Brought 57 cub home today

[wolc123]

I cleared our (2) driveways and my aunts next door after another 6” snowfall yesterday with the Cub. It looks like one of our neighbors to the east’s kids must have got a pickup with a plow on it, so I haven’t had to do that driveway yet this year.

My Cub didn’t fire up at first yesterday, but I removed the battery terminal connectors and wire brushed them and now all is well again.

I’m glad I got to my aunts because, when we drove by, a few hours after I plowed, I seen one of my cousins pull in to check up on the house.

Maybe we will make it all the until spring, without me needing my bigger tractor for snowplowing.

 

[ultrarunner]

I have a starter but never hooked up to a battery… always hand crank.

It starts first or second pull after I slowly turn the crank first.

This was not the case this year and found obstructed carburetor passages… a little cleaning and back in business.

 

[wolc123]

I had a crank handle for my last one but I gave it to the friend who I sold it to. I can’t remember if I ever tried it.

That one had been converted to 12 volts and really cranked fast with the electric starter. The one I got now is all original and still 6 volt and I prefer to keep it that way.

I did like the 12 volts for running a small tank sprayer with that old one though. I used that did spraying roundup on corn as I cultivated and for spraying fruit tree spray on a few apple trees.

I had an Alis Chalmers model C for about 20 years that didn’t have a battery on it and that I always started with a hand crank. Fortunately, the handle was extra long on the one or I might not be typing this now.

One time I cranked it over when it was in gear. It fired right up. I lept out of its way and it crushed a bunch of stuff in its path prior to pushing up against the barn wall and loosing traction, when I was able to hop on and shut it down.

 

[sandman2234]

I had a crank handle for my last one but I gave it to the friend who I sold it to. I can’t remember if I ever tried it.

That one had been converted to 12 volts and really cranked fast with the electric starter. The one I got now is all original and still 6 volt and I prefer to keep it that way.

I did like the 12 volts for running a small tank sprayer with that old one though. I used that did spraying roundup on corn as I cultivated and for spraying fruit tree spray on a few apple trees.

I had an Alis Chalmers model C for about 20 years that didn’t have a battery on it and that I always started with a hand crank. Fortunately, the handle was extra long on the one or I might not be typing this now.

One time I cranked it over when it was in gear. It fired right up. I lept out of its way and it crushed a bunch of stuff in its path prior to pushing up against the barn wall and loosing traction, when I was able to hop on and shut it down.

I have an Allis Chalmers B with battery start that I started from the ground thinking it was in nuetral. I had wiggled the gearshifter, but apparently there was too much play in gear. It was in a small garage and it hit a roll around toolbox, shoving it to the wall and then started climbing the wall. I was able to get it shut down before it climbed enough to flip over! I don't make that mistake anymore, always start them from the seat!
David from jax

 

[wolc123]

What a glorious Christmas Eve it was today. I woke up to a fresh 4” blanket of snow, that had Farmall Cub written all over it. It fired right up and made short work out of clearing our driveways. That was maybe the most fun I’ve had in the snow, since I sold my last snowmobile, over 10 years ago.

 

[wolc123]

We had another 4-5” snow last week. I finished up our stone driveway, by the barn, then did the blacktop driveway by the house garage. The PVC pipe edge broke off of the plow blade, just as I started on that. I think it had gotten me thru 4-5 plowings of our two driveways and my aunts next door.

Her driveway is also blacktop so I didn’t have any trouble on that our ours, without the pvc pipe. That’s only needed to keep stones out of the grass when plowing stone driveways before the ground is frozen.

We are getting a thaw and rain now, which is supposed to be turning to snow tonight. “Just in case”, I cut and slit another plow blade’s length of shd 80 PVC, and hammered that onto the blade.

 

[wolc123]

The Cub up and quit on me, the last time that I plowed with it in February. Fortunately, I had the plow up at the time. I was able to push it back into the barn with my John Deere loader tractor. The failure was just like someone turned off the switch, resulting in loss of spark.

