Archive through January 05, 2013

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Art

did you use heat to get the screws out ? If I was you I would add a washer to each end of the spring in the trunion. one that will fit over the end caps and that does make the big spring tighter. I did that mod on 3 of my Cubs and find that the hydro works even better and more responsive. love the V 61 front tires !

 

[aaytay]

Don-
You're right about the shop....sort of.....

The shop is 24X36 but yet I'm still tripping over stuff to work on this tractor. I don't need more shop space, but what I do need is LESS CRAP!

And on the tread-screws.. All of them came out with just a bit of muscle (no penatrating oil) but that last one (why is it always the LAST one??) needed oil and LOTS of heat from a map-gas torch. I think they're going to be replaced with STAINLESS-STEEL allen-head cap screws!

Denny-
That's an interesting thought about using modern "snow tires" on a cub. I wonder how well they would work?

 

[dtanner]

Denny

you might be on to something on the car tires. I bet these would work. I can believe how nice they work on our Ford fusion fwd.

I bet one could find a tire for a car that would work with some weight (fluid) .

 

[elincoln]

Harry; The sparkplug hole was striped so I took the head off. #8 bolt broke. I took the pan off to set the engine on the drill press. I bought a new 5/16 cobalt bit. The grade 8 bolt drilled out like balsa wood. When I miced the crank it was less than .oo1 off of 1.500. Also removed the pedestal and the steering column. A key was broken off in the ignition switch.
I will probably paint the hood, the decals are good and the bolt holes also.

 

[dfrisk]

ART - When you put your fender pan back on your 169, put a little dab of Anti-sieze on those foot rest screws. Or a small dab of pipe thread sealant with Teflon works too. They'll come out a lot easier next time. Stainless is prone to Galling, and you need some lube on the threads. Just about every screw or bolt that doesn't get Lock-Tight gets anti-sieze in my shop.
And BTW those 23-10.50 'Stones & V-61's look good on that CC.

DON - True story... the day we got "Snow-bound" down in Freeport, IL 20+ yrs ago, I made it to within a half mile of my house coming home from work before I stuck my 4WD truck. I hit the 2+ ft tall drift at about 35 MPH in 3rd gear, lugged the engine down till it almost died in foot deep snow. Then was stuck, tried 2nd & reverse and couldn't move. I ended up walking across a chisel plowed field... should have taken the l-o-n-g way around the field down the road and up the long driveway. Even our St. Bernard puppy knew enough to stay inside out of the weather. The only tractor that would start was the Land-Lord's green 4430 with a sniff of starting fluid, plus it had a cab with a good heater. It was narrowed up to fit in 30 inch rows... I'd run a 4230 many years before and knew they had diff. locks, but thought the button was back by the seat base where the 4020's was. Wife & I take off to rescue my truck, tractor was busting thru 2-3 foot deep drifts and when forward progress would stop one rear wheel would spin down to solid ground and then the other wheel would spin and dig down and I'd move forward 2-3-4 feet then spin out again, and the whole tractor was swaying side to side as the rear tires dug for solid ground. Wife's head was whipping back & forth and I'm stepping on her toes trying to engage the diff lock. Finally I found a 4-5 foot deep drift and stopped before I got stuck... turned on the dome light, found the diff lock pedal, engaged it and MAN could we sail through the snow then.

Got up to my truck, hooked the chain up and told the wife to put the truck in 1st gear, it was already in 4WD, engine idling, cab nice & warm, it had the creeper low 4-spd so would only run 3 MPH in 1st gear idling, and when we were moving she was to let the clutch out. I got the tractor & truck going and she let the clutch out and I dragged her & the truck back to the yard. The tires turning slower than I was pulling her let her steer but kept tension on the chain. I didn't want her running my truck into the back of the tractor. The deep drifts I busted through to get the truck were already almost drifted back closed but WHAT a difference that diff lock made. Trip home with the truck was a lot less painful and eventful for everyone.

The difference between steering brakes & a diff lock are about like the difference between turf or lug tires with NO CHAINS and turf tires WITH CHAINS. With steering brake one tire spins, hit that brake and that wheel stops, the other starts spinning but since you have the brake on the other wheel it resists moving forward, release the brake a bit and it starts spinning again.

