Farmall Cub

I bought my first Cub over the winter. My dad had a late 40's highboy and my uncle Lowel had a 56 cub lowboy. I knew one day i had to get one. I especially remember my uncles cub at his memorial day and labor day parties in Ohio. Letting all us kids drive it and pull a wagon around the yard. I looked for one just like his, and finally found one that was unmolested and quite orginal. I plan on restoring it to its orginal shape, based on an old picture i found of my uncles lowboy. I bought a 1957 , with plow. I plowed the drive with it this winter worked good. Then i decided to put a mower on it, just so i can acutally use it instead of just looking at the garage. I thought about how i wanted to make it unique in a way. So though some connections i have, i got a 60" cub Cadet mower deck for a commericial mower. Keeping the bloodline alive, old cub meets new cub. Engineering design thoughts were 1) Robust design, 2) ease of removal and installation 2) cut quality, using free hanging design 2) low cost. Attached are some pics of what i did. Used it just the other day to cut the lawn. Designed the pulley ratios for max FPM blade tip speed. But Found out quickly that the cub probably needs an engine rebuild as it bogs down pretty good going uphill cutting grass. Howevwer had a great cut, commerical zero turn quality. When not under load design reaches over 15000 FPM tip speed and really spreads the grass out side discharge. Belt length was a challenge, but with the automatic tightener and the front adjustment U- bolt, and some help from Carlisle belt sales, we nailed it. Has a double covered Kelvar belt ( not shown in pics) , Deck can be removed from the side by removing 4 pins, cut hieght is designed from 1 to 5 inches, Matching rear hole adjustment to keep rake of deck correct.
I am going to use the cub for about a year and determine what needs to be done, besides the obvious paint job. I have noticed new tires are needed in the front, they seem to rut in the ground while turning. Need a turf tire design for mowing.
Cant add pictures at the moment, file size to big, If i get some interest i will go back and reduce the file size and post some pics of tractor and mower assy.

Rich from Ohio

Rich, welcome to the group, It sounds like you have the mower figured out. We always like pix so if you can't get them reduced, feel free to email them to jeepguy1@cinci.rr.com and I will post them for you.

By the way, you are about 4 hours from the Barnyard Bash CubFest near Cincinnati May 31 & June 1. You might want to reserve a motel room and spend the weekend with us. It's a great way to meet many of the forum members and learn a ton about Cubs. There is more info about the Bash at http://www.barnyardbash.com.

Here is a link about some of this years projects viewtopic.php?f=8&t=78290

And here are some pix of an earlier Bash to give you an idea what goes on. http://photos.cubfest.com/thumbnails.php?album=1102

Rich,

Welcome! Yes, take in the Bash if at all possible. I'm further away than you are and I'm making the trip. Well worth your time.

Bill

Rich:

G'day to you and congrats on acquiring your 1st new to you Cub. Judging by your story, I have a feeling you already are addicted and you could end up with a herd if you aren't careful

Suggest you follow the links below, lots of resources for our members including How To's on resizing if need be and posting pics to the photohost or other hosting sites for pics.

to Farmallcub.com Forum Family. And you have come to the right place for all things Cub related. If you click on the Site Rules, Regulations, & Important Information, it will point you to the Welcome Wagon wherein you will find links to many useful sites and topics. One of which is the Cub Manual Server. Enjoy!.

When you mentioned rake, did you mean slightly lower in front? If level or low in back cub can't pull it. All mowers should be set up this way.

Welcome to the forum from Arkansas, and yes, love to see the pictures and how it is set up. Sounds like you took an innovative approach and nailed it.

Thanks for the warm welcome. I compressed some photos hope they post. The Cub Cadet mower is off an Z force Zero turn. I has build in deck level adjusters so you can level it side to side and level front to back with the recommended 1/4" to 1/2" front tilt to the mower deck . Once this is established, the cut quality is very nice and does not cause the blades to drag on the back sucking power from the engine. At only 11 HP i was worried about this, but in first gear it cuts nicely. The rear mule drive pulleys were set up to be in the center of the travel of the deck and of coarse lined up with the rear PTO pull at a 90 deg turn. The auto belt tensioner keeps the belt tight as it swings up and down from Hydrualic unit. The u- bolt in the front is only to keep the belt tight. The deck bracket is designed to flex at rear pivot slightly and is hung by slotted bars to allow flex over uneven ground. Ideally the deck floats over the ground with respect to tractor . Also the main mower bracket mounts to the rear bracket mule drive at the location of pivot of the idler pulleys. This allows the deck to move up and down with minium change to belt lenght. It has an auto wash feature on it, ( hook a garden hose up to it) but doubt i will use that, i usually just blow off the grass.

One more pic

A Cub that mows like a Cadet! Cool!

That's neat and thanks for taking time to post the pictures.

Welcome to the forum.

I love this forum, great topics and very helpful. I think i found the issue with lack of power. Fuel sediment bowl, very dirty and clogged. Makes sense with the symptoms i was getting, where it starts off strong, but starts to blog down under full throttle after awhile. Let it sit and starts off strong again and repeats. Took the hood off to clean fuel system, then just continued to tear it down for painting, i will probably do the piston rings just for good measure. .

Welcome to the forum.

Uh-Oh... Hood's off.

I know , its hard to stop once you start.