Archive through March 04, 2012

[dfrisk]

TOM I think the SS axles were from a MTD 1535 or similar number CC.

WYATT put one on his 169 in my shop.... It was about a 3-4 Beer job.... each. Remove drag link from steering gearbox & pivot pin, set axle into place, install pivot pin, and drag link, adjust toe-in, steering angle... Seems like we made a different length drag link for his too that day. But not sure it was actually required.

Made a WHALE of a difference in turning radius, and the splined & clamped steering arms on the 1" spindles are nice too. NO slop at all!

 

[dtanner]

Darren Sterley
Your can do that mod , no problems here to upgrade and mod the front end for what you want. It will steer great,. I want to get at my my 129 loader and install a ported rear end to supply fluid to the power-steering to run my system. I think it will be cats a$$. I think it will,Using my air tools today caused be to lose time in the assembly of my 125.Charlie has to step up,not that he has never left me in a lurch. Dang 125 lb psi line pressure and me not being awake cause broken bolts in the drive shaft hub.

 

[dsterley]

Thank you Donald Tanner,
thats what i wanted to hear, and yes the 1250 is very likely to have power stering in the future as well. have a great day

 

[dcmay]

Rick Goodman
I bought some Marvel M oil,added 1/3 to gas,1/3 to the oil and ran the other through the carb at fast idle.I pushed stones in the driveway for 20 min and ran fine until I shifted to 3rd & worked it under heavier load.It quit once,started immediately and then it started to rain.I have never heard the ping you talked about which would be the sticky valve closing.I'm going to get some more M/M and pursue that fix somemore.
Dan May

 

[dcmay]

I bought this 108 last fall and it had been outside forever I guess.Anyway I always check the diff oil level and when I removed the plug,water gushed out like it was under pressure.
I removed the cover and was almost afraid to look inside.Some oil came out but everthing inside looked like new.I flushed it out,added oil and it is under roof.Rain must have run in the gear shift.Glad I caught it before it froze.

 

[jstevens]

Ok guys, I know many of you have re-built tillers before, So does anyone have any suggestions on how to seperate the tines from the shaft? It's a 1a tiller that has been sitting for quite some time and has developed a rather strong rust bond. Besides a lot of penetrateing fluid and a large hammer, any other tips you guys could give me?

 

[hydroharry]

Frank C - thanks for posting those pics of John's 70 over in the UK. I guess since you're in Maine you're probaby the closest to him. It appears to me he has the headlight rings installed correctly, although I'm not quite sure based on the way the ring looks at the front. Does anyone think the front mount ring may be installed in reverse?

Kraig - Oh Great Keeper of the Photos - do you have any pics of 70/100 headlight assemblies - possibly disassembled? While you're at it, do you have a method to search the archives for other posts by members in the UK. I seem to recall postings and discussions probably 10+ years ago by a member over there. We certainly want to make sure the UK collectors group together to keep any green machines at bay.

Mike F - there may be a chance for 1 of the 3. It will only have 12 fins but correct tags.

Daniel M - I would doubt the water may have entered thru the gearshifter on your 108. I've removed the differential drain plug on several units, and if it has been sitting the moisture separates from the HyTran fluid (if that was used). If someone used straight 30W oil, which I believe the manual mentions as being acceptable for gear drives, then the moisture that developes probably never mixes with the oil. It's why HyTran is the best to use since it absorbs 50% of it's volume in moisture. As for freezing, I've heard of cases where the moisture separating from the HyTran or oil, can and has frozen but never heard of anyone actually incur damage specifically associated with water freezing BUT I would highly recommend changing the fluid at least every few years to avoid this risk. While we're at it, I could never really understand why IH put a drain plug on the gear shift rearends and not on the hydro versions. Anyone have an idea on why this might be???

Hydro Harry
Old Cubs Never Die (even if they get darn cold)

 

[kmcconaughey]

Hydro, perhaps you are thinking of Robin Howe (Click on his name for a link to his profile.) Here's a detail photo of the headlights on Dan Hoefler's 70:

 

[hydroharry]

Kraig, Oh Great One and Keeper of the Photos - YES!!! I was recalling Robin Howe. His profile notes he's in Worthing, Sussex, UK. It's been nearly 2 years since he logged in so I wonder what he's upto.
John Sergeant - - is Robin Howe the other collector you are aware of?

Kraig - Thanks for posting the pic of Dan Hoeflers 70 lights. They appear to be the 2 ring style. Upon closer review of John's pic I believe he has the 3 ring style and I think he has them assembled correctly. I no longer have my 100 light assembly but did discover I still had some pics. If you are familiar with the 3 ring assembly you can get a sense from these pics of how they are assembled. The bottom pic shows all 6 rings, 3 for each side. The center and left ring go together to form the rear ring mounting assembly. The ring on the right is quite small and goes against the front of the bulb and is just held in place with the pressure of the entire assembly (I'm pretty certain I recall this correctly but I'm open for anyones confirmation). I did error in some of my previous info. You can see the center ring has one recessed area where the raised portion on the back of the glass bulb is inserted. This keeps the bulb in alignment. I believe I mentioned previously the ring had 2 of these recessed areas but I believe that may be on more modern rings for later tractors.

Hydro Harry
Old Cubs Never Die (and they shine brightly at night in the UK)

 

[mmasheris]

Tom the axle I put in the 128 was from a 1863,it raises up the front a bit but turns a lot better.

