Brought 57 cub home today

[DJ54]

If your shoes still have a tendency to gouge through the soft driveway when not frozen yet, here's a thought. Here's the blade I have Dad built back in around 1964 for the Farmall A we had at that time. Originally it had a regular cutting edge on it but was too aggressive for the pneumatic Lift-All system to keep up cutting depth when pushing dirt, worse in a soft driveway plowing snow. He flipped the cutting edge for snow, but not good for pushing/cutting dirt so took it off and used it as is. He used it enough pushing dirt he literally wore the corners of the rolled 3/8" moldboard blade off enough you can see the added corner pieces so it was back to gouging when plowing early snows. It sat for 25-30 years until I got my A. I needed something to plow snow for my own place then and it was back to raking stone back on the driveway.

Back 15+ years ago when I discovered these tractor forums I saw where guys were slipping PVC pipe on the cutting edges. Worked great until it got real cold, then the PVC would shatter. I wanted a more permanent solution, and remembered I had some 1-1/4" pipe I'd gathered up someone was going to throw away. I used my plasma cutter using a piece of angle iron inverted on it as a straight edge and cut a slot in it wide enough to slip over the bottom of the moldboard. Cut and drilled 5 tabs you see on the front and put a bolt through them and welded them in place. Had another 5 for the back, welded them on, then drilled through the tabs and holes that were already in the moldboard and used Gr. 5 bolts to hold it on. Works great when plowing snow, pretty well floats over the stone on the drive and pretty well eliminates raking stone back on the drive come Spring. Also prevents the gouging when pushing loose dirt like when making a fill.

I can attest to 6,000+ tons of bank run fill that little tractor and blade have pushed & finished when making new bases for my new building here, plus shaley clay filling in a pond at the other place, plus all of snow I've pushed with it in all these years. It's worn some but impressed it has lasted this long.

All that to say it might be something to consider if the shoes don't hold it up out of the stone.

 

[wolc123]

I like the pipe idea DJ. I have quite a bit of 1” scd 80 grey PVC. I’ll cut one to the width of the snow plow blade and slot it on my table saw. I’d likely only use it when it’s warm and that heavy grey pvc is pretty tough, so I doubt it would shatter.

If it does, I’ve got a pretty good selection of steel pipe on my scrap pile. I don’t have a real good way of slotting that though.

After we get thru winter, I’m going to take off the blade and weld some reinforcing plates to the square tubing on the sides of the plow frame. Beefing it up like that will let me move my boat around with the hydraulic lift front hitch. The boat was a little too heavy for that, when I tried it last summer.

 

[WinterDeere]

Can't remember, but did you have the tires filled on this machine? No doubt it has the muscle to push snow with that blade, thanks to gearing, but I'm doubting if it has the required weight to maintain traction.

 

[wolc123]

Can't remember, but did you have the tires filled on this machine? No doubt it has the muscle to push snow with that blade, thanks to gearing, but I'm doubting if it has the required weight to maintain traction.

Yes the rear tires are filled, as were those on the Cub I had previously. It definitely has plenty of ballast on back now, with the loaded rears and the thick metal plate I just bolted to the drawbar.

When and if the ground freezes, I’ll add the tire chains. All I need now is some snow.

 

[wolc123]

I did a little more work on the Cub today to get it ready for snow plowing. First, I cut a piece of 1” schedule 80 pvc pipe to the width of the plow and slotted it on my table saw. That only took me about 10 minutes. It went on pretty easily. If it breaks, I’ve got about enough pipe on a pile out back to make about 50 more.

Next, I looked around for some semi-clear red or yellow plastic to put over the lens of the back light. That took me a little longer. After much searching, I found an old plastic tackle box in the basement. I ripped the rectangular cover off that, sawed it into two squares, and drilled the corners so that I could wire it in place. If it ever works it’s way loose and falls off, I have a spare.

