Archive through March 05, 2014

[thoffman]

Jim "H",
Glad to see there is someone here that will bend when it comes to model preference. That's all I'm sayin'.

 

[jbaker]

Christian, did you shear the drive pin? and if you did make sure you replace it with the correct one,

 

[hydroharry]

Christian S - could be your hydro release valves stuck down. Don't know if you use that little lever on the side of your center frame cover, but the buttons do sometimes stick down. Another possibility is your drive shaft is not rotating with the engine - which could have several causes like the solid connecting pin falling out or breaking where it connects at the flywheel cup. Or it could be a broken roll pin at the back of the driveshaft. I'd remove the center frame cover and look at the dump valves and the driveshaft.

Brian W - I knew you didn't mean any disrespect, and I didn't either. You had mentioned tidbits about your experiences with generators/alternators before. I just happen to see it as being a substantial difference between the automotive applications and garden tractor use. As Rick B noted there are many original S/G's and I believe volt regulators still in use, almost like "if you happen to get a really good one it just keeps going on and on". Both the old S/G and newer somewhat electronic style that Kohler came with are good systems, I just don't like that whinny noise starter on the AQS engines and it usually doesn't start it as quick as the S/G. If you consider all the IH production units with the Kohler engines of both styles it's really just absolutely amazing so many are still out there running and operating so well. It's just hard to say anyone is any better than any other, even tho most of us on here want to do just that.

 

[bjamison]

Brian W - great write-up on the starter generators. So many things we did and our parents, grand parents and on back in the family tree - things folks did as a matter of routine, state of the art of their day, and generations never lived it or could conceive how that life could have been.

On a smaller scale, my first car, a IH Scout 800A had a 196 cu-in 4 cylinder and POINTS!!! No big deal replacing them and resetting them. Fast forward and I've got these IH Cub Cadets and staring me in the face are once again points and condenser! It's fun showing my boys what this stuff is all about.

Quick question - QL axle aluminum carriers and internal brakes. I think I read that on the QL's they were the same arrangement as earlier NF tractors? Question is - are they exactly the same? Axle carrier same, except cast aluminum vs iron? Internal brakes same? Same part numbers - direct swap? Mash the internal brakes on a NF and one wheel might lock-up and you could take a 90 degree spin - same deal on the QL brakes (thinking this mostly applies to a gear drive tractor) ?

Reason I'm asking is - for me, I kind of like the IH cast iron over the aluminum. I'm sure whatever aluminum IH used/designed into their Cub Cadets, it was all good. I have this notion that one of these days, it would be cool to build a hydro and gear drive QL from the best of early and late series - just for kicks.

The list would include:

Late model steering wheel
1 inch front axles
Internal brakes/cast iron axle carriers (from a NF tractor?)
Cast iron front lower grill
Dual hydro (hydro models)
16 hp engine

Probably forgetting something, but that is a start.

I've got a few years to go before I retire and consecutive vacation days off are few and far between and when they do come, I hardly know how to act. It's one thing to get in from the salt mine and run down to the basement for a bit and tinker with a tractor, but I think, for me, some of the real fun in retirement will be having plenty of time to restore, build, configure, repair and paint some of these Cub Cadets down to the nut and bolt. Part of my retirement planning also includes window shopping for which and what tractor project ought to be waiting, like combining the best of the early/late QL tractors.

 

[hydroharry]

Doub B - geez, the QL hinge is 4X the cost of a 1x8/9 hinge. Has to be because hardly anyone ever needed to replace their QL hinge.

Now you also said:
I think the ideal cub would be a wide frame, cast iron slant nose, with 16hp iso mount, large muffler like the 169. easy to work on, lots of power, isolate the engine vibration, reasonably quiet. just my .02"

I can understand the slant nose idea but don't think it's necessary. I don't think I ever bumped anything with the nose on any of the Cubs I had. Your other comments make alot of sense and would result in a terrific unit. We all seem to want to take certain parts of certain units to make an ideal unit. But on the other hand, so many of them have lastest this long they have to be really great units to begin with.

