Kendall I.,
You are correct, I have begun to cut the F/R lever off. I am also one of those guys that doesn't like to destroy original parts unnecessarily, however, I know that the internal splines of the lever are stripped out (as KENtuckyKEN predicted) because it turns on the shaft without moving the shaft. So even if I had fitted it with a larger set screw, the screw would of been the only means of holding the lever in place, not enough in my opinion.
KENtuckyKEN,
Regarding WF vs. NF,,,, a month ago I would have agreed. However, this clean new-to-me 127 that I recently acquired is pretty nice! I guess I'm an owner/operator that's on the fence on that subject!
Dennis F.,
Thanks for enlightening me that the zerk is pressed in and turns freely by design. Some time ago I noticed that the steering box zerk on my 129 turned freely yet would seem to 'tighten up'. Because it didn't leak, I didn't worry about it. Glad to hear that is the way it's supposed to be!
Bruce N.,
Thanks for the additional pic of the steering box zerk location.
Fellas,
I've come to realize that the previous owners of my earlier Cubs (125 & 129) must have removed guards & shields and not replaced them. Why do I say that? Well, because this 127 that I'm 'becoming familiar with' must have every guard ever made for it still in place!
For instance, there is no way to see the driveshaft attachment at the engine. At the bottom, there is a solid belly pan screwed to the bottom that bridges the two frame rails. From the hydro side, there is a solid, flat sheet metal guard with a hole in it to allow the driveshaft to pass through it. From the R & L sides and above there is the arched screen guard! I was just glad that I was able to unscrew all the guard attaching screws to remove them as I go!
Regarding my steering box zerk; once I removed the screen guard and the rearward flat plate guard, I was able to see the darn steering box and it's zerk. Then I determined that if I turned the steering all the way to the right hand stop, it moved the lever bolt assembly up & forward (it's a vertical plate type part located on the left side of the steering box, #3 on the diagram) which exposed the steering box grease zerk & I was able to get my grease gun tip up & onto the zerk from under the frame, through the mule linkage. With this knowledge, I now know that I won't need to remove the guards to grease the box in the future - a good thing. I gave the steering box zerk at least 5 pumps of grease, turned the wheel back n' forth, another 5 pumps, more turning until I had over 20 pumps of grease into it before it started to show signs of grease on the vertical inside surface of the lever bolt assembly plate! I'm thinking it was a bit dry inside! As a result, the steering wheel now turns much easier!
Moving to the rear, I removed the flat guard plate above the rearend housing to find a LARGE pile of dirt and old grass sitting on the rearend housing & along the frame rails. I then removed the small-ish curved shield below & in front of the seat to expose the edge of the hydro unit. Surprisingly, it didn't appear to be too caked up with crud there... but it didn't allow me enough access to properly clean the hydro unit off, so it appears that I will need to remove the seat & rear fender assembly to access the entire hydro unit for adequate cleaning & inspection. I can see the fan and it appears to be intact and operative.
Interestingly, the hydro unit filter has an hex nut built into to the top/front of the filter...I wish my replacement filters had this feature! I will undoubtedly be changing the hydro filter and fluid as it appears to have never been changed - since the filter is the same yellow as the hydro unit & I'm not able to see any part number, IH symbol, etc. or any stampings on it.
Sorry for the long-winded post.
As always, THANKS TO EVERYONE for your help, assistance, guidance, opinions & just letting me share my progress with my new-to-me 127!
Ryan W