Finally, what is probably the original 1957 canvas cover on the Cub’s steel pan seat was worn thru on one corner. I pulled the “non-denominational” one that I bought for my Ford 8n a couple of years ago off of that. One with “Ford” on it would have cost me about $30 more back then. Now, I am really glad that I didn’t get that one. I don’t use the 8n in the winter anyhow.

 

[DJ54]

I think you'll like that pipe on there. made a world of difference in mine.

 

[wolc123]

I think you'll like that pipe on there. made a world of difference in mine.

I hope so. Cleaning them stones out of the grass, so that I don’t knick up my lawn mower blades, is a job that I dread every spring.

I’m just dying for some snow now, so that I can use the Cub. Last winter, we got over 12 feet of it in two blizzards, while the Cub was at the mechanics getting reconditioned.

One other little tweak, I might do to it while I’m waiting for snow, is moving the rear rims in to the narrow setting. They are set now to 53” outside width. That exactly matches the snowplow width when the blade is set straight.

If I move the rear rims in all the way, then it will still be wider than the tractor at the maximum left and right blade angle settings, and match the track of the front tires. As long as the rear tire chains still fit between the fenders, I think I will go ahead and do that. It will also make it a little easier to store the tractor in my barn.

 

[DJ54]

Not sure why they made the blades so narrow, especially with plowing snow in mind. Our school had a 50's era Cub Lo-Boy they mowed and plowed snow with. I do remember they had extensions on the end of the blade on both sides maybe 8" wide, so you could set the blade at full angle and keep the tires out of the unplowed snow especially when making turns. Don't know if they were OEM, or they had them made. With the 3 bolt holes in the end of the blade, they'd be easy enough to mount. If you have a local fab shop that can roll steel plate of equal thickness I wouldn't think it would cost too much to have a pair made. I did a quick look and saw a pair made of heavy belting, but not sure how well that would hold up.

I have to laugh now, but the above moldboard pictured made out of 1/4" plate and 6 ribs rolled out of 3/16" angle iron cost Dad $50 back in '63-'64 and he just threw a fit having to spend that much money. Yet 60 years later it's still going strong and has pushed more than its share of snow and dirt.

Happened to notice the front tires too. Looks like it's about due for some new ones. Better now than in the middle of a snow storm..!!

 

[wolc123]

I looked at moving in the rear tires today and it looks like a bigger job than I want to take on right now. Besides the tires being loaded, there are heavy iron weights that would have to be removed from the hubs, then put back on.

It would definitely be easier to weld some extensions to the sides of the blade and make that wider. I did that on a lawnmower blade that I put on my old Cub, and it worked pretty good.

The front tires do look pretty rough, as do the rear rims. Hopefully, I can get another (6) years or so out of them. That’s when I’m going to retire from my day job and I’ll have a little more time for “unnecessary” repairs.

Not sure why they made the blades so narrow, especially with plowing snow in mind. Our school had a 50's era Cub Lo-Boy they mowed and plowed snow with. I do remember they had extensions on the end of the blade on both sides maybe 8" wide, so you could set the blade at full angle and keep the tires out of the unplowed snow especially when making turns. Don't know if they were OEM, or they had them made. With the 3 bolt holes in the end of the blade, they'd be easy enough to mount. If you have a local fab shop that can roll steel plate of equal thickness I wouldn't think it would cost too much to have a pair made. I did a quick look and saw a pair made of heavy belting, but not sure how well that would hold up.

I have to laugh now, but the above moldboard pictured made out of 1/4" plate and 6 ribs rolled out of 3/16" angle iron cost Dad $50 back in '63-'64 and he just threw a fit having to spend that much money. Yet 60 years later it's still going strong and has pushed more than its share of snow and dirt.

Happened to notice the front tires too. Looks like it's about due for some new ones. Better now than in the middle of a snow storm..!!

 

[lilranch2001]

I have no real need for an old cub, but I’ve always wanted one…..