Pulling power of an IH Cub Lo-Boy 154

S

ShallowTrout

New member
I don't own a Cub, I'm not familiar with them, but I'm looking at one to buy. A 1971 IH Cub Lo-Boy 154. I have a couple of larger tractors for general farm work but I need a small tractor to pull a single axle trailer through my citrus grove during harvest. The trailer has wide implement tires. Weight of trailer and fruit would be around 2000 lbs. I don't see a drawbar coming straight out the back of the tractor but I could attach a cross drawbar to the lift arms. My grove is mostly level. The lo-boy has new turf tires. Does the Cub have enough torque to pull this? At what speed? Will the lift arms keep the trailer hitch at a constant height or rise up if the trailer doesn't have enough tongue weight? I could go with a foreign compact of the same age that is set up more for pulling, for about the same price, but the Cub belly mower lets me get more use out of the tractor and I prefer a USA brand. It also looks cool.
 
I own a 154. Suggest getting a slightly larger, more powerful tractor. The 154 is an estate tractor, a bit over 9 HP on drawbar, good mower tractor. Not so great for "farm" work. The 154 should easily pull the 2000 lb. trailer on level ground.

Couple of things: PTO is not standard and reverse rotation, engine not sleeved. My standard cub beats the heck out of the 154 for farm work and also works as a lawn mower.

Opinion based upon my local available tractors, and your task description, I would go with one of the N series or early Fords.

Edit: Stan, following post, brought up a good point. The 3-point hitch on the 154 is not that powerful. Maybe pick up 500 lbs. but, that would be it. You are going to have a bit of side to side swing, even cross chained. They did make a plate for a standard drawbar that attaches to the differential.
 
Welcome to the forum. You describe "lift arms", is this a 3 pt hitch that was available on the 154 LoBoy? I might be wrong but I think that the trailer will ride up in front if there is not enough weight on the hitch to hold it down because the hydraulics did not have down pressure. Stan
 
This 154 does have a 3 point hitch. It looks to operate by an external mounted hydraulic cylinder. I have a 35 HP Farmtrac and a 55 HP John Deere so I don't need the Cub to do any farm work, other than pulling the trailer during harvest in November and December. I won't need to do any PTO work. The Farmtrac will fit between the rows to pull trailers and we use the front forks on the John Deere to load trucks. If I were to lose the Farmtrac to a flat or something else while I have a crew picking I would be in a mess. I need another small tractor as a backup and to pull a second trailer when we are busy. With the belly mower I could get some use out of it in the Summer mowing around the farm and at our fish camp in Florida. My only concerns are whether it would pull the trailer easily and if it will lift the mower high enough to load on a trailer. I'm going to look at it Monday. From the pictures I've seen it either has been restored or spent it's life indoors.
 
I bought the IH Cub 154 today. Based on my inspection and your replies I feel sure it will do what I need. Thanks for your information and opinions!
 
Congrats on your new to you 154 LoBoy. Not a lot of clearance when loading on a trailer if the ramps are not very long but there's ways to work around that inconvenience. One of the problem areas on these tractors is the poor electrical path to ground is through the sheet metal. A lot of people ground the battery to the frame in lieu of the sheet metal connection. JMHO Stan
 
The 154 can have a drawbar at the same time as having a mower and 3-point hitch in use. Here is a pic of one on ebay.
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Attaching the trailer to the drawbar eliminates the issue with the 3-point hitch floating upward.
 
Got all of that stuff here off the 154 that they broke the frame on by using the 3-pt on it! mower pulleys, sub mounts and the whole 9 yards.
You wont be pulling anything with these 154/184/185's to amount to anything. That baby clutch wont hold up for one thing and most of all unless you put tall skinny ag tread tires on them, them fat jumbos will spin out on the first apple you run over!! --- Trust me I know! got 185's here and they are quite useless other than lawn mowers.
I have tried to move equipment around to mow under it and always end up having to go get the sunstar 20 or a skidder to do the job!
Dont expect much from them and then you wont be disappointed!
 
Hitch.jpg

This is what I use. Have a 10' X 5' trailer that is 900 Lbs empty. I store my scrap metal down at the bottom of the field behind some trees. Last time, I had 1500 Lbs of scrap plus the trailer and pulled it up the hill to the driveway with no problem. Use it whenever I cut wood, etc.
 
3-point beefed up a bit, and then some. What is the purpose of the channel iron, to the left of the trailer hitch ball, bolted to the draw bar?
 
The drawbar is free to rotate. That won't work with a ball hitch. The angle iron is an anti-rotation device. If you're not using a ball hitch, you wouldn't need it.
 
I took the new 154 to Florida last weekend and mowed two acres. Did a great job, I will admit that the grass was thin. Mowed some thick grass today in Georgia and had to raise the deck the first pass and come back again lower. That's OK, didn't buy it to mow thick grass. Tractor loaded on the trailer with short ramps and didn't scrape. I bought a draw bar on Ebay. The tractor was a barn find. Original owner tagged the hydraulic filter with date and hours of change. Tractor has run 148 hours since filter change 21 years ago. A mechanic bought it, replaced plugs and coil, and it runs smooth and quiet. All original paint. No rust. Trying to identify the mower. 60", White paint, International Harvester decals, no ID plate, two rotating gauge wheels up front. Please let me know if you recognize. Thanks
 
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If it looks like this, it's an IH 3160 (60" cut) There is also a 3260 model (I have a manual for that one if you need info).
There should be a little data plate with the model no. and SR no. on the left hand edge of the deck, toward the rear.
 
I think it is a 3160. Two wheels. Three belts. Two bolts per blade. The data plate has been broken off. The rivets are still there. The manuals I see show the main belt kept tight by the Spring Loaded Idler but my mower does not have a spring loaded idler. Is this only on used some models or is this just missing on my mower?
 
Mine doesn't have the spring loaded idler. At the rear of the tractor, the belt goes around to pulleys and then up to the drive pulley on the PTO. These two pulleys are bolted through slots and can be moved. It takes three hands (almost). One to hold the pry bar to put downward pressure on the pulley and two to tighten the bolt through the pulley.
 
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