Farmall Cub

I'm new here, so here goes. I bought a not running 1641 about a year ago that I assumed would be easy to get running. Which it was, after a 12 volt battery replacement(someone had a 6 in it), solenoid, pto clutch, pto to deck belt(non-C.C which twisted and became a useless $50 bill), cleaning out the gunk from the spindles where they were over-greased, and giving everything that moves a bath in WD-40, and adjusting the valves. Now it cuts like a dream. Did I mention it looks like they exploded the battery at one time and didn't bother rinsing it clean leaving some rust inside and on the deck? Now the deck is blowing out in a couple of places. I've been looking for a replacement and my research has led me to the option of a 46(on it now), 48, or a 50. I've had no luck finding any of them in any kind of shape and was wondering what else would fit and what would have to be changed with it. Thanks in advance.
Oh yeah, I'm also looking in to a 3000 series and was wondering what one is worth and if they were good tractors.

The 1641 still uses the older style, pin on mower deck, so there should be 46, 48, 50, and 54" decks that will work. The 54 may be a chore on the 16-hp briggs engine, but the 50 should work. Regardless, you should be able to put any of them on it if they are the same style, pins in back, slide loops in front.

The 3000 series tractors are good machines, a bit bigger than the older style garden tractors, but not as big as the Super garden tractors. They all have power steering, shaft drive mower deck, and hydrostatic drive with hydraulic lift. They are pretty heavy, and solid machines. None of the pre-existing attachments will interchange with a 3000 series tractor, so that's a limiting factor. Also, if you want a snow blade or snow blower, you first have to buy a $500 front hitch mechanism which provides the front lift. Therefore, they're not as popular as the older garden tractors, or even the 2000/2500 series tractors. The 2000/2500 series tractors are considered the same as the older IH built cub cadets, and utilize many of the same engineering concepts, including pin-on mower decks, and quick hitch front implements.

However, when the 3000 series tractors have problems, they're a bit of a pain to work on. Hydraulic EVERYTHING!, lines running everywhere. They have a REALLLY common problem of the rear end leaking. There is a plate that covers the rear differential, with "wings" that go out and covers the back of the axle tubes. It's very common for this plate to leak, and the bearing blocks inside the axle to leak, and let transmission fluid out into the axle tubes, then leak out the ends at the hubs. It's not a tough fix, but the right way to do it is to replace all the bearing blocks and seals, then permatex the crap out of it when you put it back together.

The 3000 series tractors were expensive when new, $6000 to $8000, but you can commonly get them in the $1000 to $2000 range used.

Thanks. Noone will reply to me about the 3000 series but I found an 1860 with a 50" under it. They wanted $2100 for the 3000 and the picture looked good, but no reply. Thanks, this is a pretty cool site/forum.