Novice to Cubs Needs Help

[Little Indy]

Recently I bought a IH Cub (not low boy); I think 1955 or 54 model.
I thought it was 6 volt but it had a 12 volt battery. It had its wires to lights removed. It was working well, starting well, and loves to cut grass. I was planning to rebuild (not restore). Battery died.

I have several questions.
Was it originally a 12 volt or a 6 volt system?
If 6 volt and the starter is still 6 volt, would you convert to 12 volt system?
Are there 12 volt bulbs that fit 6 volt sockets?
Best manual for repairing Cubs beside this collective wisdom of this forum?
Does Cubs have a postive or a negative ground?
Thanks you guys for any help you can give. I am sure Little Indy would thank you as well.
Richard

[beaconlight]

Little Indy
I can answer some of your Questions,
Yes there are 12 bulbe that fit 6 volt sockets.
6 volt and 12 volt tractors both work well. If you use a 6 volt starter with a 12 volt Batt no problem as long as you don't crank for an excessive amount of time.
6 volt cubs have pos ground and 12 volt have negative ground as supplied from the factory. With a conversion you can tell by looking at the battery.
If you have a 6 volt coil it should have a dropping resistor in series with it. Some 12 volt coils call for a resistor and some have one built in.
If you have a magnito you have no connection to the battery circuit. Sort of like a lawn mower.
If you have a 6 volt Generator it will not charge a 12 volt battery. If that is the case the battery just ran down and you can recharge it. In cases the charging circuit requires the lights to be on to excite the fiel winding of the generator.
The experts will give you the how to get parts and operating manuals, the serial number reference to year of manufacture as wel as wiring diagrams.
how you use that will depend on your answers to some of the IF's I posed above.

Welcome to the cub forum
Bill

[Lurker Carl]

Hi Richard,

Welcome to the Cub family, and get ready to do alot of reading!

Read the info on the links provided here: http://www.farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1459 , and you'll find the answers to most of your questions and more.

Before you get to involved with fixin' and replacin' and repairin', pin down the year from the serial number. If the serial number plate is missing, you can get a good idea of the year from the casting codes on the major components like the engine block, torque tube, etc.

Rudi's website will allow you access to lots of manuals for the Cub and associated equipment, but the 3 most important ones are the service manual, operators manual and parts manual. You'll want hard copies of these, and can be ordered from Binder Books at http://www.binderbooks.com. Of course, the ones you order depend on the year of your Cub.

You need to do some detective work to see how much of the electrical system was converted to 12 Volt.

Good luck and have fun with your Cub,

Lurker Carl

[Little Indy]

The serial number plate was painted over before I bought; the humber on the left side of the engine (operator's point of reference) is 251341 and the number on the right hand side of the torque tube is 351688.
Can anyone tell me the year of manufacture?
Little Indy would appreciate knwing how old he is.
Richard

[Rudi]

Carefully use a water based paint stripper, lay it on lightly after you have masked off around the serial number plate. Use a tooth brush to remove the bubbled up paint. Once the top coat of paint is off and you are down to bare aluminum, you should be able to discern the serial number.

If not, take a piece of white paper, and then use a pencil to rub over the serial number. It should become visible.

Trying to date a tractor by casting codes is marginal at best. You probably can get to within 6-12 months, provided that the parts have not been replaced.

Hope this helps some.