Me and the boys gave the 109 and 126 a workout this evening. More of a shake-out on the 126 and more get to know this tractor exercise.
All in all, both mowers mowed about 2 hrs.
The 109's deck belt broke just when we quit. The pulleys on the deck are rusty and I think chaf the belt over time. Might replace those pulleys this winter. Spindles are otherwise quite.
The 126 - I re-torqued the head after replacing the head gasket and putting some run time on it. It needed it too! The head bolts needed at least 1/4 turn when tightened.
Is this what you find when you re-torque a head?
The 126 ran great, but about 2/3rds of the way through mowing the engine started struggling like I was hitting some high grass (which I was mowing high grass all evening w/48 inch deck). After a minute, it died. I let the tractor cool, checked the oil and it looked OK and then the gas - still plenty. Turned out the cap wasn't letting air in, so I fixed that and started mowing again.
The can end of the muffler on the 126 blew out - it was pretty rusty anyway, but I've got a replacement that came with the 122 that I'll put on it. The 109 is in need of a new muffler too, so I'll be putting a couple of these on my next order list.
I mowed mostly in 2nd gear on the 126 and compared to what I'm used to mowing, that was pretty FAST! I kept thinking, wonder if IH tested these mowers for various ground speed gear ratios for 2nd gear and thought they must have set the ratio for the fastest ground speed that wouldn't compromise the quality of cut. The grass was tall, but the 12 hp engine and 48 inch deck cut right through it - AND laid down a pretty nice cut.
The property we were mowing is kind of bumpy, so 2nd gear gives a pretty rough ride sometimes. Need to get a new seat and rubber bumpers for it.
Lastly, I've got a super steer kit and need to install it on the 126. I believe it steers harder than the 109.
Here is a pic of both the 109 and 126.