It looked like the coil would be about the easiest thing to swap out, so I got the 6 volt one from NAPA. I had to modify the mounting bracket in order to make it fit. That turned out not to be the problem .

My old Ford 8n had gone down, at the end of last summer, with a similar “no spark” issue. I had also bought the same 6 volt NAPA coil for that, and a new wire harness, but hadn’t had time to install them yet.

After the Cub went down, I thanked the Lord that I have almost always had at least one John Deere tractor available, when I needed to get the work done. Owning those other brands has sure given me a lot more appreciation for the green ones.

I had started trying to repair the old Ford over the winter, but didn’t get too far. I just sold that one to a friend because I just don’t have the time to keep two off-color (non green) antique tractors running.

Soon, I hope to winch the Cub into the bed of my pickup, and haul it over to my favorite Farmall mechanic’s shop. Most Likely, new points and condenser is all it needs. I’ll get him to grease the throw out bearing while he has it.

There are a few small jobs I could use it for before late fall (I love it for pushing leaves), but I really won’t need it back until then. It was real nice on the cultipacker though. I’ll have to substitute my Durango field car on that, for planting buckwheat, in the next few weeks.

The only thing I’ll really miss the Ford for, is planting corn with my 2-row planter. There is no other make/model tractor that does a better job on that tool, than the Ford 8n. It works ok on my JD 4120, but the louder diesel engine on that makes it tougher to hear if there’s an issue with the planter, and the loader control and lack of steps prevents boarding the operators platform from the right side.

 

[DJ54]

I don't know if it will be the problem you find, but if the points came from NAPA I'm seeing several Cub owners saying the spring broke on the points set after approx. 50+ hours of use. Also heard the Echlin line of ignition parts was bought out by Standard Motor Products, and at one time they made a decent product made here in the U.S.A.

I urged one fellow to report it to the store manager where he bought them, and he did. Who knows what good it will do, but hopefully it gets back to SMP so they can check on what's wrong. Could have been the spring steel was a bad batch from heat treatment, or other reason. Hopefully they would test and correct that issue.

I had issues with Kohler engine fuel pumps from NAPA. OEM fuel pump went out after 36 years. Was in a pinch to mow grass before a weeks worth of rain coming in, so bit the bullet and paid $76 for a fuel pump. It lasted 5 weeks, good thing it had a 2 year warranty. Over that 2 year warranty period I replaced the fuel pump 8 times. All lasted 5 weeks or less, one didn't work right out of the box.

I told the store manager a younger fellow NAPA is shooting themselves in the foot selling these junk parts, as I'd rather pay a little more for a quality part. He just smiled and handed me a new pump and said OK. Doubt he let anyone know further up the food chain to let them know, so I tell guys looking to buy there don't waste their time. You'd think with the amount of returns it would catch the attention of someone upstairs, but maybe they don't care either.

 

[stuckmotor]

The Cub up and quit on me, the last time that I plowed with it in February. Fortunately, I had the plow up at the time. I was able to push it back into the barn with my John Deere loader tractor. The failure was just like someone turned off the switch, resulting in loss of spark.

It looked like the coil would be about the easiest thing to swap out, so I got the 6 volt one from NAPA. I had to modify the mounting bracket in order to make it fit. That turned out not to be the problem .

My old Ford 8n had gone down, at the end of last summer, with a similar “no spark” issue. I had also bought the same 6 volt NAPA coil for that, and a new wire harness, but hadn’t had time to install them yet.

After the Cub went down, I thanked the Lord that I have almost always had at least one John Deere tractor available, when I needed to get the work done. Owning those other brands has sure given me a lot more appreciation for the green ones.

I had started trying to repair the old Ford over the winter, but didn’t get too far. I just sold that one to a friend because I just don’t have the time to keep two off-color (non green) antique tractors running.

Soon, I hope to winch the Cub into the bed of my pickup, and haul it over to my favorite Farmall mechanic’s shop. Most Likely, new points and condenser is all it needs. I’ll get him to grease the throw out bearing while he has it.

