Archive through July 24, 2013

[dfrisk]

TERRY - The only thing I never saw on a new IH CC was a lugged rear tire. Closest thing they used was the tire that looked like a Firestone Town & Country Snow tire. I think MTD offered lugs as a "Accessory" item later. All new IH CC's had turf tires of some sort from the factory.

Back in about 1971, maybe '72 my 4-H club sponsored a garden tractor pull and Bar-b-que in our small farm town of 100 people. Whole town showed up along with hundreds of local people. Lots of local people showed up with their garden tractors to pull, mostly CC's, very few off-brands, couple tractors still had mower decks on for weight! A full trailer load of ECONOMY tractors, think there were at least four of them, from up around Rockford, IL, 125 miles away, showed up and really beat-up on the CC's except the "Serious Pullers". Neighbor who was 8-10 yrs older than me was there with his CC 122. First tractor I ever saw with 23 degree Firestone 23-8.50X12's. And he had plenty of weights, frt & rear, and knew what he was doing. He said if he didn't do well at the pull he'd sell me the tires & wheels for the CC 70. Well, He placed 1st in two classes and 2nd in another... so I never got the tires/wheels.

Fast forward to the year 2000 I think it was. Plow Day Number ONE. Soon as the date was set here on IHCC.com I paid a visit to my local discount tire shop, ordered two of the LAST THREE Firestone 23-8.50X12's left in the whole US, called Madson's Service and bought a used pair of 7" wide wheels, some spray paint and other stuff I needed. Week later I mounted my new tires on my freshly painted wheels. Week or so later took off to Roanoke to plow. The bills for the tires, tubes, wheels, and paint was less than $200 back then, but it was the BEST $200 I've ever spent on the old 72. As long as you're pulling something reasonable for a CC to pull you never have traction issues. A 7000 pound FARMALL M with the brakes set is NOT reasonable for a 800# Cub Cadet to pull. That's how we tried to break-in the K321 engine a few years ago. Once I got on the dry concrete driveway SON started riding the brakes harder on the M and I left two 8-1/2 inch wide black marks across 100 feet of concrete. I was in 2nd gear with the 72, I'd idle the engine down to 1500 RPM, then peg the throttle and the RPM's would jump up to 3600 instantly. You're supposed to vary engine speed while breaking in an engine you know!

My 982 had some cheap Carlisle lug tire on it when I got it, not the Tru-Power's, something else they made for a few years. After the "Mud Bowl Plow Day" at Blunier's I put a set of 4-ply 26-12.00X12 Firestone 23 degree's on the 982. I can't say exactly how much better they are than the old Carlisle's, never had the plow behind the 982 again, but they hook-up great pulling everything I've ever hooked the 982 up to since.

SON will probably put a pair of 23-8.50 Firestones on the 70 some day. The added width of the 23-10.50's and proper wheels won't work well with the 38" mower deck. The 23-10.50 tires weren't offered on CC's until the Q/L tractors came out IIRC. May have been on the later W/F's, 1X8/1X9's.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Denny, 23x10.5-12 tires were optional on the 147.

 

[tbdavis]

Dennis/Kraig - thanks for all the info on the tires! Putting new rubber on my tractors and so far I'm going with Tru Power lugs in varying sizes and tri-ribs on everything except my Original. The O just got Firestone Turf Guides up front and waiting on "new" Town & Country's for the rear. Supposed to have em in a couple months. I've pretty much given up trying to rebuild these things to Harry's 100 pointer so figure I might as well put what tires I want on them. Except for my 122 (Tru Power 10.5s) and the big tri-ribs, I doubt the other units see much, if any, work but going with ags simply because I think they look cool! Again fellas, thanks for all the help - couldn't do this stuff without you guys.

 

[pbell]

Dennis,
Lug tires were available from someplace if not the factory. This is a copy (original went with the tractor) of the sales receipt for a new 1963 Original, that I bought from the original owner. I have had other "O's" and 70/100 with lug or ag tires that if they were not original to the tractor, they appeared to have been installed when the tractor was new.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Denny, you could get lug/ag tires on the Original back in the day, well at least you could in the UK.

Under edit: Paul, good info!

 

[jbaker]

My book states that AG bar style tires where available as a factory authorized dealer installed tires in the U.S.A

 

[jdiederichs]

Agreed, ag lug tires were a dealer installed option not a factory option. Even the OT MTD/CCC tractors never had the factory installed option of ags, they were a dealer installed option as far as 1997.

 

[dfrisk]

KRAIG - Just saw a post on another forum this AM that CC's shipped to the UK were less tires/wheels and they were locally sourced abroad. I know they even used rear tires in 13 or 14" rim diameters that were never used in the US.

PAUL - I'd have to agree with Jeff, lugs were dealer installed per customer request at additional cost. I never saw a new CC on a dealer's floor with lugs, only turf tires. And the two dealers Dad used always had a couple on the sales floor.

Dad had an old, early 50's vintage walk-behind garden tractor he converted to a rear engine 4-wheel tractor with a frt axle, seat, & steering wheel, simple belt-tightener to engage the 5 HP Briggs to the forward only drive, no reverse. I pulled a 20" Hahn-Eclipse push mower with it a couple years before the first CC showed up. That tractor had 4-12 lug tires on it with wheels that would have fit on a CC. I almost made that swap several times. I hated turf tires at an early age. Dad had a hog house that he finished market hogs in that was 70-80 feet long X 20 ft wide, the center alley was only 70 inches wide, too narrow & low to get the M loader tractor into, he kept the old JD R spreader forever because it was narrow enough to fit in the alley, and the '39 H was narrowed up and the axle bars cut off to around 68 inches so it would fit. When the '39 H was traded for the Super H in May '68, Dad bought a '40 JD B to narrow up. But all the manure came out of that shed my hand, a shovel at a time. Skid steer loaders were still years away, and Dad seriously considered getting a DANCO loader for the CC to clean that shed, but even that would have been almost too long to work well. The pens were only seven, maybe 7-1/2 feet wide, not enough room to turn and get squared up with the spreader inside the shed. Plus there were 4x4 or 6x6 posts every 7-8 ft along the center alley in that shed. Lug tires & chains off that walk-behind would have been needed. Dad always complained how the hogs would "go" INSIDE to relieve themselves instead of going out on the concrete hog floor we could clean with the M & loader. But it was the only barn/shed we could finish them in.

Anyone have info on what a DANCO loader would have cost in 1963/'64? I seem to remember it was almost as much as a '63 CC cost. Pump. loader, all the brackets, & trip bucket.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Denny, see page 2:

 

[hydroharry]

Terry D - hey don't be giving up on the "100 pointer". You may not have realized it's a deduction method starting at 110, but the most points you can score are 100. So, you can have 10 point deductions and still score 100. (Now, I'm not a judge and don't have access to the critera, but I do have a pretty good eye for what will score a deduction on some of the units). Just go for the 100 points and have fun getting there!!!