Brought 57 cub home today

[wolc123]

This is my second cub. I think the first one I had was a 56. It was more or less completely wore out when I got it and I swore I’d never have another red tractor after all the trouble I had with that one.

They say life’s about second chances, so here goes nothing I suppose. I got this one at an auction at work. It has very little noticeable wear. I dropped it off at my favorite Farmall mechanic and he gave it a good going over, new carb, fluids, etc.

This one came with tire chains an a snowplow. That was the only job I really liked my old cub for. I really hated “cultivision” and cultivating with it. That was all about slow and a stiff neck.

 

[5030]

Not bad. My first foray into tractors was a 49 Farmall dual fuel. I sold it years ago and should have kept it actually. Nice little tractor and it had a Woods belly mount mower on it. Not good for much but neat anyway.

Pretty cheap date so long as you can source parts.

 

[WinterDeere]

Nice! Looks fun. Assuming she's going to be a user, kept as-is, and not just a show piece?

Where'd those trailer wheels come from?

Haven't seen hubcaps on a trailer since we sold my grandfather's old pickup bed trailer ca.1990. Wish I had kept that little thing now, it must've been 1930's vintage, judging from my memory of its fenders and bed rails.

 

[wolc123]

Nice! Looks fun. Assuming she's going to be a user, kept as-is, and not just a show piece?

Where'd those trailer wheels come from?

Haven't seen hubcaps on a trailer since we sold my grandfather's old pickup bed trailer ca.1990. Wish I had kept that little thing now, it must've been 1930's vintage, judging from my memory of its fenders and bed rails.

Not sure where those trailer wheels came from. It belongs to a friend who I met thru his father. His dad was the head mechanic at the local IH dealer, for many years. He and his father always serviced my old cub. He let me borrow his trailer to pick this one up, drop it off at his place, and bring it home after he finished going thru it.

This cub is going to be a user. As I mentioned above, the only thing I really missed about my old one, was not having it around for light snow plowing. This one came with a snow plow that still looks like new.

I’m also going to use it a little, over on my parents farm, which is about 20 miles away. I use to have a larger trailer, for hauling my other tractors, but I sold that about 15 years ago. 20 miles is a little too far, for driving the tractors, down the road.

The cub is just small enough to fit in the bed of my pickup, so no trailer will be needed to get it back and forth over there. There is a little 6 ft pull-type disk over there, just right for the cub, and I’m also going to leave a 7 ft cultipacker over there.

This cub did not come with a drawbar, so I just ordered one of those from e-bay. I’ll probably use it a little around home in the spring summer and fall for pulling trailers and other stuff around, in addition to the winter snow plowing.

I’ve never been “color blind”, when it comes to tractors, but it’s kind of nice to have the American “big three” around here again. A 1951 Ford 8n (which I still have and use on occasion) was my first tractor, and a 1949 John Deere M (which my dad still has but no longer uses), was the first tractor on our farm, bought new to replace a team of horses.

My first “new” tractor was a 2005, John Deere 4120, which I still have. It handles most of the work around here and has been very dependable, but it does not start very easily when it’s real cold out. Hopefully, this “new” old cub will be better in that regard.

 

[wolc123]

The weather outside was horrific today, so it was a good day for working in the pole barn. I made a step from 3” angle iron, to make it easier to get on and off of the cub.

I also modified the plow frame (drilled (2) 9/16” holes) to accept a front mount trailer hitch. That should make it easy to get my boat and log splitter in and out of the barn.

 

[WinterDeere]

Nice! But you forgot the most interesting part: what kind of boat?

 

[wolc123]

Nice! But you forgot the most interesting part: what kind of boat?

Just kidding, I don’t think she’d take the tongue weight of that 350 ft Lursenn.

It should be able to handle my 1989 17 ft Sylvan Pro-Fisherman with a Johnson 70 on back though.

 

[WinterDeere]

Love it! Grew up skiing behind a 1968 Galaxy with 120 hp Mercruiser I/O, which had similar outward lines and the same damn windscreen.

 

[wolc123]

The temp was almost up to 50 F, out in my pole barn, so I put a couple coats of rusty metal primer on the “new” step and drawbar this afternoon. Next time the temperature gets up there, and I have some time, I’ll get a couple coats of Farmall red on them.

 

[wolc123]

The temperature was above 50 early this morning, so I put a second coat of Farmall red on the drawbar and step. After (8) hours, they were dry enough to mount. Now this tractor is ready for some field work.

While I was waiting for the paint to dry, I put a 6 volt work light on back. I still need to order a couple sealed beam 6 volt bulbs for the front lights, but I won’t need those until next winter.

I also made a tool box holder for the side. The step works very good. I can’t wait to try the drawbar on an old 6 ft Bissel disk. I’m also going to cut an old 8 ft cultipacker, tgss as to has a few busted wheels, down to 7 ft wide to use with it.