Super C Cultivator

[TNSuperC]

When I purchased my Super C, it had already been converted to a 12V electrical system and had a 3-point hitch system added. I think the 3-point is homemade. This year I decided to add a cultivator. My Super C has the touch control hydraulic system and is not a 2-point fast hitch tractor.

I mounted the front two cultivator sections first and immediately ran into my first problem. The previous owner had installed a one-wire delco remy 12V alternator. The alternator's mounting would not allow the lift arm attachment lever to move all the way forward which means the cultivator couldn't be lifted all the way up.



So my plan is to mill out the alternator bracket and get a shorter alternator belt so the alternator doesn't have to be rotated out so far.

 

[Varmint1]

You might be able to run a shorter belt that would make the alt run closer to the engine, you might even have to rework the mounting brackets. Can you post some pics of the side of it

 

[TNSuperC]

Sorry, but I've already disassembled. Here are the before and after of the alternator bracket.



My original alternator belt is 13"-14". I will re-install the alternator, adjust it to a position that allows the cultivator to clear it, and use a rope to measure length my new belt needs to be...hopefully.

 

[Varmint1]

I think that is going to cure you problem, I love those old SC and the SA. Still have my granddads '49 SA

 

[TNSuperC]

I am now into a "second order effect." In order to put a shorter alternator belt on, I had to remove the fan pulley assembly (three bolts that mount to the front of the engine block). When I removed this assembly, I noticed two things: the thermostat (original) had failed and the pulley shaft was seeping oil.

The replacement thermostat (from Case-IH) is $18.99. In order for this thermostat to work, you also need a brass spacer which costs ~$34 (my Case-IH dealer did not keep this part nor did they tell me I needed a spacer...customer service ain't what it used to be...I only found out after I got home and removed the old T-stat and saw the difference between the old and new T-stats...I mean, what were they thinking?).

The replacement fan pulley and shaft looks to cost around $100-$110. Dang!

Additionally, the previous owner had put a 3/8" 31.5" belt (correction to my earlier post) which really didn't fit my pulleys correctly. I needed a 1/2" and went ahead and purchased a 28" as my first attempt.

 

[TNSuperC]

Well I'm too cheap to pay the $34 for the spacer, so I decided to improvise. The original T-stat is called a Fulton-Siphon and is 100% brass...so why not cut it down to act as a spacer for the new T-stat.

Here's a look inside the t-stat housing. Note the groove for the retainer wire-clip to hold the t-stat in place.


Here is the Fulton=Siphon with all the stuff I don't need cut out.


Note the extended lip (I need the new t-stat to mount flat, so this lip will need to be ground down flush).


The original thickness is ~24mm (with the lip ground down).

 

[TNSuperC]

I installed the new T-stat with homemade spacer (you'll need to think about which way the new T-stat should go in so that it opens properly to allow water flow). I also had to drill a small hole into the ground down fulton-siphon to allow for the knob-thing on the new T-stat to sit flush. You can see the knob in the photo.



Got everything reinstalled and ready to fire it up for a test. You ever feel like bad luck just kinda waits around for the right moment and then unloads on you with all its might? When I turned the fuel shut-off valve back on, gas dripped outta the carb. I attempted to start, but the tractor gods were having nothing of that. Crap!

I took the Zenith off and gave it a good cleaning. I found a small piece of crap lodged up in the area around the float needle. This less than 1mm piece of dirt had caused my problem. Put the Zenith back together and on the tractor. She fired right up! Its just part of running these old farmalls I guess.

Got my front cultivator section installed. My C-254 cultivator has the #56 tool bars with spring teeth. To install the tool bars on the cultivator universal mounting frame, you'll need a 1 1/4" wrench or socket.

 

[TNSuperC]

Just to follow up with a few things.

In order to get the alternator belt off, you don't need to take the whole t-stat housing off the tractor. With a 13/16" wrench you can loosen and remove the fan spindle nut. There are a couple of good photos of this assembly in an earlier post. You will then be able to slide the fan and spindle forward enough to get the alternator belt off. It is tight but you can do it.

My tractor runs a bit hotter now. My Super C with the failed fulton-siphon took a long while to warm up especially in cold weather. In hot weather, it ran around 185 deg F. Now it warms up fairly quickly and in hot weather (95 deg F) it runs around 195 deg F. I think the C-123 engine was designed to run at 180-195 deg F. I have heard stories from some of the old farmall guys in my area that the farmalls don't run right without the correct t-stat.

In case you go the route I did by grinding down your old t-stat: I believe I had to grind it down to a thickness of 20mm. This would allow the retainer ring clip to fit into its groove and hold the new t-stat in place.

When you put your fan and alternator belts back on, don't tighten them too tight. This will cause you to loose HP after the tractor warms up. The manual says to leave around 1/2" to 3/4" slack to allow for the belt to tighten after it gets hot. Don't be worried if you can spin your fan (by hand) with the belt in its tightened position. That is the way it is supposed to be.

 

[TNSuperC]

Last year (when I didn't have the cultivator), I planted less than half of this field and it was grown up in grass and weeds by late July...I simply couldn't stay ahead of them with a hoe and troy-bilt horse tiller.

Here are the results of running the cultivator less than an hour:

 

[DJ54]

Looks like it did a great job considering the pile of weeds at the bottom of the one picture. Now that you've got it up and going, you can now get the weeds when just in the button stage, and stay ahead of them.

I've got a buddy that has 3 acres of veggies for the Farmer's Markets and cares for them with a sweet little CA Allis, w/full set of cultivators dedicated to that job. I've been trying to get that point across to him, to no avail... Yesterday, he bush hogged off the weeds, so as to even find veggies to pick for market.