 

[hydroharry]

I almost forgot and have to post this, especially for all you interested in Model 169 units.
I'm posting a pic of the serial number tag for my 169 and below it is the tag from the 169 my son just picked up. I wonder if you notice any similarities between the last 6 digits of the serial numbers.
This is mine:

This is my son's

Hydro Harry
Old Cubs Never Die (and sometimes their resting places are closer than you think)

 

[dtanner]

Hydro Harry

( While we're at it, I could never really understand why IH put a drain plug on the gear shift rearends and not on the hydro versions. Anyone have an idea on why this might be??? )

Harry I think I have the answer for you.since hytran forms globs from encapsulating water a drain plug would be useless .

 

[dfrisk]

HARRY - That's REALLY Cool getting consecutive serial numbers like that! Reuniting Old Iron like that is neat. They can sit side-by-side like they did years ago @ LVL while being built!

DON - The drain plugs on GD's aren't used all that often, and from what I've seen also on the hydro's, but it saved money for IH to use similar pattern equip. to make the castings & on machining fixtures, tooling, & programs to use the drain hole on the hydro rearends for the outlet to feed oil to the hydro pump. Plus the real cost savings comes from using a very similar machined castings and all the other common parts on both hydro & GD tractors. Plus assembly procedures were very similar.

IH was really good at designing for manufacturability at high volume. You look at other lawn equipment and most models in a series had totally different components which makes finding parts, attachments, etc a real cluster.

IMO, IH had the BEST attachment designs in the industry because they used so many common parts on the tractors and so much was interchangable. They only changed what was needed to make the different models marketing wanted them to. About the ONLY thing you have to watch for is WF vs NF. Plus you have the benefit of having the same drive train on a 7-8 HP tractor as you got on a 14, 16, 17, 18, or 20 HP tractor. That resulted in an almost indestructable tractor on the smaller HP models, and very economical manufacturing.

 

[dtanner]

Dennis Frisk

Yesterday was a bummer day here. I used my engine lift to drop the 12 K back into the 125 and broke a bolt off of the drive hub

. So I then thought to check the 10 hp out of the 107 and found the pulley has a piece broke out and also has a bolt broke off in the drive hub. I see my 123 has a good hub and will have to drag that in the shop and pull the engine to get the hub out. I will have to see if one or two can be bought. I hope the weather warms up so I can get the 123 in the shop. I have a bank of snow in front of the loader doors and would like to use the loader for moving the 123.

Do you really need 4 bolts in the drive hub ?? will three bolts hold up ??

I had hopes of getting the 125 running this week.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Don, I think if only 3 bolts would do the job, Kohler/Cub Cadet would have only used three... Better to delay a bit and get it put back together properly.

Hydro, very cool to have two 169s in the family with serial numbers that close.

 

[hydroharry]

Kraig - Oh Great One, and Dennis F - thank you for noticing. I could hardly believe it myself when he sent me the pic. We were actually wondering if they may have been built one behind the other since IH just used running numbers for all the models, but there is the thought that towards the end of production IH was only building 169s. I guess we'll never know unless someone comes up with the 3 units built between these numbers. I could ask everyone to check their serial numbers but I suppose the Forum may go into overload with data - especially if I have to post a comment on each one.

Don T - way up north - if you're talking about those 4 little bolts that hold the grass screen to the pulley hub, you should be fine with just 3 of them. If you're talking about the 4 bolts that hold the drive hub to the pulley hub then you'll be fine with 3 for "awhile". The problem being how long is "awhile", and when or if it were to break away there is no telling what it may mess up. My recommendation is to bear the pain of replacing it on both your units. Actually I believe those hubs are fairly common and readily available for reasonable prices in used condition. I believe brand spanking new they are expensive. You shouldn't need a good pulley guide on it unless you're using the hydraulic lift (which I think you planned for the 125) so I think I'd go for used myself.

Hydro Harry
Old Cubs Never Die (especially north of the border)

 

[mpatterson]

That's cool Harry...how about a picture of them???

 

[dtanner]

Harry Bursell , Kraig,Denny

Because of my neck problems I tend to use air tools way to much I guess. The Ingersoll Ran 2115Timax 3/8" drive at 125 air line pressure will snap off bolts way to fast

I see some on evil pay for a 100 and a 149 and I think they are both the same as my 125 .Charlie has them also ,so I guess I `am not stuck.I did make a mess of the one from the 125 in an attempt to drill the bolt out.

 

[sblunier]

Donald,

Try center punching the twisted off 1/4" bolt in the drive hub with the good pulley and drilling/tapping for 5/16"x18....that will likely salvage the drive cup and help fix any "oops" moments from trying to drill out the 1/4" bolt.

BTW, don't feel like the Lone Ranger, I've BTDT and have the well used T-shirt to prove it....those 1/4" bolts into AL are easy to twist off and or strip out (usually strip out).....

 

[dtanner]

Steve Blunier "Mr. Plow"

I made a attempt to drill the bolt out and got off centre. So in the am I will take the drive cup and have it welded and drilled and add new threads. I know a guy I think can weld my mess up and repair the drive cup. I will take the drive plate that bolts to drive cup with me so he can get the correct alignment . I have my fingers crossed at this point .