There are a few small jobs I could use it for before late fall (I love it for pushing leaves), but I really won’t need it back until then. It was real nice on the cultipacker though. I’ll have to substitute my Durango field car on that, for planting buckwheat, in the next few weeks.

The only thing I’ll really miss the Ford for, is planting corn with my 2-row planter. There is no other make/model tractor that does a better job on that tool, than the Ford 8n. It works ok on my JD 4120, but the louder diesel engine on that makes it tougher to hear if there’s an issue with the planter, and the loader control and lack of steps prevents boarding the operators platform from the right side.

I've never owned a Cub but once bought a two disc semi mounted pull behind plow for one at an auction. I advertised it for resale and every call I can remember was from someone who wanted a single disc belly mounted plow. They must be good plows.

 

[wolc123]

I finally got around to loading the dead Cub onto my truck after work yesterday. It sure is much easier loading a live Cub than a dead one. Now I’m ready to haul it off to my buddy’s shop. He’s the best Farmall guy in the county.

The loading took longer than it should have after my first “false start”, because the back wheels wouldn’t fit between the trucks wheel wells. The 3/4 ton CM puller, that I recently got from a garage sale item swap, worked very good for this pull. Way better than my old come-a-long.’

 

[tacticalturnip]

All that dead weight up that angle, yeah, doesn't look fun to me.

Glad you're getting the old girl fixed.

 

[wolc123]

All that dead weight up that angle, yeah, doesn't look fun to me.

Glad you're getting the old girl fixed.

The scariest part was watching the truck bed panels, that supported those inner lower chain attach links, bow out a little with each pull of the puller handle. I did it slowly, watching for a break off, in case I had to “jump” the chain.

That puller worked amazingly well though. Much easier than my old come-a-long.

Unloading will be an easier. The brakes still work pretty good on the Cub. I’ll back it into a ditch in front of my buddy’s shop, to reduce the angle a bit.

I should be able to remove the tie down straps, allowing the transmission to hold it in place, and set up the ramps. Then I’ll get up on the tractor seat, hold the brake pedal down, and shift it into neutral. When I release the brake, it should coast right off. Gravity will be my friend when I’m unloading.

I’ve just got to wait for things to dry up a bit before I back that old 2wd pickup into the ditch in front of his shop. I’m thinking by next Tuesday, things should dry up good, based on the weather forecast.

 

[stuckmotor]

I just did the math to figure how some guy got an Allis Chalmers B in the bed of a pickup, over fifty years ago. The B is just over nine feet long, the wheels must have rested partly on the tailgate. I do remember, the pickup was low on the springs and it looked like a dangerous undertaking.

 

[wolc123]

I just did the math to figure how some guy got an Allis Chalmers B in the bed of a pickup, over fifty years ago. The B is just over nine feet long, the wheels must have rested partly on the tailgate. I do remember, the pickup was low on the springs and it looked like a dangerous undertaking.

Yeah the Cub is significantly shorter and lighter, even with loaded rear tires. I’m guessing that the design was based on fitting in the bed of a standard full sized pickup truck bed. My 2000 Chevy Silverado handles it no problem.

I like it better on the 2wd one I have now, compared to my previous 2000 4wd Silverado, which sat about 6” higher. I gave that one to my father in law, who still uses it to plow snow at his place up up in the Adirondack mountains.

 

[WinterDeere]

I'm wondering how much those Irwin style clamps between the ramps and rear bumper were really adding to the safety of that whole operation.

 

[wolc123]

I'm wondering how much those Irwin style clamps between the ramps and rear bumper were really adding to the safety of that whole operation.

More so out of necessity than safety. When I started winching it up without them, the ramps which were supported by the trucks bumper, started lifting up. Clearly that was a no go.

They worked very well to hold them down, but after I had it about halfway up there was enough down force, from the tractor itself, to hold them down.

That was the first time I put a dead tractor in the truck. Think of a free body diagram of the forces on the board as the tractor is being winched up into the truck, when its front wheels first contact the ramps. Very little holding force is needed from the clamps, due to the long “moment arm” of the wooden ramps.