I want to add something here, especially to the W/F and QL lovers. I love my 169. It was the biggest and baddest of it's era, but it also took me the longest to find (even tho it popped up in a junk yard in the small CT town I lived in - or at least the frame and engine did), and took me the longest to put back together. But I also loved my 1450 QL, and all the other QL's I owned for that matter (even the 1200 I popped wheelies on). Bill QQ has more or less mentioned it several times. IH took a terrific W/F design, and made just tons of improvements, and came out with "The World's Best Cub Cadet". Yup, the QL is really just a really modernized W/F. No more exposed engine - no one needed to really see it. And yes, use ISO-mounts to dampen the vibrations - and it did work but they wear out. And hide the exhaust since no one wants or needs to really see it - make it dissappear except for a little pipe out the front. And no need for a belt to start the engine with the newer Kohler design starter, and better design charging system, and heck yes an electric PTO. And yes, rubber mounts for the headlights leaves a perfect spot in the grill where there had always been an IH emblem. No need for those fancy costly bezels. And get rid of the hood latches by using a spring steel clip on the dash hood support bracket with 2 rubber bumpers. The spring steel latch keeps some tension on the hood and the rubber bumpers isolate it from rattling vibration - works perfect. Someone at IH spent alot of time thinking and redesigning "The World's Best Cub Cadet". I don't have the sales numbers handy but have to believe it must have been a sales knockout. Yes, it could be better, and throughout the production IH made improvements, as has been noted about the 1" spindles, nicer steering wheel, auto release dump valves, etc. So there is no question in my mind the QL really is The World's Best Cub Cadet - which it remains to this day. Heck, maybe I should just say the 1x8/9 was an early introduction to the QL. So Bill QQ and Doug B - you guys are on the right track. Take the features you like from both and make your ideal Cub Cadet. And Doug, you can probably get a cast iron slant to fit too.

 

[jharder]

Harry,
I know of a perfect cure for your yellow and white fever. I bet if you would add some RED in your life (Kind of like a pill) your fever would come down a degree or two. (this being said as a gentle ruffing). Although I had a 122 that I wish I would have kept. Its not that I don't like yellow and white. I just have a deep seeded hate for the 1x50 series. And like I said before I am sure there are some that hate the IH 82 series. Jim

 

[cstaehly]

The hydro release valves ARE stuck down!! Thought they would pop up once I got hydraulic pressure in there though, how can I get them to pop back up?

 

[dfrisk]

JIM H. - SHHHhhhhh Don't tell Harry how great the red CC's are, he'll buy them ALL up!

I wouldn't say I HATE Q/L's, never had one, and never will.

BRIAN W. - I agree with everything you said about starter/generator's & voltage regulators.

I will say this, when I first got my 72 33 yrs ago, about every two years the battery would go dead, even if it was new. The V/R points would burn up from being mounted up high on the grill casting on a rubber mount. With the engine running, the 3 inch square V/R cover would be over FOUR inches square from vibration. When I got the 129, with the V/R mounted back under the seat, next to the battery, both the battery & V/R lasted FOREVER. So one day when the V/R on the 72 died again, I unhooked the wires and fed them back along the transmission and mounted the V/R on top of the rearend under the seat base. That was about 22 yrs ago and well over 1000 operating hours ago with no problems since. I did pull the S/G apart once to clean it, think I replaced the brushes then too. About once every 30 to 50 starts, the S/G wouldn't spin unless I smacked it with my fist, one of the brushes was way too short and would hang up. But now when the battery is dead, I know the battery is bad. And I use the electrical system on the 72 pretty hard, with all the lights, AM/FM/Cass radio, and running my 12V elec. sprayer that pulls a constant 7-8A when it's on. The S/G gets too hot to touch after 2-3 tanks of spraying and I normally spray 5-6 at a time.

I agree the Delco alternator is a wonderful invention, that's why both my old Farmall's have them, and if they could spin my Kohler's over somehow, my CC's would have them too.

I will say this about the solid state charging system on the Onan in my 982, it's been fairly trouble-free, just had one broken wire on the rectifier a couple years ago. But beyond that, having to pull the engine to do anything with the charging system inside the flywheel, or do anything to the starter, not such a good idea. At least the Bendix style starter on the Kohler's were able to be serviced with the engine in place.

Thing that pains me is the fact so much of this type of elec. stuff comes from low cost countries now. Cheaper to replace than repair, and that's required fairly often IMO, compared to the stuff available 30-40 yrs ago.

 

[dtanner]

Christian Staehly

That is common for them to stick down if hardly ever used . I would soak then with a good penetrant and keep trying to bust then loose by running the engine a 1/2 throttle and quickly moving the hydro handle forward and revered. They will come loose if you keep at it.BTDT

 

[jbaker]

Christian, I unscrewed mine soaked them and used a small screwdriver it free up the ball and get them working,