New owner of a 1955 IH Cub Lo-Boy

[Denedbell]

Hi everyone, I just bought my tractor. Not sure what to do first. It runs well, idled too high, apparently had one owner, has a replacement carburetor that’s too large on it (71523093). Tires are good, but some dry rot. Needs painting, signage (decals, emblems, etc.). Has a Woods belly mower, but would like a flail mower. Need a fast hitch, tiller, front blade, eventually.

[Cubfriend]

That looks like the part number for an original Zenith carburetor for a Longstripe Cub. (71523R93) Do you have the serial number for the tractor? The Zenith carburetor looks too big for the manifold because the carburetor flange is larger than the manifold flange. But may be correct. Your original 55 Loboy would have had an IH carburetor on it.

[Stanton]

Welcome to the Forum!

Take some time and read through a few threads to acquaint yourself with the Forum:

• Welcome Wagon
• How to Upload Pictures to a Post
• Forum Picture Posting And Other Interesting Things You Can Do
• Using the Forum

Now that you’ve logged your 2nd post on the Forum, you'll have access to the all the PDF Manuals on this site. There’s a few ways to do that:

• From a desktop or laptop, go to "Quick Links" in the upper left corner of your screen. Hit that and a pull-down appears where you'll find "PDF Manuals".
• You can also go to “Cub Info” in the upper toolbar, then hit “Rudi’s Manuals”. From there, you can access a variety of information.
• If you're using a phone, go to the "Links Directory" (second category down the main page). Once in "Links Directory" , scroll down to the second section "Tractor Parts & Manuals" and you'll find them there.

Owner's Manuals, Service Manuals and Implement Manuals are available.

We’d encourage you to take the Safety Test located in the Safety Forum: http://farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=68084

Take some pictures of your tractors and post them, we’d like to see it.

Remember:

• Pictures are limited to 500 KB file size. Use an image reducer app or program to downsize pics.
• When you have a specific question, start a new thread in the appropriate sub-forum.
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Glad you joined us.

[Glen]

Hi,
The Cub LoBoy operator's manual can help you learn about maintenance that the LoBoy needs.

Below is the 1957 Cub LoBoy operator's manual. The experts on here recommend people read it. It has lots of info about operation, maintenance, and lubrication.
There is a table of contents on page 1, and the index begins on page 80.
It shows how Cub LoBoys originally looked in it. The lube section begins on page 21.

http://farmallcub.com/rudi_cub/www.clea ... index.html

It shows the electrical system that a 1955 Cub LoBoy originally had.
Cubs made before mid 1964 originally had 6 volt, positive ground electrical systems.
They have said on here that IH didn't make a new manual every year.
You can see in the pics in the manual on page 3, the 1957 and 1955 LoBoys looked the same.

The Touch Control fluid mentioned in the manual for the Touch Control, was changed later to Case IH Hy-Tran fluid. It is sold at Case IH dealers.
There are other brands, be sure it works with IH hydraulic systems before buying one.
The manual tells how to check and change the fluid, and remove the air from the system.
Check the fluid with the arms in the rear, or down position, the manual says.

I would check or change all the oils before using the LoBoy. Using it with low oil in a gear housing can damage the parts in the housing.
There are 3 separate gear housings, with 3 separate oil levels to check, in the rear area of a LoBoy, the transmission, and 2 final drives.

The transmissions in Cubs and LoBoys commonly get water in them, from rain, or condensation inside the housing over time.

The air cleaner is an oil bath air cleaner. Dirt that is sucked in settles to the bottom of the oil cup. It should have clean, light motor oil in the oil cup to work right.

There is a search at the top of the page, to the right of the Farmall Cub, you can search for info in posts that have been made.

Good luck with the LoBoy.

[SamsFarm]

Has a Woods belly mower, but would like a flail mower. Need a fast hitch, tiller, front blade, eventually.

Hate to rain on your parade, not to say that a tiller is impossible, but I will say, not very realistic!

Not only will you need to find the tiller (almost like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, almost!), but you will also need the extra gearbox that goes between the trans and final drive. (That gearbox will seem like it costs like a pot of gold if you find one for sale!)

They (tillers) are out there, I saw pics of them!

Good luck with your tractor and your search!

[69ranger]

Welcome, and good luck with your new to you Cub.
This is a wonderful place to learn, with many helpful folks willing to share what they know.
Your tractor will probably run better with the correct carb, and the zenith might be marketable, if in good workable condition.

Since replacement China made carbs are hit or miss on quality, so you might place an ad in the vine for an original I H carb, and see if some one out there has one.
A cub with a proper working carb, will run like a top. However, with the wrong one, if its not set up correctly, you will find it to be a pain in the neck.

