Archive through December 20, 2006

[acasteel]

Questions for the guys who have done cosmetic restorations,

I am getting ready to start taking the cub apart to strip paint. I have come to the decision to do this because I don’t want to just take one part at a time off and paint it. I think if Im going to break out the spray gun im going to do the whole frame at once.

Do you agree with that?

When i usually have to take down a dirt bike I use cups for storing nuts bolts ect. I have heard that you should use boxes to keep stuff organized, true?

Now since I am only 17 and cannot keep that tractor sitting I will be using it for work.

So the plans I have was to do a good job on the tins if you will. (fenders, hood ect) Take a nice time with them, like wet sand and stuff. Then with the frame maybe just do 3 coats but sand with 220 in-between coats.

My big question is the underside of the transmission. There are tons of stuff that I don’t want to take apart because I don’t know hydro very well. Should i just roughen up the parts and then spray over that and not worry because of it being a work tractor and no one is going to see it? Or what I keep hearing from the big tractor guys is "workmanship pride" And they tell me to go all out and take apart the transmission and power coat the inside and so on.

Im not going to go that far cuz of money issues and so on.

But so far do you guys think im taking the right steps?

Cuz I have asked my dad this a bunch of times and he always takes his cars to paint guys so he said he wouldn’t know, so I figured to ask the cub guys

Sorry this is a lot to dump on you I am just hoping to get started this week while I am on break.

Thanks,

Anthony C.

 

[kweaver]

Matt -- IH did make inside 12" weights for the cub tractors.

 

[mgonitzke]

Anthony C.-

Looking at the pictures of your tractor on the previous pages, I can't see why you want to paint it. It looks pretty good for its age. If it were mine, I would leave it alone. Original paint in that condition is hard to find. Also, new paint will not be as durable as that 35 year old paint that's on there now. Also, I've had several tractors that people painted like you're describing...Just sanded it and repainted over the old, and they look like crap a couple years later. The new paint scratches easily and is coming off. They would have looked better left alone. So my opinion is, if you aren't going to take it all apart and down to the bare metal, leave it alone, it's looks very nice as is.

Ken-

You mean different from the other IH weights? When you say "cub tractors" do you mean Cub Cadet or Farmall Cub?

 

[dfrisk]

MATT - IH didn't even Make weights for Cub Cadets..... They're front weights off the CUB FARMALL. The thing I saw for the first time at PD #1 was the use of the 42# FARMALL H & M front weights used as rear weights on a Cubbie....they bolt right on!
ANTHONY - Clean the underside of the hydro as best You can with GUNK spray-on degreaser and take Your Cubbie to the car wash & clean everything You can reach....then spray the Federal Yellow on what You can see.....The Hydro Drool will cover up any runs, sags, thin spots in the paint with dirt & grime in a short time.

 

[kweaver]

Tractor = Tractor
Cub Cadet = Cub Cadet

 

[kweaver]

Dennis - are you sure those H & M weights fit ? A friend down the road has some old B front weights and they're to big as they were (I think) 15" wheels.

 

[dfrisk]

MATT - I gave My 72 a rattle can paint job 26 years ago and it doesn't look like "crap". It's not as nice as Tom Peter's tractors or Dan Hofler's or Dave Kirk's and many others who post here but it's not bad. Having seen a couple BRAND NEW IH Cub Cadets made in LVL My 72 is definitely better than either of the new ones We had.

 

[dfrisk]

KEN - The bolt holes line up.... but the OD of the weight will not fit inside the bead of the rim, it bolts up tight against the outside edge of the rim. There's probably a long distance shot of one of the tractors in the PD forum.

 

[bcorn]

Anthony: everthing Dennis said!! Except I would also take 360 grit wet sand paper and wet sand lightly this takes any gloss off and just prepares the paint for primer or just top coating better.

Remember when painting use light coats 3 or 4 light coats with wet tacky time between coats is 1000 times better than 1 or 2 medium to heavy coats sprayed.

At your age this would make a great project to learn new skills and useful hints for down the road when you might want to do a full restore of something.

PS: Clean metal is good metal!!!!

Pops

 

[kmcconaughey]

Denny, would this be the Cub Cadet that was at PD 1 with the H/M weights that you are referring to?

 

[kweaver]

grind the lip off the wheel and they'd fit right in ...

Go back to sleep Kraig

I've got half of a 2-piece weight from ?? on the back of my little home made monster

 

[acasteel]

Matt,

I do agree with you. But the person befor me had taken a crappy mustard yellow and brushed it over. I agree the pictures look nice but if you saw it in person it would be a different story. thats y i want to re paint it so bad.

New paint can chip and not be durable if you dont mix it right. I have seen my friends garden tractors that he repainted now and damn that is some strong paint. Kuz he gets it down to a science. He has taugt me to prep the metal very well. That is also the key. Preping the metal, Getting rid of all rust and grease or any type of oil. Hardener and the viscosity ratio to the weather and temp out side. And he doesnt have a good gun either. Just some harbor freight 50 dollar gun. i have a snapon that was givin to my family so it a good gun. If the paint you saw that turns out like crap, They really did something wrong. And with paints these days, If you get a run or the orange peel affect you can dry sand it. I did that with my hood and it turned out great.

So i have to agree and dissagree with you. Led baised paint was very good and strong, But todays paint is most likley better than led basied paint. If you do the job right!

 

[kweaver]

Epoxy paint would be the best if you could get it mixed to the shade but it's gettin hard to find epoxy other than the rattle cans. I use to buy epoxy in quarts back 20 years ago but now the place doesn't carry it anymore. I use to make fishing jigs and use 2 part epoxy paint. I painted one lead jig and cured it in the oven then laid it on an anvil and smacked it with a 4 pound hammer. The lead was flat but the paint stuck to it.

 

[digger]

Kraig,
I got pics too.

 

[jgeorg]

Dang if I know Charlie, but these are Cub yeller all the way through, they came that way 25 years ago when I got em with my new QA36. The weights and chains were used and thrown in as part of the deal.

 

[kweaver]

John - those may be the backside cub tractor weights. I was thinking that they were 2 piece but it's been a long time since I sat in the seat watchin'em spin around (usally covered with dirt). Measure the ID sometime and I'll measure the front hub on my cub tractor to see if they'll fit over the hub, I'm guessing they will.

 

[digger]

Hey!
As long as it's yellow, who cares if it's a one foot paint job or a 20 footer!

 

[kweaver]

Boy we sure could use that manure fork around here !

I've seen rear mounted ones before but that's the first front mounted one. They sure put a lot of faith in those 3/4" axles don't they !

 

[digger]

500 pound lift capacity is more than a loader, LOL

 

[jgeorg]

Ken, 6" dia. on the weights.