ANYHOW.... to keep this topic ON TOPIC, If I'd have had a '61/'63 Cub Cadet original with K161 and a BB36 snow blower it would have been a whole different story... I could have cleared the whole quarter-mile long driveway, the whole barn yard, the quarter mile of road.... and with any luck, by the middle of the next week actually got the road cleared out to the main blacktop road. Yeah.. right. The Land-Lord's green 2640, similar to Steve B's 684 was my #1 snow mover there. No chains, don't even think it had fluid. But I did make a nice snow Mountain with it, 10-12 ft high and 20 ft X 30 ft. Plus I hauled some hay out for the club calves. Anything for some seat time.

 

[hydroharry]

Frank C - are you talking about this?

Well, yes I suppose that's "technically" correct for it to be called a "Maintenance Minder" since that's what it shows in the Parts List, but since most of our discussions on here talk at a Service level (rather than an Operator level) I like to use the service terminology generally found in the Service Manual. (Doesn't show for the 169 but this diagram for the QL works). I know the pic is a little small but you can see it on the far left, and that service guys call it an HOURMETER (all one word no less).

 

[glippert]

Hmmm, quiet sunday afternoon...

My son-in-law just learned of a 104 for sale near him. Hasn't run in a while, but it turns over. It's a near give away, since the guy is moving and doesn't want to take the tractor. I told s-i-l that if he doesn't want it, I'll take it - maybe get it going for my granddaughter. It currently has no seat, so I did a lot of searching, here and through google, to see which seat it should have. I'm sure one of the photos I saw was the original style seat, but which one? Can someone tell me, or better yet show me a picture, of the original style seat for a 104?

All my other tractors are hydros, and all but the 147 are wide frames, so I'm a little nervous about the 104, but hey - what could possibly go wrong?

 

[dfrisk]

GREG - Couple of us here... well, everybody EXCEPT Art think the 1X4/1X5 series are the best of all the Cub Cadets. They had all the robust parts of the early tractors, and not much of the problematic parts like the later tractors. Plus that stylish Double-Zig-Zag grill makes them the highest production number CC's ever built because they were so sought after.

Nothing to be nervous about.

I'm pretty sure the 104 would have had the plastic or fiberglass seat with the molded foam padding with the blue piping or trim around the cushion.

 

[jbaker]

Dennis I must disagree not EVERYBODY thinks that.

I along with many others think that the 1x8,9 are the "best of all series cub cadets"

Plus wasn,t the 1x8,9 a higher total production number?

 

[gcoleman]

Hey all, hope it was a bountiful and pleasnt holiday season for everyone. Art, what size tires your running on your 169? Ive got V61's up front on my 149 also in the 18" size and absolutely love them, really like the looks of the 23 degree firestones too. Guys I need help, Im scratchin my head here. My K301A is giving me a fit, I try to start it in the cold, and it just backfires or wont turn over consistently, changed the battery (which it needed anyway), but that made no difference. Checked the point gap and it was right at .020 like it was supposed to be, had great spark when I took the plug out and spark tested it. Only thing I can figure is the compression release isnt working or something else is wrong...but I havent a clue as to what. Any ideas?

 

[hydroharry]

Dennis - you know I gotta lean in Jeff's direction. I'm not trying to start any arguments but if you would'a said 1X4/1X5 series are the best of all the "Narrow Frame" Cub Cadets you could probably get agreement by most. The Zig-Zag grill doesn't do much for me like other zig-zag things do, but the intro of the Quick Attach Latch was the best thing IH came out with.

 

[dfrisk]

JEFF, HARRY - I'd be more comfortable saying the 72/1X4/73/1X6's were the best gear drives. I actually liked my old 129, the removable center frame section was nice for working on the hydro. Plus I think the frame was stiffer in torsion, it wouldn't twist the frame when you drove up out of a ditch where the frt axle articulated as much as it could and you hung one frt wheel in the air. The NF's twist a bit when you do that. BUT, I know we'll get disagreement from KRAIG about the 125's not being the best CC ever. I almost bought a basket case 125 a few weeks before I bought my basket-case 129, but it needed more work/parts/money than the 129 did.