I got some much needed help from Bob, with straightening up a warped original carb, at a cub fest a few weeks ago. The difference in the way the tractor runs on the correctly set up original and the China carb is like night and day.
Regards,
Brad

[Don McCombs]

I ‘m going to play the devil’s advocate here. I think the Chinese carbs are a good temporary solution while you’re locating an original. As mentioned, they do have some issues out of the box. But those issues are easy to resolve and they’re very inexpensive.

[Denedbell]

That looks like the part number for an original Zenith carburetor for a Longstripe Cub. (71523R93) Do you have the serial number for the tractor? The Zenith carburetor looks too big for the manifold because the carburetor flange is larger than the manifold flange. But may be correct. Your original 55 Loboy would have had an IH carburetor on it.

Thank you, Frank! The guy who sold me the tractor said it has a bigger carburetor on it than it should have. It runs, but is idled up too high. I think I have a Governor problem.
The serial number is 1003. From the engine, it looks like the tractor was made on June 8, ‘55. Because I t’s got 6-8 A on it and the serial number of the engine is 360719-RI.

[Denedbell]

I ‘m going to play the devil’s advocate here. I think the Chinese carbs are a good temporary solution while you’re locating an original. As mentioned, they do have some issues out of the box. But those issues are easy to resolve and they’re very inexpensive.

Thank you, Don! I see carburetors for $400 and some for $37. I’m more inclined to buy the $37 one.

[Denedbell]

Welcome, and good luck with your new to you Cub.
This is a wonderful place to learn, with many helpful folks willing to share what they know.
Your tractor will probably run better with the correct carb, and the zenith might be marketable, if in good workable condition.

Since replacement China made carbs are hit or miss on quality, so you might place an ad in the vine for an original I H carb, and see if some one out there has one.
A cub with a proper working carb, will run like a top. However, with the wrong one, if its not set up correctly, you will find it to be a pain in the neck.

I got some much needed help from Bob, with straightening up a warped original carb, at a cub fest a few weeks ago. The difference in the way the tractor runs on the correctly set up original and the China carb is like night and day.
Regards,
Brad

That’s good to know, Brad! Thanks for the advice! I think I will search for an original. I would much rather set my tractor up to run its best!

[Denedbell]

Welcome to the Forum!

Take some time and read through a few threads to acquaint yourself with the Forum:

• Welcome Wagon
• How to Upload Pictures to a Post
• Forum Picture Posting And Other Interesting Things You Can Do
• Using the Forum

Now that you’ve logged your 2nd post on the Forum, you'll have access to the all the PDF Manuals on this site. There’s a few ways to do that:

• From a desktop or laptop, go to "Quick Links" in the upper left corner of your screen. Hit that and a pull-down appears where you'll find "PDF Manuals".
• You can also go to “Cub Info” in the upper toolbar, then hit “Rudi’s Manuals”. From there, you can access a variety of information.
• If you're using a phone, go to the "Links Directory" (second category down the main page). Once in "Links Directory" , scroll down to the second section "Tractor Parts & Manuals" and you'll find them there.

Owner's Manuals, Service Manuals and Implement Manuals are available.

We’d encourage you to take the Safety Test located in the Safety Forum: http://farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=68084

Take some pictures of your tractors and post them, we’d like to see it.

Remember:

• Pictures are limited to 500 KB file size. Use an image reducer app or program to downsize pics.
• When you have a specific question, start a new thread in the appropriate sub-forum.
• Before posting, use the Preview button before hitting Submit--it'll show you exactly what your post will look like, including pictures.
• When adding your comments to a thread, be sure to look at the date of the last poster. If it’s more than a 6 months old, the posters are probably not going to see it. Consider starting a new thread.

Glad you joined us.

Thank you, Stanton! That is great info! I will post a picture of my tractor as soon as I figure out how to do so.

[Cubfriend]

That looks like the part number for an original Zenith carburetor for a Longstripe Cub. (71523R93) Do you have the serial number for the tractor? The Zenith carburetor looks too big for the manifold because the carburetor flange is larger than the manifold flange. But may be correct. Your original 55 Loboy would have had an IH carburetor on it.

Thank you, Frank! The guy who sold me the tractor said it has a bigger carburetor on it than it should have. It runs, but is idled up too high. I think I have a Governor problem.
The serial number is 1003. From the engine, it looks like the tractor was made on June 8, ‘55. Because I t’s got 6-8 A on it and the serial number of the engine is 360719-RI.

360719R1 is the part number for the hydraulic block on the touch control. The tractor serial number would be on a tag with four rivets at the bottom of the steering shaft.

