Farmall Cub

Hi Guys,

Here's the update on the '57 governor rebuild.

The spring leaver arms were worn badly as you will recall and each cost over $100 new from the IH dealer! Ouch, I couldn't afford that so after some back and forth with several of you, I decided to drill the holes out to accept a 1/4" roll pin (thanks again to Beaconlight Bill who had the roll pin epiphany). The pin is a perfect inside diameter once installed, but you will want to squash it a little in the vice before pressing it into the drilled hole so it goes in snug but not so tight that it might break the casting (I put a little Loc-Tight on for good measure. Cut the excess pin off level with the casting and it’s a perfect fix! I also beveled the edges a little to prevent the hardened pin from cutting into the new spring.

Cost of 2 new spring leaver arms - $210 + shipping.
Cost of roll pin fix - $0.35.
Feeling you get knowing you have $209.65 left to spend on Cub parts – priceless.

While I was inside, I replaced all of the internal parts except the gear assembly and weights. Some of the bushings and bearings probably didn’t need replacement, but while I was there… Surprisingly, everything else in the governor is relatively inexpensive, so the entire bill including the ignition unit seal came to less than $90.

The throttle is now more responsive, and the governor is quick to pick up when the tractor is under load, and I’m enjoying the Cub more than ever.

Thanks to everyone who helped me get through this repair.

Glad an old geezer could help. Just hope the Politically Correct Police don't nab you.

Bill

Truthfully Bill, the PC Police will have to look awfully hard. Except for a slight crease where the pin collapses together, you dont know its not new once it's painted.

Slappy and Beaconlight,

I'm working on governor rebuild procedures and tips, similar to what I did with carburetor repairs, and will send it to Rudi later this winter to post to his server. Northeast Cubfest had a governor rebuild workshop hosted by Josh Van Oostrum which I intend to use as the basis of the presentation. I'm yanking a governor out of one of my Cubs so I can get some better pictures as well as fixing up that pesky critter.

I would like your permission to include the little blurb about the repairing the spring lever arms. I would need a bit more info - where you bought the new roll pin, drill size, any special techniques or equipment you used, problems you ran into, what you would do differently. If you still have the receipts, I'd like copies for a bill of materials with part numbers and prices - scanned, photocopied, or just a parts list - let me know what works best for you.

Collecting and posting this type of information helps a lot of guys trying to solve the same nagging problems. Thanks for your informative message on the forum and please consider helping in this effort.

Thanks,

Lurker Carl

Hi LC,

I will check and see if I still have the bill and part numbers. My IH dealer was able to cross reference all of the parts with the old parts catalog numbers. The only one that gave him a little trouble was the weight pin. Apparently they no longer make weight pins for the older Cubs - I want to say serial numbers lower than 19#,###. I don't recall the exact number, but perhaps you will know when IH changed their design.

Beaconlight is the mastermind behind the roll pin idea, I just used a little common sense to impliment his idea. The roll pin was a standard 1/4" pin available at any good hardware - 35 cents at my ACE hardware store. If I remember correctly, I used a 1/4" bit - I do know that 7/32" is too small. You will want to drill the new hole using a drill press if you can. I think it would be tough (but perhaps not impossible) to hand drill a straight hole. The existing hole is, of course, out of round due to wear and fairly close to the size of your drill bit, so binding would be a concern if you hand drill - just my opinion.

I was hesitant to let the pin collapse by driving it in. The castings are thin enough that I was afraid of cracking them, so I collapsed the pin a bit in the vise before installing it. It still went in nice and tight and I added a little Loc-Tight for insurance. Be sure to orient the pin such that the groove (point where the walls of the pin meet when collapsed) is on the opposite side of where the governor spring will rest. Once through, I used a hacksaw to cut off the protruding roll pin ends and filed them smooth with the casting. I then used a Dremel tool and small grinding stone to bevel the roll pin edges slightly so they wouldn't cut into the spring. I think the roll pin is hardened and so I doubt that the repaired leaver arms will ever need another repair, but if I do, it would be a simple matter to drive the worn pin out and put a new one in.

