My 782

[walls00000]

Hello everyone. This is my 782 on the day I picked it up. It started up after some cranking, but the engine (KT-17 series 1) sounded pretty good. The mower 44" mower deck had rust on it, the seat was shredded, the paint was faded, and it had the wrong rear tires and mismatched front ones. It came with a rusted cart (behind me) and had a cub cadet utility box with a tow hitch ball welded to it. Although the engine ran pretty good, there was definitely an issue with the transmission linkage (cough(trunnion)), as the tractor wouldn't go slow, which made it a challenge to get it on my 4x8 flat bed without ramps. It goes faster than I expected, it's powerful and it has a beefy transmission which is what I was looking for in my next tractor. After a trip down the driveway, I was thrilled with the ride and I was sold.

 

[digger]

View attachment 144536
Hello everyone. This is my 782 on the day I picked it up. It started up after some cranking, but the engine (KT-17 series 1) sounded pretty good. The mower 44" mower deck had rust on it, the seat was shredded, the paint was faded, and it had the wrong rear tires and mismatched front ones. It came with a rusted cart (behind me) and had a cub cadet utility box with a tow hitch ball welded to it. Although the engine ran pretty good, there was definitely an issue with the transmission linkage (cough(trunnion)), as the tractor wouldn't go slow, which made it a challenge to get it on my 4x8 flat bed without ramps. It goes faster than I expected, it's powerful and it has a beefy transmission which is what I was looking for in my next tractor. After a trip down the driveway, I was thrilled with the ride and I was sold.

 

[kmcconaughey]

walls00000, WELCOME! Nice 782, and it has IH wheel weights!

 

[jkoenig]

Nice ride Walls! From a fellow forum member who also recently acquired a 782. Mine’s a CCC machine. I wish it were an IH, and came with extras. Keep us posted on it.

 

[walls00000]

walls00000, WELCOME! Nice 782, and it has IH wheel weights!

Yeah it has wheel weights, I see they are very much sought after. it also has front hub caps, which are not mounted and I'm willing to part with . . . just don't like that look. A colleague fashioned interior wheel weights from truck wheel weights which adds 50lbs or so to each wheel. I'm always thinking about doing something like that. I'd like to load the tires too. . . one day, one thing at a time.

 

[wh cc guy]

Welcome. Looks good.

 

[walls00000]

So to give a little context about this tractor, I need to back track a bit. I got the 782 to do more of the "tractor" work that my first tractor was doing. Let me just say from the start that I learned the hard way. My first tractor is a cub cadet LTX-1050kw with "best in class hydro transmission", nice shiny paint job big trailer and leaf bagger. It's a great machine for mowing.

The trouble started with the fact that I wasn't only mowing.
Here's mine after a visits with my nutty retired diesel mechanic uncle

. . . to be continued

 

[gary noblit]

Yep, you needed a "tractor" that's just a good mower

 

[1811Cub]

The 782 will not have any driveline failures with moderate to heavy use, as long as you replaced the hydro filter, and refilled the system with genuine HYTRAN or equivalent. My only qualm with the early 782 is the Kohler Series 1 17 hp engine. They had a low pressure oiling system, and many died an early death, especially if used on inclines. The series 2 and later Magnums were far stronger, and really only suffered from a weak governor gear setup.

 

[walls00000]

The 782 will not have any driveline failures with moderate to heavy use, as long as you replaced the hydro filter, and refilled the system with genuine HYTRAN or equivalent. My only qualm with the early 782 is the Kohler Series 1 17 hp engine. They had a low pressure oiling system, and many died an early death, especially if used on inclines. The series 2 and later Magnums were far stronger, and really only suffered from a weak governor gear setup.

The PO reiterated the importance of regular maintenance, and told me it's due for an oil change, which I took as a good sign. I've been pretty regular at changing the oil since, but noticed that the oil really gets thin at times. I'm still figuring out this issue. I suspect gas is getting into the oil somehow. The tank has a shut off which I recently discovered when I added an inline fuel filter.

I haven't used the tank shutoff yet (. . . perhaps that's where I should start), nor do I know the root of the problem. Perhaps a bad float valve and it needs a carb rebuild?
As for the hydro, it has a leak, but it is a slow leak and I have replaced the filter and keep the fluid up with CubCadet HYTRAN. Fixing that leak is also on the agenda

 

[1811Cub]

The fuel pump can leak fuel into the crankcase. Common issue with that engine family.

