New 154 Owner

Got this for free from my girlfriends dad. kind of a labor-trade. Just picked up a snow/dirt blade for it, ($300) which someone had put extensions on it. It came with the KW manufacturing Loader, chloride, Tire chains, and a 3260 belly mower. Leaks out of the rear main, and has "enough" blow-by. Runs good, Plows good, Loader works good, (had to put on a new cutting edge and add some steel to the bucket). Carb leaks, too. Im just Glad to be joining this collaboration of knowledge!

I have some questions
The mower deck, its kinda bent and leans left. I've straightened it some, but, didn't know if anyone else has had this issue.
The Frame for the Loader, it connects the mid-part of the frame to the finals, actually makes the rear more rigid. since removing it, to mount the plow, when i start moving the rear feels like its twisting. I check the frame, not cracked, and when i got it had to tighten/ replace some bolts where the rear mounts to the frame. Just wondering if that twisting feeling is normal, since until today the only time i ran it, i had the braces for the loader on it.

Twisting is not normal. Might be from loose bolts or from wallowed out holes because they were loose.
Might want to pull the fenders and seat sheetmetal off and have a closer look.

Thank you for the insight, i will have to check it out. Just so we're clear the "twisting" is more front to back. Like when a semi nails it and the rear lifts up. it must be all that torque i'm throwing at the rear tires... :wink:

welcome dan ,and nice tractor wish i could find one with the fel

If you twist the frame enough with one front wheel raising up enough you will hear the fan hit the fan housing. I have heard this when piling up dirt or snow at times so i avoid doing it now by keeping the tractor as level as possible. My frames aren't cracked and nothing is loose its the cheesey frame flexing.
These frames do flex when the subframe for the loader is removed. I'm in the process of fabricating an FEL for one of my int154's and in looking at the front end part of the frame i noticed it could of been made more rigid too. I did box the front part of the frame thats under the grill/nose. I did also add welds on both sides of the vertical plate thats over the front end axle bracket to tie it all in together. My next thing is to tie my front subframe to the rear part of the frame and tie in the finals too so it extends past the transmission so the backhoe can be fabricated and mounted. My point is i'm going to remove all the twisting completely. At the sametime once this is eliminated i need to watch the swing on my front axle so it doesn't bottom out and split the axle beam on the center pivot pin hole when the axle beam hits the limit of its swing.

Thanks for the info. I'll dig into it a little this weekend. I noticed while plowing last night, she likes to pop out of gear. I'm gonna dig into that, too. I read some posts on what the possible cause is. I'm guessing clutch adjustment, since there's hardly any clutch pedal to begin with.
I may start fabbing up some brace to take place of what the loader bracket was doing so it doesn't rear up so much.

Dan:

G'day and congrats :applause: on acquiring the new to you 154 plus goodies I don't have a lot on the 154, but I do have some stuff and you can find it all here in the Numbered Series Cubs

Meanwhile read below as there is a lot of great resources available to or members.

to Farmallcub.com :big smile: 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 :arrow: the Welcome Wagon wherein you will find links to many useful sites and topics. One of which is the Cub Manual Server. Enjoy!.

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Dan,
There is a small cross member on the bottom of the frame, right in front of the transmission. There should be two long bolts that go through this last frame member and into the bottom front of the transmission. Some models also have 1-1/2" long pipe spacers that fit between the front of the transmission and the cross member that the long bolts go through.

Check in this area that everything is there and tight - NJDale

The slipping out of gear is likely to be a worn or loose shift fork.
This is about a 1-day job to swap out once you have the parts in hand. Some people are handy with a welder & metal fab and have repaired their fork. Mine had been repaired by the PO and was still slipping out of reverse. A used fork from HamiltonBobs solved the issue. Do take care during the replacement, there are some poppet springs and balls that try to find their way to the bottom of the transmission during removal.