1950 Farmall Cub Refresh

[tractorjunky]

Two years ago we acquired a 1950 Farmall Cub through an online auction. The tractor ran well, but has some clutch problems. It also was repainted at some point. Since I bought this tractor for the wife, she wants to clean it up and paint it. When I met my wife, I already had several tractors and was dragging her to tractor shows. She decided if we are going to shows, she wants her own tractor. The reason she decided on the Cub was due to the headlights. The headlights make it look like a bug.

I always enjoy reading stories and looking at pictures of the restoration process. So I thought I would start this thread and share the story of refreshing this 1950 Cub. We finally got around to working on the tractor before my oldest daughter got too old and lost interest in machines. We are trying to make sure she is exposed mechanics, engineering and problem solving.

Here is the picture of the Cub when I went to pick it up. Serial Number: 120970

[tractorjunky]

After getting the Cub home, one of the problems I noticed while driving it around were the brakes. The pedals did not seem to want to move much and there was little to no braking power. So the first thing we are diving into is replacing the brakes. We pulled off the right side final drive and of course, while you are in there, we finished taking the final drive apart to replace all the seals and inspect the bearings. When taking the brake drum off, we found our first surprise. The brake drum is sleeved. Due to the sleeve we had to press the drum off due to the slightly tighter fit.

Sleeved Drum

Before we could continue with rebuilding the Final Drive, we needed to do some upgrades to the parts washer. We installed a bucket underneath with a submersible pump and a filter unit. Now the parts washer is working a whole lot better.

Parts Washer Upgrade

[tractorjunky]

With a better operating parts washer, we finished cleaning all the parts and started the wire brushing, priming and painting process.

Paint Booth

Painted Parts

Since discovering the brake drum was sleeved I had decided to get a different drum. Once I got the pinion shaft cleaned up, I thought I would trail fit the new drum to the shaft. New problem discovered. The keyway on the new drum is about half the thickness of the sleeved drum. Where there two different drums available? Seems odd that someone would machine a larger keyway into the shaft. Either way, the old drum will be going back in.

Drum Comparison

The only thing we have left before assembly is wire brushing the Final Drive housing and priming it.

[tractorjunky]

I forgot to post a picture of the patient with the right Final Drive removed.

Final Drive Removed

[Barnyard]

Bring it to the Bash.

[Bill Hudson]

Bring it to the Bash.

Yes, you betcha! You're just around the corner. Others will be there from a lot further away.

Bill

[tractorjunky]

Yes, we have the bash on the calendar. Probably won't bring this one, but we may bring the other 1950 cub we have. I bought this one at a consignment sale in 2020. It was not running when I picked it up and I refused to push it off the trailer. After freeing up the throttle linkage, cleaning and lining the tank and replacing the plugs, wires and points, I drove it off the trailer. This one is in real nice original condition. Even the wiring harness is not molested.

[Stanton]

Nice looking Cub in work clothes.

[tractorjunky]

We were not able to get much done on the cub this weekend. Only was able to wire brush and prime the final drive housing. But I was able to finally fix the hydraulic leak in our Cub Cadet 2182. Apparently cork gaskets are only good for 30 years. The snowblower (soon to be converted to mower deck) still goes up and down and the tractor forward and back. I haven't checked back in to see if there is a puddle under it again.

[tractorjunky]

We made a little more progress this weekend. We were able to reassemble the right final drive. I left the casting in primer so after assembly we can do a color coat so all of the joints get painted and cover any tool damage to the bolt paint.

Reinstalling the sleeved brake drum went fairly smooth. We were able to tap into place using a brass drift and a hammer.

Next up, install the new brake band lining, cleaning up the axle tube, transmission housing and the bottom of the platform.

[tractorjunky]

Spring is here, so I have had to spend time working on other things. But this weekend, I was able to make a little more progress. We were able to finish lining the brake band.

We also cleaned up the axle tube and reattached it to the final final drive.

I have started to clean the transmission, bottom of the platform and brake pedals.

We also cleaned up the left fender and got it in the prime.

Slowly but surely we are making progress.

[Glen]

Since discovering the brake drum was sleeved I had decided to get a different drum. Once I got the pinion shaft cleaned up, I thought I would trail fit the new drum to the shaft. New problem discovered. The keyway on the new drum is about half the thickness of the sleeved drum. Where there two different drums available? Seems odd that someone would machine a larger keyway into the shaft. Either way, the old drum will be going back in.

Hi,
The Cub parts manual shows there was 1 width of key for the shaft and brake drum.
My guess is the original keyway was worn, and someone made the keyway wider.

You could probably buy a used shaft at JP Tractor Salvage if you wanted to use the brake drum you bought.

Below is a listing at TM Tractor for the left brake shaft, you can see the keyway width in the lower left pic.

http://www.tmtractor.com/new/fr/662fp.htm

Below are pages from the Cub parts manual showing the final drives, and brakes, the key is number 7 in the pic, it tells it's size in the description.

http://www.farmallcub.info/manuals/cub_ ... 007-12.jpg

http://www.farmallcub.info/manuals/cub_ ... 007-13.jpg

[tractorjunky]

It has been a while since we have had time to work on the cub. Spring and Summer work, Barnyard Bash visit along with a vacation has been consuming our time. But I try and steal a few moments when I can.

I finally upgraded the gun in my sandblast cabinet with one from Skat blast. Boy what a difference, it transforms the Harbor Freight Cabinet into a real tool. With the upgrade I needed something to try it out with, so I decided to attack the seat post.

Here is my layout picture after I took it apart so I had a reference of how to put it back together.

My oldest daughter helped with the blasting and the priming and painting. She is starting to get the hang of painting with a spray can but has a little way to go with her technique, but she helped with the priming and painting.

Once everything was dry, we laid out the parts to see if our before and after paint pictures matched.

Last step was final assembly. Here is our final product.

Once the humidity breaks, we can get back to finish cleaning and priming the transmission and platform so we can reinstall the final drive.

[Pap]

Everything is looking great. I am looking forward to seeing it finished.

[tractorjunky]

I was able to get some shop time in over the long weekend. We have been painting the vinyl siding on the house the last few weeks so it was a nice change of pace.

With the cooler weather I thought it was time to finish wire brushing the bottom of the platform and the transmission and get a coat of primer on it.

While the primer was drying, I hit the wheel weight with the wire brush and got that into primer as well.

Before I left for the day, I was able to get the hidden parts after assembly a couple coats of red.

I couple weeks ago I also finished the wheel center.

I will give the paint a week or so to harden and then we can finally reinstall the Final Drive, fender, platform and wheel center with wheel weight.