 

[tkhoffman]

I added an additional shut off on the engine side of the firewall. I have an intermittent gas getting past needle valve issue. It's become habit to open hood, reach down and use the shutoff after using. I like to open the hood just to let it cool down rather then let heat build up anyway. Good luck with you 782. I use mine primarily for snow plowing and carting stuff around with its wagon or trailer I made.

 

[walls00000]

I added an additional shut off on the engine side of the firewall. I have an intermittent gas getting past needle valve issue. It's become habit to open hood, reach down and use the shutoff after using. I like to open the hood just to let it cool down rather then let heat build up anyway. Good luck with you 782. I use mine primarily for snow plowing and carting stuff around with its wagon or trailer I made.

Good idea. In the meantime it's just an extra wing nut to take the side panel off, but I'll keep that in mind.

As for plowing, I had been using my LTX1050kw for that before getting the 782.
That's what did the transaxle in. After a transaxle rebuild and then a replacement that tractor only mows.

 

[walls00000]

The 782 now does the snow with a qa42a snowblower. At this point I still had the tires it came with and I removed the utility box (still have it!) and adapted the weight box I made for the LTX1050kw, I made drift cutters for the snowblower which work great.

The only issue I have is the belt - it seems I can't find a belt to fit the qa42a on a 782 - they are too short. I'm running a belt from napa - go through 2-3 belts a season. I was going to switch to a belt with a more aggressive V shape from McMaster Carr for next year.. I'm still working to adapt that plow to the 782 as I have forks for the plow as well. I later replaced the cutting edge and made new skis for it. The cutting edge and skis are from 3/8 X 1,1/2 material. Fixing the skis and putting on a beefy cutting edge straightened the bottom out and adjusted the clearance to the ground making a more pleasant plowing experience - it doesn't get hung up at all. The closeup pic shows the way I chose to attach the cutting edge with a through bolt countersunk from the bottom with lock nuts on the top. I needed to pay close attention to clearance on the auger, but there is plenty. I'm sure there are better snow blowers, but for my use, this thing is awesome! It plows like a tank (Added chains and new tires (sneak peak at the new ones on the front)

 

[kmcconaughey]

A 782 should use a QA42B, (Side note: There may never have been an actual QA42B, there was a QA38B, however there were H42 and H48 models around that time that replaced the QA42A so a QA42B may never have been offered) Anyway, the "B" variant would have curved upper links and a pulley for a 5/8" belt not a 3/8" belt.

EDIT: One of my points being that your 782 has a PTO for a 5/8" belt and the QA42A has a pulley for a 3/8" belt which might be the cause of your drive belt issues. Here's the belt that might be correct for it:

 

[1811Cub]

PartsTree - Home of OEM Parts for Outdoor Power Equipment''

 

[rjruchti]

Get a regular Cub Cadet belt for that thrower. Those FHP belts from auto parts stores just don't cut it. On my third seeason with thye belt I got with the thrower 4 years a go. Thrower is on a 1650 IH Cub. My 782 is waiting for a replacement engine block bore at the machine shop. Nice looking tractor you got yourself there.

 

[walls00000]

A 782 should use a QA42B, (Side note: There may never have been an actual QA42B, there was a QA38B, however there were H42 and H48 models around that time that replaced the QA42A so a QA42B may never have been offered) Anyway, the "B" variant would have curved upper links and a pulley for a 5/8" belt not a 3/8" belt.

EDIT: One of my points being that your 782 has a PTO for a 5/8" belt and the QA42A has a pulley for a 3/8" belt which might be the cause of your drive belt issues. Here's the belt that might be correct for it:

View attachment 144575

That's precisely the problem. Thank you for the part number on the belt! The Napa belts I've been using I believe are 1/2" so they sit down in the top pulley and ride high in the bottom one. I need to keep tightening the belt until the belt finally breaks or jumps off. Hopefully this spells the end of that saga!

 

[walls00000]

PartsTree - Home of OEM Parts for Outdoor Power Equipment''

Thanks for the link!

 

[kmcconaughey]

That's precisely the problem. Thank you for the part number on the belt! The Napa belts I've been using I believe are 1/2" so they sit down in the top pulley and ride high in the bottom one. I need to keep tightening the belt until the belt finally breaks or jumps off. Hopefully this spells the end of that saga!

That belt would be for use with the proper 5/8" pulley on the snow thrower. If you keep the pulley as is, you will most likely still have problems. There is an available "speed up" pulley that will increase the auger speed but you'll want to be sure that the gearbox and other drive parts are up to the task.

Here's A LINK TO MORE INFORMATION as mentioned in the above image.