[Don McCombs]

I ‘m going to play the devil’s advocate here. I think the Chinese carbs are a good temporary solution while you’re locating an original. As mentioned, they do have some issues out of the box. But those issues are easy to resolve and they’re very inexpensive.

Thank you, Don! I see carburetors for $400 and some for $37. I’m more inclined to buy the $37 one.

The $400 and $37 carburetors are not comparable, obviously. The $37 one is what I referred to above. Although, if you shop around on eBay, you can get it for less.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195008068958

[Denedbell]

Hi,
The Cub LoBoy operator's manual can help you learn about maintenance that the LoBoy needs.

Below is the 1957 Cub LoBoy operator's manual. The experts on here recommend people read it. It has lots of info about operation, maintenance, and lubrication.
There is a table of contents on page 1, and the index begins on page 80.
It shows how Cub LoBoys originally looked in it. The lube section begins on page 21.

http://farmallcub.com/rudi_cub/www.clea ... index.html

It shows the electrical system that a 1955 Cub LoBoy originally had.
Cubs made before mid 1964 originally had 6 volt, positive ground electrical systems.
They have said on here that IH didn't make a new manual every year.
You can see in the pics in the manual on page 3, the 1957 and 1955 LoBoys looked the same.

The Touch Control fluid mentioned in the manual for the Touch Control, was changed later to Case IH Hy-Tran fluid. It is sold at Case IH dealers.
There are other brands, be sure it works with IH hydraulic systems before buying one.
The manual tells how to check and change the fluid, and remove the air from the system.
Check the fluid with the arms in the rear, or down position, the manual says.

I would check or change all the oils before using the LoBoy. Using it with low oil in a gear housing can damage the parts in the housing.
There are 3 separate gear housings, with 3 separate oil levels to check, in the rear area of a LoBoy, the transmission, and 2 final drives.

The transmissions in Cubs and LoBoys commonly get water in them, from rain, or condensation inside the housing over time.

The air cleaner is an oil bath air cleaner. Dirt that is sucked in settles to the bottom of the oil cup. It should have clean, light motor oil in the oil cup to work right.

There is a search at the top of the page, to the right of the Farmall Cub, you can search for info in posts that have been made.

Good luck with the LoBoy.

Thank you, Glen! This is very helpful! I will follow your suggestions.

[Glen]

Hi,
The engine block part number is low on the left side of the engine, just above the oil pan.
The date code is just above the part number.

Usually the part number for a 1955 Cub or LoBoy engine would be 251341R7, the number could be different.

The manual I posted above shows where the engine serial number is on page 2.
The number is stamped in the block, you may need to clean the area, and use a light to see the number.
The engine serial number will be close to the tractor serial number, but not the same, it may be a few hundred, or a few thousand above the tractor serial number, if it is the original engine, sometimes people replace the engine.
The engine serial number was the same as the tractor serial number at the beginning of Cubs, for a while during 1947, but not after then, Raymond Durban's database shows.

Cubs and LoBoys have date codes cast on the larger castings of the tractor.
The codes tell the date the parts were made.
The year is a letter code.

Below is info from TM Tractor showing what date codes are.

http://www.tmtractor.com/id/id_004.htm

The page below shows where the date codes are.
The code on the clutch housing is usually partly behind the clutch pedal.

http://www.tmtractor.com/id/castdate_loc.htm

The Zenith carburetor was used on Cubs by IH beginning during 1975, until the end of Cubs.
The offset LoBoy wasn't made when they used the Zenith carb.
1968 was the last year they made the offset LoBoy, then they began making the numbered series LoBoys, which are a different style, not offset.

If you are going to put on an IH style carb, you may need a different air intake tube, if someone changed the original, and a different gas tube.
The Zenith carb originally uses a 1 piece rubber air intake hose, the connection on the Zenith carb is bigger than on the IH carb.
TM Tractor at the bottom of the page has them, you can look at the pics.

Below is the listing for the air intake tube.
A short piece of hose goes at each end of the tube.
They sell the 2 pieces of hose, and clamps also.

http://www.tmtractor.com/new/ae/265fp.htm

Below is the listing for the gas tube, it is for use with the under axle exhaust system.

http://www.tmtractor.com/new/fl/373fp.htm

They aren't called a Farmall Cub LoBoy. The name on the serial number plate and the hood is International Cub LoBoy. The Farmall Cub is a different model.

Below are pics from TM Tractor.
The 1st is an IH style carb on a Cub, I think it is a replacement one.
The 2nd is a Zenith carb for a Cub.
The 3rd is a serial number plate for a LoBoy.
Sometimes the words are faded away, or someone paints over the plate, then you can't see the words.