Archive through November 17, 2013

[glippert]

Mike P - I got my QA-42A out of storage this weekend and into my garage, next to the 782, but it's not mounted yet. And despite the IH marketing that Charlie posted, it takes me a lot more that a few seconds to get it mounted. Each year, when I finally get it on, I think I'll remember the "trick" that finally worked. But I don't, so I have to re-discover it every Fall. I think the biggest help would be an able-bodied assistant!

I'm a little late getting the thrower mounted, but last Friday afternoon I plowed four good sized gardens around town, and boy did it every plow nice. The heavy loam soil was nice and soft after all the rain and snow we had in the past few weeks.

 

[dfrisk]

CHRIS E. - Thanks for the update on all the Bluniers. Glad you all made it thru relatively unskathed.

The few pictures I've seen things are bad for a LOT of people.

We had a BIG F-4 tornado (some say F-5) blow thru south of us 15 or so miles 8 yrs ago, Stoughton, WI. Only one fatality, cinder block fell on a guy in his basement. But we drove thru one subdivision 3 days after the storm. All the roads & sidewalks were fine, but just the foundations were left for a sizable portion of the neighborhood on one side of the street. Houses across the street had dents in the siding the size of baseballs but no other damage. One older farm, roughly 1920's vintage, all that was left standing was the house and poured concrete silo, all the other barns and trees were leveled. The guy had managed to uncover his antique tractors and had them parked on a hill with no debris.

I have an aunt and a couple cousins who live in Pekin, have to call Mom later today and see if they made it thru the storm O-K.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Chris E., thank you for the update on the Bluniers.

Greg, one fall I came up with a trick that really helped make it easy to install the QA42 on my 125. I should have written down what I did because every fall since I've not been able to figure out what it was I did.

It might have been the year I refurbished it and had it in the garage on a concrete floor rather than in the shed on a gravel floor. I do recall it involved a length of a 2x4 somehow propped under the sub-frame but I've tried similar things to what little I recall all to no avail.

If I ever figure it out I will be sure to document it. As I get older it gets harder to install it. It might be time for a dedicated snow removal tractor so I can just leave the cab and QA42 mounted.

 

[aaytay]

"It might be time for a dedicated snow removal tractor so I can just leave the cab and QA42 mounted..."

BINGO!!!

This is what I did and NEVER regret it. If you have the storage space and the extra tractor (we all have an extra tractor, right?) to dedicate your snow-mover to one tractor you'll save yourself a LOT of work each fall. Change the oil once a year and ALWAYS use Sta-Bil in the gas because you never know when it's going to be "done" snowing each season. Snowthowers/blowers just weren't made to do the "on/off" thing as easily as they claim.

 

[dfrisk]

KRAIG, ART - One day 8-10 yrs ago after I had put the chains & blade on my snow-moving tractor I asked Dad how hard it was for him to put the chains on HIS Farmall. Most times it takes me an hour per chain but that year I spent closer to 3-4 hrs for both sides, they both fought me! Dad's reply was simply, "Don't take them off, like me!" I did find that using a scrap of 3/16" steel cable to pull the loose ends of the chains together works MUCH better than using a short chain or load binder. Last year it took me about 75 minutes for both sides.

To put my chains into perspective, one chain for a 12.4X38 tire weighs around 200#. I can pick up one end of a chain easy enought and pull them around but NO WAY can I pick up the whole chain. The 13.6X38 chains for the other Farmall are actually lighter.

I suspect I'll be getting a phone call from SON when he tries to put the chains on the 70 soon. I think he can get the blade on O-K, but the chains may stump him. I watched my Buddy's SON mount up chains on his O/T tractor a year ago and it was comical!

I always wish they wouldn't edit the scenes on Ice Road Truckers when they show the driver's installing tire chains. They make it seem like it only takes 5-10 minutes to install chains on FOUR dual drive wheels with three side chains. I bet it's really more like an HOUR.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Art, I need to get the #1 125 put back together so I can use it to mow and for general use, then the #2 125 can be left as the snow removal setup. It's always something... one of these days I'll get a:

Tire chains on a Cub Cadet size wheel are easy to install, especially if you use a floor jack.