The force balance is different without the “puller”, and with the tractor under its own power from the back wheels. I’ve never had the ramps lift up off the bumper in that situation. That’s why it will be much easier loading it up after the guy fixes it and I can use its own little 9 hp engine for the “lift” power.

Fortunately, I’ve done a fair amount of rigging on board ships using similar equipment as part of my “day job”, so that part of the task (safety) came as second nature to me.

That puller that I used was pretty sweet for this job. I recently acquired from a buddy in a trade for an old plumb bob reel that I had picked up in a $ 100 “bundle deal”, at a garage sale. The reel didn’t come with a plumb bob, but I located and purchased a compatible one on eBay (for $ 16 including shipping).

You wouldn’t believe the other stuff that came with that $ 100 garage sale bundle. My favorite item so far is the 10 speed bike which I have now used several times back and forth to church. How nice it is to have a bike, that actually shifts gears, for that trip. The road is flat as a pancake between home and there, however the headwind coming home is often horrific.

Here are some of the other items that $ 100 garage sale bundle included:

There wasn’t a price on the bike, which was the item which first caught my attention, when I drove by. The woman’s husband had passed recently, and she was selling all his stuff before she sold her house and moved to a smaller place in town.

Both tires were flat on the bike. There was very little wear on them, so I suspected it hadn’t been ridden much. I inflated them when I got home and they have held air for a month now. It also shifts great.

I’ve already used the cant hook, cut off grinder, and the Dale Earnhardt (my favorite driver of all time) collection.

t

The landing net had been priced $ 40 and wasn’t part of the original “bundle” deal. When I offered $ 100 for the other items, the lady said that she couldn’t believe that I had offered that much. That’s when I asked her if she’d throw in the net, which she did.

It worked great out on Lake Erie on Father’s Day for a few big smallmouth bass and some huge freshwater drum.

It also came with a box of about 20 dvds that included one of my all time favorite movies (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid).

 

[wolc123]

The dead Cub had been sitting in my truck since last Thursday. Today, I finally delivered it to my Farmall mechanic’s shop. Unloading it was much easier than loading it was.

First, I removed the back straps. Next, I backed the truck into a roadside ditch (while the transmission was in 1st gear). I put the ramps on the bumper and got up in the seat. I pressed the clutch and let gravity pull me off of the truck out into the road. There, we hooked a chain to his diesel Kubota sxs and dragged it behind his shop.

He said he’d have it done in about a week. Most likely, it just needs points and condenser. I asked him to give the throughout bearing a little grease while he had it.

That wore out on my previous Cub, due to my lack of maintenance. I thought that one needed a new clutch, but it just needed a new throughout bearing. That was still a big job for him, requiring a rear end split.

The drive over there, with this one in the back of the truck, was a little hairy. It was about 5 miles of backroads but they are in kind of rough shape. I kept it under 30 mph the whole way. I think when he finishes it, I’ll ride my bike over to get it, and drive the tractor home.

I’ll leave the bike at his place and pick it up with my suv on my next trip to or from work (I pass his shop every weekday on that trip). That will be a fun bike ride and a fun tractor ride. I’m missing the tractor, since it quit running back in February. The novelty of the new bike, that actually shifts gears, has yet to wear off also.

 

[wolc123]

My mechanic called yesterday to say that he had completed the repair on the Cub. As I had suspected, new points and condenser were what it took to get it to start and run good again. He also lubed up the throw out bearing.

I figured he was about ready to call me after I noted it was moved into his shop a few days ago. His timing was good because I just took the camper off of my truck, which I had recently moved out from it’s inside the barn, winter storage position.

I’ll throw the ramps and tie down straps in the truck bed tomorrow and hopefully he’ll be around to take my money and help me load it up .

It will be nice having that little tractor back. I really wasn’t looking forward to cultipacking/planting turnips in a few weeks, with my Durango field car.

 

[wolc123]

No trouble getting the Cub home on my drive home from work today. It running real good again and ready for cultipacking turnips at the end of the month.

 

[tacticalturnip]

It's good to see the old girl home again and running well, what a great machine.