According to the home page, the 86/1X8/1X9 production started @ 400,001 and Q/L started @ 529,811, or 129,809 tractors. The Double-Zig-Zag grill tractors started with the 72/1X4/1X5 and ended with the 73/1X6/1X7's which is actually what I meant in my post, so from 218,010 to somewhere close to 400,000 is 181,175 tractors with the double zig-zag grills,(Some numbers were evidently skipped, 72/1X4/1X6 stopped @ 306,085 and 73/1X6/1X7 started @ 307,000) but I doubt they built the 73/1X6/1X7's all the way up to 400,000, so maybe they built 140,000 to 150,000, maybe more, of the double-zig-zag grill tractors in total. The only difference between the 72/1X4/1X5 and 73/1X6/1X7 was paint, decals, and the one-piece fenders on the 1X6/1X7's.

So yes, more double-zig-zag CC tractors built than ANY other style of CC. But if you take the 72/1X4/1X5 (88,175) separate from the 73/1X6/1X7's (93,000), Yes, the 86/1X8/1X9's were the highest single series produced. As Bryan told me once, Everybody has had a 129 at one time or another.

Guess what I'm doing is playing the game with CC's like what Gov't Motors/Chevy does with trucks. Ford sells more F-series trucks than either Chevy or GMC, but General Motors with both Checy & GMC sell more trucks than Ford.

And HARRY I have to agree with you about the quick-attach latch, makes installing/removing frt & center mount attachments so much easier. Best attachment hook up on any garden tractor!

 

[mgonitzke]

Dennis-

The dash, hydro linkage design, hood, and probably a couple of other really minor things are also different between a 1x4/5 and a 1x6/7.

 

[aaytay]

Not the old "which model is best?" arguement again. Sigh..... Can't we argue about something easy like, "Which oil is best for my Cub?"

More on that later...

Glen-
The rear tires on the 169 are Miller's 10.50 Firestone repops. I haven't used them much as they were just mounted late last fall, but they look to be a decent tire. I can't wait to get them dirty this spring.

Here's a question for the 1X9 experts...

Did all 169s come with these hour-meters? ('maintainence minder') Mine didn't have one when I got it about 6 years ago, but I found this dark blue wire under the dash, and it appears to be wrapped in electrical tape from the factory. (Either that or a gnome just put it there last week.)

I assumed that this was for the hour-meter, but after looking at the electrical diagram, I see that it calls this wire the main lead for the electric lift. Wait... Electric lift?? On a 169???

Oh one more thing... Everybody knows that the best Cubs have TWO cylinders.

 

[lpalma]

Gotta love those 125's.Best of the bunch of 180,000 1x4-1x5's that were produced,or was it 150,000

I thought that blue wire was for the cig lighter.

 

[mpatterson]

Nice Tires Art!! Looks great, look forward to seeing more progress on a warmer day!

 

[jbaker]

So we are at about

88,000 units of 1x4,5

93,000 units of 1x6,7

129,000 unit of 1x8,9-- Hmmm six figures

Don,t worry no debate all cubs are great

Art, Yes all 169 should of had a maintenance minder from the dealer. And I don,t want to guess on the wire but will look tomorrow morning when I get home from work

 

[aschumacher]

AHhhhhh, the 'Blue wire' for electric lift...
Same concept as the 'Blue Pill' ! ? ?

 

[dfrisk]

MATT - Was the dash actually different, or just the tin or decal? I know from looking at my 129 parts book the hydro linkage was changed at least once during the 1X9 build too. And didn't the 1X6/1X7 hoods have the "Bird Baths" in them like the 1X8/1X9's? Best thing about the 1X6/1X7's was the tool box under the seat with the battery still up under the hood.

I suppose I could compare model for model, part for part tomorrow in my parts books. I know I looked Wyatt's old 73 over real close and other than the dash stamping being painted white on the 73, & yellow on the 72, and the decals, nothing substantial changed, well, maybe the pattern embossed into the expanded grill metal, but like I said, Substantial changes.

LEWIS, ART - Since we're using correct terminology here, IH didn't use "Cigarette lighters".... they were "CIGAR Lighters". ;-)

Ohhh and ART- the Hy-Tran verses Other gear/hydraulic oil debate is going on over at the RPM forum, but it hasn't had a post in almost two days. But for those of you that get RPM, the magazine, there was a good article in the newest issue about the history of Hy-Tran.

 

[mgonitzke]

Yes, the dash is totally different...fiberglass part is different, and so it the metal part. The PTO clutch linkage is different too. The hood is not similar to the 1x8/9.