Paw's 49 is home!!!!

[paw's49]

Hey guys....finally took my little trailer and the truck up to Mom's. Used a come-along to load it, and did about 30mph all the way home (it's just a lawnmower trailer - single axle, etc.). That lil trailer creaked and moaned all the way, but thankfully nothing broke. Got a tarp at WalMart to cover her up with, but first, here's some pictures - the first ones taken out in the open with a little sunlight.....

Looks like the right headlight could use some alignment...



Had to wire up the cultivator bar to get it loaded....



What a power plant!!!



Looks like a coil to me?? No magneto? Someone said it was hard to tell for sure in my previous pictures.....



Notice the bad battery cable....I have a new one ordered, but still hasn't come in yet, but I do have a new braided one to put on....





At least I have rear-wheel weights, I think....right?



OK, I have her home.....what do I do now?
I think first I'll hook the battery up to the charger, go get some fresh gas (the tank is empty). Radiator is full, so I guess that's a good sign. Outside of all the above, what is the very 1st thing you guys would do to get it started. Now is when the hand-holding begins.....cause like I've said, I'm a million light years from being a mechanic. Oh, I did check the serial number once again - it's 81987. And since I have it outside, I can finally see the casting numbers. Looks like I have two? One is on the exhaust side - 351686-R1, on the other side - 351981R. From what I've seen, isn't R for 1948? Could this not be the original engine?
Thanks a bunch! I know a lot of you are busy getting ready for CubFest, so I understand if it takes a while to get back to me.
Craig

[Bigdog]

Congratulations on getting the tractor home! Now for the fun! Before starting it up, take a good look at the engine oil. If it looks black and gummy, or milky, change it, run some kerosene through the block to flush it and change the filter. If it looks and feels reasonably good you can probably leave it in long enough to get it started but change it soon.
Pull the plugs, clean and gap them, clean and adjust the points. When you put gas in the tank, remove the plug on the carb and flush some gas through there before trying to start it. Then, when you are sure you have good fresh fluids, a charged battery and the plugs and points are clean and set, give it a whirl!
The numbers you listed on the castings are part numbers, not casting dates. There are pictures of what the casting dates look on the cub FAQ page on atis.net

[George Willer]

Craig,

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like you will have a GREAT project for a couple reasons. The most important is, of course, the family connection, but also important is that it looks to be in such good shape. We will be following the restoration with interest... keep us posted with pictures of your progress. We'll help you wherever we can.

[capt jack]

Looks like it will take very little work to get the tractor running. Although around here I steam clean a new toy before doing anything to it. That gives me some 'see where she leaks at' info when I get it running. Lots of old drippings can just get you back to square one. Good luck and keep us posted with those great photos you took.
capt

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

Congrtulations on getting the cub home. now have fun. Until I retired it was great therapy for me to go to the shed and get wrapped up in working on a tractor, and the whole world went away for awhile. You have a magneto htat has been converted to use a battery ignition coil. I have a 48 that has been running that way for over 18 years. Easy to put back, but I would worry about getting everything else lined out first.

[countershaft]

I'm not that familiar with a magneto ignition coversion , buy that one pic where the coil sits on top, looks like it was added to the ignition system as Big Dog explained earlier. I don't have all that "stuff" on my '58 and it's got a distributor on it I don't know what a magneto looks like, but it sure looks like a coil has been added too me. Anybody want to comment ?

[Bigdog]

That housing that the distributor cap is attached to that has the square black plastic dome on it is the magneto. As John stated the conversion is usually long lived. Magneto coils were prone to failure in the early days and became kind of expensive when battery / distributor ignition systems became popular so many field conversions were done to keep tractors running. Get your tractor running as it is now and worry about changing back after you get it evaluated.

[paw's49]

Thanks all of you for your advice. Bigdog, will do as you say and check all those things out. But, to clarify, ok, I still DO have a magneto - no distributor - and, as I understand it, the magneto was there for the spark needed to start the tractor. The magneto went bad, and would not create a spark, so, a coil and battery was added to provide the spark. So the magneto is basically a free rider - not doing anything other than sitting there - and now it's all up to the battery and coil, right? And if this is the case, I couldn't hand-crank the tractor even if I wanted to, since the magneto is bad?
Also, I found the engine casting: 5 10 S - looks like May 10, 1949 - so hopefully that's the original engine.
You guys are the greatest!!
Craig

[WJ]

If you have a battery, would should be able to hand crank your tractor. Turn everything on like you are going to start it, instead of using the starter use the crank.

Willis

[Bigdog]

Craig, you are still using the distributor portion of your magneto to deliver the spark generated by the coil. You can still crank the tractor and you are still using half of the magneto assembly.

[capt jack]

If you try to hand crank it, please take a piece of advice from an old guy. Tuck your thumb under and into the palm of your hand and crank with the four fingers as a cup. If you grab the crank and pull, and the engine spits back, it will break your thumb. End of lecture

[beaconlight]

Capt Jack stole the words out of my mouth.

Bill

[Paul B]

To clarify what Capt Jack said, if you don't tuck your thumb into your palm and it kicks back, it will break your thumb. Always crank with your fingers and thumb on the same side of the crank handle, don't wrap your hand around the handle. When cranking, just pull the crank handle up from the bottom of it's throw (arc) to the top of the throw, and repeat as necessary. Do not try to "spin" the crank

[George Willer]

To clarify what Capt Jack said, if you don't tuck your thumb into your palm and it kicks back, it will break your thumb. Always crank with your fingers and thumb on the same side of the crank handle, don't wrap your hand around the handle. When cranking, just pull the crank handle up from the bottom of it's throw (arc) to the top of the throw, and repeat as necessary. Do not try to "spin" the crank

And to clarify even further... the reason for kickback is incorrect timing. It's tempting to advance timing a little because they do seem to run smoother, but it's that firing before TDC that causes kickback. One thing that can get a guy in trouble... there is no way of knowing without actually doing the timing whether it is advanced or not and you never know whether the last guy knew what he was doing. Some "experts", even on this board, recommend advancing the timing. Pay them no attention!

[paw's49]

Well I will definitely be careful when and if I ever try handcranking.

Cleaned and gapped the plugs, but did not do the points due to lack of knowledge - but will find out how. Father-in-law was a mechanic, so I'm sure he knows how. That glass sediment bowl was named correctly - looks like it has about 1/4" of honey in the bottom. Attempted to take the plug out of the carb, but it didn't seem to want to cooperate, so I didn't push it too much - didn't want to ream something off. Oil is black and needs changing and I'm sure the filter does too. Will get a filter when I go back to the local Case dealer this Saturday, about 40 minutes away.

One thing I did notice that I'm sure isn't right - I pulled the middle wire off the coil - isn't it supposed to have a "flat piece of metal" on the end of that wire inside that boot? If so, it's gone - nothing there but bare strands of wire twisted.

Craig