The windbreaker cab is the worst of the snow removal accessories to install/uninstall IMO.

 

[jbaker]

Completely off topic...
I am heading to San Diego to see my son Graduate and become a..

U.S. Marine

You boys behave while I am off line ....

 

[kmcconaughey]

Jeff, CUBgratulations! Have a safe trip.

 

[bbranstetter]

Prayers go out to the Bluniers and all that went through those terrible storms.

Winds knocked out the Internet at home and the power @ my plant so it's a good day to work on the Cub garage and get those overhead doors fixed.

 

[dfrisk]

KRAIG - Yes, my 3-ton floor jack raises one side of the BIG tractors but I normally use my 8 ton bottle jack. Set the chain on the tire and spin the tire around, then tie the loose ends together and start muscling the chains around till I get enough slack to bolt them together. Same method we use on CC's.

I hate to think of what putting chains on 18.4 or 20.8X38's would be like. Like Dad said, I'd leave them on all the time!

Place down home sold chains that had small hardened steel blocks attached to the cross chains for more weight and extra traction, similar to the cross chains with the short steel pins welded on the links. They were popular on small industrial loader tractors. The blocks were an inch thick by two inches square IIRC. They lasted a long l-o-n-g time but cost a fortune. Rode rough on hard surfaces too. Not the kind of chains you'd want on a tractor running from one farm to the other a mile away!

A similar but scaled down version could be made by someone with a welder and a LOT of time, half inch thk by 1 inch sqaure. They might clear the fenders.

 

[jclazar]

I sure found out that having a dedicated IH Cub Cadet as a snow removal tool saves a lot of time. I can use my IH 42" push blade for anything in between seasons. No fussing with wheel weights, attachments, tire chains, chipping paint, ect ! Makes life great and well, you know,...!

I'm sorry to hear of the destruction that happened yesterday, my prayers and hope for those folks!

Charlie, I know of a friend of mine, who was a Corvette and Mustang collector, seen his shop go up in fire and burn up all the sports cars. About 16 restored Corvettes Mustangs combined. I could not believe the heat had melted all the heads off the motors, and melted down a huge Snap-On box with tools. That was about 7 years ago.

 

[hydroharry]

ok, I guess there always has to be someone with a different position on what's easier.
I always jacked the tractor up and removed the rear wheels (1 at a time) to install the chains. Had the chains layed out on the floor, making sure no links were twisted. Then set the tire a little off the middle of the chain, making sure the outside of the wheel was toward the side of the chain with the adjuster connector, then grabbed the ends of the chain and whipped her up on top of the tire, making sure it was somewhat past half way around, did a quick about face and pulled up the other ends of the chain, hooking them into the ends already laying on the tire - then began adjusting and tightening the links until I had her really good and tight. This worked much better for me than trying to install the chains with the wheel still mounted on the tractor - since it would tend to bang/chip the paint, and I could never get the chains really tight. Got so I could mount both chains in about 30 minutes, and another 10 minutes for the wheel weights (since I was using cobbled up 75#'ers that didn't have a center hole). I think it would take me about 15 minutes (900 seconds for IH marketing) to mount the snow thrower - since I had a QA42A it had the little wing nut on the side so you could bolt the support rod down in a vertical position which would hold the thrower at the right level to just roll the tractor into the thrower attachment brackets. Then all you had to do was install and adjust the belt - and you're ready for THROWING!!!! (Assuming you had already done all the maintenance and other checks).

