Archive through February 08, 2011

[kmcconaughey]

Rodney, regarding the battery maintainer, our very own Bryan McMeen, many, many years ago recommended those for use on Cub Cadets. He actually mounted one into the battery compartment on his 1450 and hard wired the battery connections so it was always ready to go. After he was finished using the 1450 he simply flipped up the seat and plugged in the AC cord. Here's a photo of Bryan's setup:

 

[pandrews]

Kraig,
Yes that is were I was placing it, The cub's would sit in my unheated barn for weeks at a time. I even let it run overnight once?? I agree on the battery tenders, I use them on most seasonal batteries with good luck, seems the float charge is the best for the battery and they are cheap @ Harbor freight! I now have a plow service up there, as here in Nothern MI we tend to get more than the girl's (149's) can handle. LOL
Thanks

 

[dtanner]

Kraig McConaughey "Keeper of the Photos"

I finaly got the 125 steering wheel off to rebuild the steering box.

Just had to use more swing on the multi angle swing press lol.

 

[rodsmith]

KRAIG,
They hard wired ours in at work also.I believe ours and the one of BRYANS are much heavier duty than the one I showed photo of.I need to do that to my 1450 also.I have a block heater already.
Next year I'm at least going to install my blade on the 1450,with chains and weights. I've never tried starting it in real cold weather.But after the snows we've had this winter I'm ready to use a
CUB CADET instead of a snow shovel.
ROD

 

[dtanner]

Rodney Smith

Just a thought , but you could drill and add a block heater to the rear end cover . I think that would heat the hytran up fast.

 

[dfrisk]

DONALD - I'm not sure how a block heater would work heating oil. It's so much more viscous than the normal antifreeze/coolant block heaters are designed to heat, and the heating characteristics are so much different... Might not do good things to the Hy-Tran.

 

[dtanner]

Dennis Frisk

Well I thought you could add a resistor to control the voltage there by controlling the heat intensity. Just a thought and the tractor would have to be a work tractor.

 

[klorenz]

Donald,
What happened to using the wood block puller setup?

 

[dtanner]

Kirk Lorenz

I found it much to thick lol.I will have to make one out of steel plate. I will get it made along with a pto basket pulley remover . Lots to do here.

 

[jchamberlin]

Don and others --I'm wondering if damage to the lower bearing cup on the steering gear could be prevented by removing, or at least unscrewing, the plug at the bottom of the steering column before employing the "multi angle swing press."

I know that I damaged my lower bearing cup slightly with the hammer/bolt setup. Yet I also know that the hammer blow is the factory recommended method for removing automobile steering wheels like the English MGB. Anytime I've tried something other than a hammer, the steering wheel has been damaged; a gear puller is DEFINITELY not the way to go. Of course I haven't gotten as scientific about it as Steve "Mr Plow" Blunier has, either.

Just a thought.

 

[aschumacher]

Don T. & Dennis...if the hydro isn't a leaker... how about a old fashion can of Sterno for heat ?

 

[dfrisk]

DONALD - BAD things happen to oils when it gets exposed to temps over 400 degrees, which I think would happen if you heated the oil directly inside the block heater. I put my magnetic heater on the K241 flat-bottom CI oil pan for several years, even tie-strpped it in place so I never had to remove it, just unplug it. By the time it warmed up the oil pan and heated the oil it maybe only heated the oil to 150-200 degrees, normal operating temps.

To use resistors on a tank-type block heater you would reduce the heating capability so much I wonder if it would be worth the effort.

There's companies that make bigger heaters, some even flexible that you could wrap around the underside of a hydro rearend.

Even with my all gear drive snow moving fleet I can tell when I push snow when it's really cold I'm not getting the oil distribution inside the rearend & transmission I really need at least with the Super H. It has 90W in it.... It really doesn't flow when it's cold!

JEREMIAH - Yes, you could loosen the lower adjusting plug, but the whole steering ahaft & worm lowers with it. The little stamped bearing races get beat up anyhow and should be replaced about every time I've taken a steering box apart.

The deal with automotive steering columns is that since about 1970 all cars/trucks have had collapsable steering columns, your not pounding on bearings.

 

[dtanner]

Dennis Frisk
Yes 400 deg would not be good for the hytran.But there must be some kind of heater out there that one could use. I used a fish tank heater when I made home brew to keep the wart at a proper temp for the yeast to work. I have a heated shop and the tractors stored in unheated sheds here don`t see any use this time of year. There must be a fluid heater out there somewhere that could be set at 70 deg.

 

[dtanner]

A little shop reorganization going on here today.Anything not used is going in storage shed or the dump.

 

[masmith]

Richard,
This is the gates belt I found works best with the QA 42A. $12 at O'Reily Auto Parts.

 

[dfrisk]

DONALD - I'm like you, anything that has to run is in the shop, while it's not heated 24/7 I can heat it to 60-70 degrees and let things warm up.

When Dad used the M to push snow years ago he'd plug the block heater in starting in the fall and let it perc ALL winter long sitting in an unheated shed. I've had the cord plugs BURN UP on a couple block heaters before and don't like to let them run unattended that long. I'm not a big fan of elec heat or heaters to begin with, I'd hate to burn something irreplacable or expensive up.

 

[tpennell]

what is it. do i have 2 separate brinley hitches here. i havent researched online yet. they came with the 125 which as you can see i am currently tearing the wire harness out of.

 

[mgonitzke]

Timothy M.-

The brinly adapter on the left is correct for the Original, and the other one is correct for a NF. They all work on any IH 3-point hitch.

 

[digger]

Timothy M.
I'm gonna have Little Donnie Tanner come down from Nova Scotia smack you if you don't start hittin that ENTER KEY after each pic!

 

[mhomrighausen]

Charlie P. Seeing that part go NLA is saddening. By chance are you looking into having it reproduced?

I was thinking about Jeremiah C.'s comment about IH offering a quick disconnect or clutch on some of the newer hydro Cub Cadets. If I am not mistaken those quick disconnect clutches were more than likely offered on the model with the automatic release valves instead of the manual dump valves on the earlier model Cub Cadets. And they were offered for the simple reason that once the engine started turning the hydro with the automatic release valves it didn't take much before you've now built up pressure within the hydrostatic system. THIS does draw on the required battery power to turn the starter. However if you have the manual dump valve then you should always use the release lever and put the hydro into the released pressure mode. Now for all the guys that say the gear drives are the best to start in the winter. Try this little trick. Disconnect your safety switch and leave your foot off the clutch and try turning over the engine. You will soon notice that even with Hy Tran or 30 oil a nice drag on the starter and the engine turning over slower. Those gears and that cold oil will produce the same drag as the hydto transmission does. So, yes that quick disconnect/clutch on the automatic release hydro Cub Cadets is a nice feature however as I've learned over the years... Sometimes you just have to look for the obvious.