One person towing a cub

[Winfield Dave]

If you will just read the post I linked above, Rick found that the Cub tracked well without doing anything with the steering. Quit trying to complicate this.

The original poster asked if anyone had built something and Rick did so.

[Ole90633]

Why not make it a 'trailer' ?

What I mean is this: if you are fortunate to have the grader-blade 'A frame' on your CUB, fabricate a drawbar that mounts into the 'U' bracket where the grader blade normally would attach. Then, with the eight to ten foot long drawbar flat on the ground, size a set of uprights with half-round 'cups' carried by vertical supports, to rise to the axle tube, either side of the center pivot. Perhaps weld fittings on the uprights so as to place short sections of chain over the axle tube and secure with pins. Safety chains installed on the front on the drawbar for securing to the prime mover would be wise, too.

Using a 2" ball and socket trailer hitch at the front of the drawbar, to the prime mover's drawbar. Use your hydraulic rear lift to raise the drawbar and, front of the CUB off the ground. Couple the hitch connection to your prime mover.

Then, remove both front wheels and you'll have 9-12" of 'air' between the hubs and ground... off you go and in effect, you are pulling a 'trailer'

Think of how the airlines move aircraft with flight-line tugs !

Easy install, removal !

Don

[radioguy41]

If you will just read the post I linked above, Rick found that the Cub tracked well without doing anything with the steering. Quit trying to complicate this.

The original poster asked if anyone had built something and Rick did so.

I didn't realize trying to make it safe was complicating it. Just because one person was successful using an unsafe design does not mean it's a good idea. I worked with a fellow once who always smoked cigars on the job. He did it for years. We tried to tell him how unsafe it was but hey, nothing had ever happened. Then one day he had the cigar between his fingers, leaned over the fender to look at something on the engine. His hand rested on the battery and in those days batteries had vented caps. The cigar ignited the battery which blew up in his face. Just being lucky all those years didn't save him. Unsafe is unsafe no matter how lucky someone might be and that's not complicated. Anyway, I've said my piece so I'll bow out of this conversation.

By the way, I was responding to Drfting1's post where he asked about a ball on each end of the tow bar, not the OP's post. Go back and read it.

[Ole90633]

I just couldn't resist !

Trusty tape measure in-hand, a six foot tow-bar would work ! It also allows for more effective lift by the tug's hydraulics, so much so that, you may have sufficient 'air' under the towed front tires that they could remain installed !

It would allow for hard turns by the tug, and not foul the front wheels of the towed CUB. Additionally, to assist in transporting the tow-bar back & forth, stop by 'Horrible Freight' and get two 10" pneumatic wheels; fabricate a substitute axle to place in the fixture that mounts into the 'A frame' under the CUB; mounts the wheels to the sub-axle and drive it around !

At hook-up to the towed tractor, the substitute 'dolly' wheels would allow for easy positioning short of location; slide them off and stow them; attach the tow-bar with the normal 1" bar; lift the tow-bar with the tug's hydraulics via the safety chains; couple the ball & socket; head to the barn

I'll make a 'back of the envelope' sketch after supper...

Don

Dale, you here ? Whadda yah think

[Dale Finch]

If you are talking to THIS Dale, I am just happy that I have 2 sisters I can call to help me move a non-running cub!!! My poor pea-brain can't handle this, especially since I only have belly mowers mounted under my cubs!

[Urbish]

If both Cubs have a ball hitch, how would getting two couplers, Mount them to a bar and tow the one backwards work? You would probably still have to tie steering

If going down a grade, even a minor one, the towed tractor can drift off center which can cause an issue when braking, especially if you do not tie down the steering wheel. There is nothing to make it follow in a straight line. Once that line is off center and the towed tractor is now pushing it starts to push the tractor in front sideways leading to increased risk of a rollover. Even on a flat surface the mear act of braking combined with an off center bar increases the risk of a rollover. I was a line mechanic for 21 years during which I also operated the tow truck. I've seen every manner of towing and attempting to tow with a pivot at each end of a solid single bar is a bad idea.

The safest way to do it is the way I explained in my first post.

[Nelson 634]

I have a tow dolly. Strap front tires down on carrier. Connect to ball on draw bar. Then be very careful going down hills and around turns. SLOW AND EASY. Only draw back is weight of car dolly. Cub can pull it ok. Brakes are a concern. Safety first.

[outdoors4evr]

Use a front hitch mount with a ball installed on the tractor to be towed then attach a Towing A-Frame backwards onto the drawbar of the towing tractor.

The only way these type of towing apparatus’ work is to have the ball hitch up front connected to the toe vehicle. The hinge is up front and exerts different forces to the the towed vehicle’s left and right front axle. This differential allows the towed vehicle to steer itself.

You might consider towing your cub backwards so that you are pulling on the rear end and not risking a cracked block. Perhaps starting with a 3-point hitch pair of arms then one of these things radioguy suggested.
-never tried it, but just kicking around ideas that may not work.
An easier option may be a car dolly like RV guys use. Winch or come-a-long it into place, strap the front wheels, and go.

[Rick Prentice]

Let me chime in here. One of the main reasons I never made more than 1(one) of these had to do with the "Common Sense" factor or the lack of. The cub I towed was mechanically in good shape( see Jim's post). The steering was tight without any major slop in the steering. The towbar was tight where it was fastened to the towed cub, other than the small amount of play where the towbar slid into the receiver. No side to side movement hardly at all. It did pivot in the up position to store. During the time I used this setup, I did not notice any issues with the towed cub's tires trying to steer themselves, but I never encountered any steep hills or chuck holes and I always kept an eye on things and didn't go fast. One of the reasons for me scraping the project was someone got a brainstorm of towing the cub down the road with a vehicle. That could get ugly real quick if "common sense" wasn't used (like going too fast). I intended the setup to just be a "helping hand" around my yard. Of course backing up was out of the question because of reasons Jim stated. Anyone who's ever used a towbar on bigger vehicles knows the complications of backing up, usually it doesn't work (Barnyard knows ) Cubs have a lot of "common sense" factors that need to be followed like mowing on steep hillsides in the wrong direction, or driving up a steep incline and only having a small amount of gas in the tank, and having band brakes(they don't work the greatest in reverse motion going down hill).
We all need to exercise "Common Sense" with these tractors. Things can quickly go wrong when we least expect it.

Rick