Reproduction Cub Carb....What's the deal?

[w30bob]

Hi Guys,

I see the reproduction Cub carb runs from $60 to $260 on eBay and they all look the same. First, are they all made by the same company? If so, is it any good? If there's more than one manufacturer how do you know which is the good one (if there is a good one) and which are junk. Looking at the pics I don't see any differences in the castings or other parts. So what's the deal with these carbs???

thanks,
bob

[Bill V in Md]

Bob,

Check out the below link for a good carburetor evaluation article from Don McCombs. Also, at the bottom of the article are some related posts from Bob McCarty that should address your question.
http://farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=139&t=20230

[w30bob]

Thanks Bill........I read the posts and others listed at the bottom of the page. I still have a few questions maybe someone could answer.....

All the posts talked about the differences.......but has anyone installed and run one on a Cub? Did it perform satisfactorily?

I'm still not clear on whether all the repop carbs are the same.......or are there 2 or 3 made by different manufacturers?

Thanks,
Bob

[Landreo]

China is not a manufacturing monolith and many companies may make the same things. However,there can't be a big market for cub reproduction carbs so they all may be manufactured by only one company. A quick look on the "made in China" site shows only one company offering bulk rate carbs but I may have missed seeing another company.

I looked at several websites with the $200 plus carbs. They look the same as the $50 carbs. Steiner states they designed the carb to be the same as the IH version so all these repro carbs may have started with Steiner. They certainly have the clout and the connections to start such a thing. TM claims to sell a carb assembled in the USA but looks like all the others. I am not sure what they mean by "assembled in the USA". YT also sells a $200 plus carb but it looks the same as all the others. You may write those companies and ask them to justify the price difference. It would be interesting to see their responses if any.

I have a cub that is rarely used but had a carb break in half so I put on my spare. I decided to get an eBay carb to replace that spare. It is good to have a spare laying around. So I ordered one around a month ago. Prices on eBay varied a lot when shipping was included. Several companies located in a city in Kentucky had shipping up to $30 range! That is a lot to ship that heavy carb from Kentucky and I was also surprised that that city in Kentucky was such a carb hotbed to have several companies supplying the same repro carbs. Either way, I got my carb from Rancho Cucumonga, California for less than $55 with shipping. It was raining when it arrived so I did not put it on the tractor but took it apart to measure and compare the carb to my old carbs, my broken carb, and to several rebuild kits. I will post those measurements in a later post.

Eventually I put the carb on the tractor and it would not accelerate well, lots of stumbling. Took it apart, fooled with it, switched jets etc from a IH carb with no results. Spent way too much time fooling with that carb. Put the old carb on and .... same thing! Although I have had this cub for many years I have maybe 1 hour total run time since I got it. I bought this to make another tricycle cub but have not yet started on that project so I assume the cub has run poorly since I got it. I eventually followed Eugene's advice which is to do a complete tuneup. I got to the timing and the best the mag would do was to trip at around 10 degrees AFTER TDC. The mag had been installed 1 tooth off. I re-timed the mag, put in a new governor seal since it did not have one. Fixed the fan while I was in there, put it all back together, and it ran much better. Still with some stumbling but better. I was convinced in the past that the stumble was due to the carb being lean but for some reason I tried winding the idle adjustment out instead of in and it ran perfectly. No stumble. I took it out and mowed some 1 1/2 foot tall weeds with no problems. No leaks from the carb and no other issues from the engine.

Long story but the carb I bought works well once I fixed the other issues with the engine. I have no secret knowledge as to who makes the carbs but I suspect it all started with Steiner and they are now sold everywhere and are made by only one manufacturer. I expect the $50 carb I bought is exactly the same as the $250 carb at least as currently offered. That may have not been true several years ago. Still, it would be interesting hear how the $250 carb folks justify their price based on any quality differences.

Once I have some time, later tonight, I will post my data on my $50 carb compared to the IH carbs and repair kits.

[Don McCombs]

Not all repro carbs are manufactured by the same entity. The $200+ carb sold by TM, Steiner, et al, is a much better product than those sold on eBay in the $50-$75 range.

[Landreo]

Not all repro carbs are manufactured by the same entity. The $200+ carb sold by TM, Steiner, et al, is a much better product than those sold on eBay in the $50-$75 range.

How do you know who makes the carbs? I found a lot of sellers but I could only find one manufacturer although but I could have missed one.

What is a better product? What objective data shows the over $200 carbs, 4 times the cost of the carb I bought, are better and what defines better?

Sometimes you get what you payed for and sometimes you pay more but did not get more. What quality improvements are in the over $200 carb that would justify a 4 times cost differential as compared to the $50 carbs?

That is why I like to limit my personal opinions but present objective data instead.

[Don McCombs]

My "personal opinion" is based on a hands-on observation of both carburetors in an assembled and disassembled condition, and discussions with several others who are knowledgeable about IH Cub carburetors. Before criticizing other's "personal opinions", maybe you should do the same.

[Barnyard]

I talked to a member this weekend at the Bash who has taken one of the cheap carbs apart and did a comparison against the other carbs. It was very interesting to hear what was found. I will not go into detail, but will hope that person shares his findings with us.

[indy61]

I bought one, couldn't resist the price. Works great but the biggest improvement was adding an inline fuel filter. That sediment bowl does not cut it.

[w30bob]

Indy.......why do you have that much crap in your fuel to begin with? Now I have to confess......when I checked the tank on my '59 I was amazed at how much junk was in the depression around where the sediment bowl screws in. But I cleaned all that out and I don't see anything in the sediment bowl anymore. Tank has also stayed clean. Just sayin'.

regards,
bob

[Jim Becker]

I talked to a member this weekend at the Bash who has taken one of the cheap carbs apart and did a comparison against the other carbs. It was very interesting to hear what was found. I will not go into detail, but will hope that person shares his findings with us.

I guess you were talking to Bob McCarty. If so, he already posted details of what he found concerning poor fit, incorrectly sized internals and incompatibility of parts to the originals. I believe he included a modification or two that could be made to the cheap knock-off version to make it more likely to work OK. His posts can be found by following the links provided in the first reply of this thread. Here are shortcuts to them:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=99162

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=99163

[Dennis]

I think this topic has run it's course. . . thanks.

Locked.