workin on other people's mowers, lol.

 

[jbaker]

Charles you should love you WF Hydro,,, thats all I run at my place...

 

[jchamberlin]

Charles: Regarding Kraig's advice on the 42" deck off a 126 fitting your 109, I beg to differ a bit. When I attempted to fit a 42" deck to my 149, the physical mounting went OK, but the standard belt size from the PTO to the mower deck is not a standard length. I wound up getting one from Tractor Supply that was made originally for an MTD mower that seems to work, but it took a bit of trial and error.

The issue is that the the undercarriage that is required to fit a 42" deck to a wide frame was only used for a short period of time after the advent of the 1x8/9 series, until all the old 42" decks had been used up, I suspect. The more common undercarriage is actually the one built to fit a 38A/44A/50A deck.

Kraig should know this because it was through a series of posts from both him and Matt Gonitzke that I learned this little-known fact.

Couldn't resist the "dig," Kraig.

The undercarriage you are supposed to use to attach a 42" deck to a Wide Frame is depicted below:

The undercarriage you are supposed to use to attach a 38/44/50A deck to a Wide Frame is depicted below:

Both undercarriages are depicted in the QA 38-44-50 A Series Deck Operators Manual found in the manuals section.

If you study both drawings you will notice several distinctive features.

 

[wheinsohn]

Jeremiah,I will back Kraig on this one. The 38A still used the same subframe as a 38", 42" and 48" decks. Only the 44" and 50" had the sway back subframe

 

[cmwkrill]

Thanks guys.. I'm not too worried about the belt, as it would only be for an emergency that I put a deck on it (say, if dad's "super LT1554" MTD cub cadet blows up.)

I GOT SO MUCH DONE TODAY!! I completely yanked the motor out, drained the oil, pulled all the sheet metal off the motor, and got the head pulled off. (It looked REALLY clean-pics tomorrow.) not even peeling my knuckle could stop me, today.

<font size="+1">Wayne S.</font> I would prefer to correct several things so it lasts. Doesn't make much sense to have to fix something major every year. I plan on not doing that much to the engine, though, since it seems to be in really good shape internally, from what I've seen so far. Any advice or "list of things to check/do" would be greatly appreciated.

<font size="+1">Hydro Harry</font> I found out I do need a new flywheel cup, as well as a new flywheel screen and left side panel extension, maybe even a new carb.

Engine degreaser- would it work to clean all the dirt and gunk out of the frame and off the bottom of the tranny? Also, how does the CASE IH cub paint hold up on engine blocks?

 

[jchamberlin]

Wes: Point taken, my captions for the manual shots should be revised to reflect the distinction; and your clarification explains why both sub-frames are shown in the same manual.

Although, in reference to the original question, which concerns a 42" deck, I think you're actually supporting my contention against Kraig that the 42" deck needs a different sub-frame than is often found on a wide frame tractor. That is to say, it needs a "straight" hanger designed for attachment to a wide frame. I'm not sure a hanger from a narrow frame would work, but it could probably be adapted; all I know is that the "curved" hanger places the deck's drive pulley in a position relative to the front of the tractor that the designated belt doesn't work. Perhaps there is a combination that does, but I could't find it; I sized it with a string.

But since this is Charles' thread we probably ought to take the discussion to the main forum and add actual belt sizes and part numbers to the mix, especially since he tells us he's not interested in belt sizes anyway.

 

[cmwkrill]

I plan on working on it all day today, and maybe I'll get lucky and the junkyard will have my flywheel cup, flywheel screen, left side extension panel, and my air cleaner (fingers crossed)

 

[wheinsohn]

As long as a wide frame has a subframe for a 38, 42, or 48" deck, the quick-tach decks can be swapped back and forth. I used to change decks back and forth from my 106 to my 129. At the time I was using a 48" deck. As long as you have the subframe for that style and not a 44" or 50", the decks will interchange.