 

[drglinski]

Chain install on a CC is easy on my 147 at least. Here's my method. Lay the chains on the ground behind the tractor. Straighten out kinks. Jack up tractor, rear end. Jacking up both wheels so they'll spin. (I do this after the blade is put on so she won't rock laterally.) Let ALL the air out of the tire with a core removal tool. Drape the chain over the tire. Hook the inside, tape off with duct tape (minimizes the chances of it coming loose and hooking the fender.) Rolling the wheel, holding the outer side of both ends of the chain, the binder looped through the end, I work the chain around the tire equally so as to get it to fit. Hook the binder. Check that the cross chains are perpendicular to the tire. (mind you I'm doing this on turfs, not ags.) Check that the circumference of the chain is pretty much equal around the outside of the tire. Air tire back up to 8-9 PSI. Repeat for other tire. No tarp straps/springs/clips needed. Worked for me all winter last year just fine.

 

[cstouffer]

here is that 128 i bought for 250. im pretty sure it needs a s/g cause the battery doesnt charge at 14 volts, it needs a paintjob and a grill cause it had chicken wire for the grill. eventually id like to put a clutch in it cause the disk has considerable amount of wear on it.

 

[bjamison]

Doing a little catch-up....

Everyone - good info on yanking a chain vs breaking the rear end.

I've been working to move the top single point of the three point lift from the parts 1250 to the 1650. The rod that holds/pivots the cast iron piece is really tough to move completely out. I was able to use some PB blaster on it and drive it almost all the way out, but seem to be stuck on something. I might have to cut the rod to get the cast piece out and get it on a bench to see what I've got.

I have to say - sometimes working these parts tractors to get parts off of them is a royal pain in the arse! It's as though the parts tractors are still alive, trying to stay alive and fighting to the death to keep from being dismembered!

 

[danderson]

Harry-The wing nut wasn't exclusive to the QA-42. My QA-36A has one. Weights, chains, and thrower took 45 minutes tops to install.

 

[dfrisk]

WOW... Some of you guys, Harry especially, sure go thru a LOT of work mounting tire chains. My chains for the 6-12 Pizza cutter turfs on the 70 SON has are old and basically worn out, but my local C/IH/CC dealer sells replacement cross chains cheap so I patch them up every fall. The over-center clamps are long gone, I just use two 1/4" x 1" grd 5 or 8 hex cap screws, a Nyloc nut and two flat washers to bolt them together. The side chains are short enough and cross chains long enough that they come far enough down the sideall there is NO WAY they can come off, and they're actually "self-centering" since they're loose on the tire, plus the fact they're loose distributes wear over more of the cross chain links, doesn't just wear the same 4-5 links all the time, and in mud they self-clean like a dream.

Both chains go on in about ten minutes total. The ATV chains, think they were size 24-9.00X11, that I used one winter on the 23-8.50 Firestones on the 72 fit the same way, same ten minute mounting time. No removal of weights, wheels, or letting out air and reinflating. Throw the chains over the tire, install two small cap screws and go to the next tire. DONE! The bolts go thru the very last link in the side chains, there's NOTHING to flop and fly around.

Guy who works for the State Hiway Dept in Colorado on another forum and I don't agree on much, except running tire chains LOOSE. Ohhh, and he LOVES the new $450,000 road grader that my SON helped build for him about 8-9 months ago! And YES, when he chains up his grader, the chains are loose. His grader can go 32 MPH forward or reverse, but in winter, on snow & ice where he'd need chains, he never drives it near that fast. Now if I was Hugh Rowland on Ice Road Truckers and wanted to drive my Semi-tractor 55, 60, 70 MPH on ice & snow.... I'd run my chains a bit tighter than I do. And I'd probably need my head examined!

 

[ksanders]

Glad to hear everyone is doing alright here. Lot of bad things happening lately it seems like.

 

[tbdavis]

Just following up on a discussion not long ago about pan seat covers. Got some today from a local upholsterer and they look really good (at least to me) and wanted to share pics. Guy put the correct foam (1 in.) and correct stitching per an NOS seat. Guy is really sharp and can't wait to get the fiberglass seats back for the 122 and 123.

Thanks

 

[fcurrier]

Corey: This one?