My first LoBoy 154

[BucketHead]

On Saturday I brought home a 154. I picked it up from a co-worker who told me that it ran great when parked 3 years ago but either the clutch or throwout bearing were baked.

Since then I've spent much time poking around this part of the Cub forum trying to increase my knowlege of numbered LoBoys and getting a sense of how big a project this will be.

The LoBoy is in decent condition for a tractor that was owned by a municipal housing authority. It has a 3-spindle mower deck and the brackets and linkage to the front of the tractor for what I am assuming was a snowplow. At some point it also had a cab as the remnants of the mounts are still in place. I think it has a creeper gear (extra push/pull lever near the shifter) but, doesn't have a 3-pt. hitch. The non-matching turf tires are slightly weather checked but still servicable.

The immediate issues that require attention are a nuked throwout bearing, dead battery, frozen choke cable and a frozen aftermarket throttle cable. I plan on starting by getting it running, then move on to the driveline issue and finish by freeing up the mower. Unfortunately this project has arrived while I'm in the middle of rebuilding the steering on my son's '49 FCub.

Any suggestions or words of moral support are welcome.

[Don McCombs]

Bring it to Cecil's next month.

[BucketHead]

Bring it to Cecil's next month.

Hmmmm...That's a possibility.

[BucketHead]

Well I got to spend some quality time with the 154 today. I drained about 3 gallons of funky gas out of the tank and took note that all the fuel lines were REALLY hard and brittle. I also popped the distributor cap off...only to find it full of water. So, I can add a full tune-up and distributor rebuild to the list of things to do.

[BucketHead]

I managed to spend about 2 hours with the LoBoy today. I removed the distributor and tore it completely apart, cleaned, polished and lubed all the parts and then put new points condenser and cap on it. Not sure if it will work or not but, boy it sure looks pretty. I also replaced the plugs and dumped some MMO in each of the cylinders.

I also removed the sediment bowl and shutoff to clean them..the aluminum was really corroded and the whole thing came apart while I was re-installing it....damn the bad luck.

My next step will be to remove and clean the carb. It looks like someone replaced it as there is a 1989 date stamped on it and it appears to be a Zeinth with a large flange. I filled it with some MMO with the hope that it helps dissolve some of the white powdery residue that seems to cover every part of the fuel system. Once the carb is cleaned, I'll be ready to try starting it.

I can also see where folks have issue with the wiring on these tractors. It seem like virtually every important wire I've touched or looked at is corroded or the insulation is cracked or missing.

Hmmm...this tractor is starting to feel like a money pit.