Retrofitting a 107 with hydraulics

[Ritter107]

I'm thinking abotu fitting my 107 with hydraulics to lift the blade/thrower/deck and to angle the blade hydraulically from within my cab. Has anyone here done this?

I saw a 126 last summer with both the hydraulic lift and a remote set of lines at the front. He had his pump mounted on the left rear of the engine, with spools on the right in place ot the lift handle, and his ram mounted inside the frame rails on the left. Or at least... that's how i remember it.

Does anyone have any thoughts/ideas/experiance in doing this? I do have slightly more power than an original 107 as this tractor has a 12hp Kohler in it now. If anyone has pics of how thye did this, or a good idea of where to obtain the hydraulic parts from, that would be much appriciated. Cheers!
- Jon

[R Bedell]

What you are describing on the 126 was a "custom made" system. Cub Cadet NEVER offered anything like what you described. They did offer an Auxillary Hydraulic Unit for Narrow Frame Cubs as a bolt on option but that is it.

I would be interested in seeing what you have described, in that the Hydraulic cylinder for the above CC kit was mount on the outside of the frame rail. The tunnel area on a NF cub is pretty tight to install a hydraulic cylinder in there.

I have seen NF Cubs that were installed with a Ported Hydro Unit and a dual spool valve to get the hydraulics similar to the WF Cubs, but that still was a custom application.

[Ritter107]

Oh yeah, i know it was a custom job, but i'm just wondering who else has done this. I got offered that tractor for 700 bucks too....



out of curiosity... does anyone know if the transmission and hydraulic lift from a 129 could be installed into a 107 frame? If so... would the bolts all line up for an essentially Drop in fit? I know i'd have to rework where they spools go and they hydraulic lines.


I have ready access to a 129 with hydralic lift.... The tractor is dead, but the tranny and the hydraulics are good. How hard would it be to retrofit it into the 107 frame? I just repainted the 107 this summer... so i don't want to end up with a 129 hulk sitting there unless i am very sure it can be done, and done without screwing up too much of my hard work in the resotration of the 107. Cheers!

[R Bedell]

In researching this in the Parts Manuals, the "rear end" is the same for the 107 as well as the 129. Rear End is defined as the cast iron transaxle and the hydro unit. So, this would be a drop in replacement.

Now, where your ingenuity comes in to play here, is the routing of the Hydraulic Lines, mounting of the Spool Valve, and the lever and linkage for same.

[Paul B]

I posted this once before, but don't ask me where it is - out there some place.

The transaxle from any IH built Cub Cadet with hydraulic lift can be used, in fact all you really need is the ported pump, but may be easier to swap the complete assembly. The hard part is fitting it and the lines into a 107 frame, because it does not have a top access (tunnel cover) like the 129 does. The spool valve could be adapted, fitting the lift cylinder inside the frame may be a problem due to space. A dual spool valve from a Cub Cadet with hyd lift and front outlets could be used also. Lines would have to be fabricated.

It can be done, but the only thing that is a bolt in swap, is bolting the other transaxle to the frame. Everything else is custom fabrication, in some very tight quarters, from the bottom side of the tractor.

[Donny M]

Paul wrote,

I posted this once before, but don't ask me where it is - out there some place.

Probably lost in the ether http://www.tu-harburg.de/rzt/rzt/it/Ether.html

[Ritter107]

That's all i needed to hear gents, thanks


If the rear end will fit, i'm set. I can build damn near anything out of anything.... I had thought about swapping the pump out, or just the entire transmission. I just needed to know if the bolt holes would align for the tranny, or if i can get away with just changing my pump. Running lines, and mounting the lift cylinder isn't an issue. I would rather just change my tranny and etc and add the 129's hydraulics rather than mess with adding an entirely seperate pump and etc.

If i found a second spool off a 129 could i use that for a set of remotes? i could easily remount that second spool inside the tractor to make it work... assuming, that the spool is up to the job of running the remote... which i can't see it not being. If that's not possible, should i just get a 2 spool control valve and run my lines to it and be done at that?


I can buy the carcass of that 129 for 110 bucks... so if i can jsut swap parts... i'm down with that. Cheers.

[Ritter107]

Anybody know how wide the tunnel cover is on the 129? I measured on my 107 and i went with 7.75 inches... i took about a quarter inch off intentionally. This was by measuring across the top of the tunnel.

I went and looked at that 129 today, for 110 bucks i get the rear end, lines, hydraulic ram, spool, and then the frame and dash... which i don't need.

From just eyeballing it, i believe i can snake the steel lines from the pump past the fan and up under the dash... then fit the spool in there, and i shall then mount the ram on the outside of the frame and connect it to the sawed off attachment lift arm. I may have to make some special lines to connect all together... but i believe it can be done. I do have another question, are the hydraulics on a Cub Cadet open or closed center? I believe they are open center.

[Paul B]

They are open I believe.

Not sure about the tunnel width, but the rear of the frame rails, from the rear of the dash pedestal back, are the same distance apart on both wide frame (129) and narrow frame (107) tractors, although the wide frame rails are about twice as tall as the narrow frame.

[Ritter107]

rgr