Here is one part of the rebuild that I did have trouble with. Depending on the source consulted, governor drive gear endplay should be around 0.020". I had 3 times that. The only way to make that up is by pressing the gear a bit further down the shaft. My gear would not budge on the shaft. Now it looked like it came right out of the box after I cleaned the oil off - no rust or corrosion and shiney bright, but hammer blows wouldn't budge it, and when I put it in a press it started to mushroom the end of the shaft. I was afraid to ruin the assembly by bending the shaft or expanding the shaft end so I re-installed it as it was. I did soak the assembly in PB blaster for a day or two, but I didn't know any other tricks.

The rest of the rebuild is a "no-brainer" put the new parts in and you're done.

In your narrative it would be useful to explain how to pop the casting holding the drive gear and shaft out of the main body casting. When you first see it, it looks to us novices like it's pressed in there for life.

Slappy,

Excellent info, this will keep a bunch of guys from trying to 'reinvent the wheel' when faced with the same problems. Thanks again for sharing your experiences.

Carl

Beaconlight is the mastermind behind the roll pin idea,

great repair idea. my 48 needs a little help in that area, and a new radiator (although the old one stopped leaking at the moment) is on the shelf, ready to go. oh, and a front crank seal, and and and , well, you get the idea.

Carl, wasn't Cubfest Northeast in June? you need a 'round-to-it' as bad as i do. tell Cathy i said hello

Couldn't you use thrust washers in the shaft to remove end play? Different thickness are available and you can install on either on both ends. If not why not solid slug washers in the holes the shaft fits into. That works if they are not through holes.
You have to adjust end play and gear lash like this in other machinery. Why not here? I never had a gov this far apart, so this may not make sense in this application, but it works elsewhere.


Bill

My governor had too much play as well. I could not mve the gear with heat and a 20 ton press, I bent my channel iron press block trying. I ordered a different shaft and weight assembly from TM tractor with much less play and when I took it apart to clean it up it had a thrust washer in it. I think that is the best fix.

As a newbi to mechanic work (never touched a wrench until I bought my H), I'm going to fess up to being ignorant here...

What is a thrust washer and how is it different from a slug washer?

I don't believe that you could fill the hole behind the shaft. While it would reduce the end travel it would push the gear out away from the casting making the gap too large - the BR manual says that the endply is measured between the casting and the gear.

Daniel, where was the thrust washer on the unit you got from TM?

One more stupid question: What symptoms are present if you have too much endplay?

Glad to see the old ways work. My grand father is probably smiling down at us from heaven right now. He was one of the champion fix it make do guys I ever met. Bill Murowski was the other
Old electric motors can be a good source of thrust washers. There are a number of different size shafts and different thickness available. Some one nearby is always throwing out an old washimg machine or dryer.
As my friend Steve Kartalas used to say "For free ok. for buy waste time".

Bill

A thrust washer is any washer used to tke up end play if it fits over a shaft. Generally they go where there is a step in the diamater of the shaft or where there is a gear, the end of an armature on an electric motor and the housing or bearing. A thrust washer limits )end to end) lateral movement of a shaft. They can be used at either or both ends of a shaft to force the shaft the direction you want it and at the same time limit movement. Usually you will use a number of real thim washers rather than 1 thick one. This lets you creep up on the adjustment and distributes wear.
A slug washer is generally a solid (no cemter hole washer) that fits in the bore that the shaft turns in and limits travel end to end. This does not work if the bore is a through hole.
Hope that explanes it for you.

Bill

Lurker Carl,
I'm looking foreward to you're Gov. rebuild tips. I have you're Carb. fixing article and i'ts excellent. Looking foreward to seeing you again at Cub-A-RAMA, and the " Dumpling Pot ". Hopefully by then you will have forgotten I'ts my turn to buy.

Elmer.

Automatic transmissions are a good source of thrust washers, also. Dad used them in my gov.

Elmer Fields wrote:Lurker Carl,
I'm looking foreward to you're Gov. rebuild tips. I have you're Carb. fixing article and i'ts excellent. Looking foreward to seeing you again at Cub-A-RAMA, and the " Dumpling Pot ". Hopefully by then you will have forgotten I'ts my turn to buy.

Elmer.

Elmer - It's good to hear from you! We had a great time at Cubarama and especially at the Dumpling Pot. We're looking forward to next year!