Cub Cadet 147 Refurb/Mod

[Craig Kelley]

Hello IH Cub Cadet Forum! I used a 1969/70 CC147 from 1978 to 2012 mainly to mow a 1+ acre church property. I retired it 10 years ago in favor of a new (non-IH) tractor. I actually got tired of fixing it and gave in to a brand new shiny red tractor. Anyhow, I've started a refurb/mod of the CC147 after I got tired of looking at the poor thing sitting on the side of my shed while driving by on my new red one. Here are a few pics of my 147 at the start of my project:

**DISCLAIMER** This project is not for the IH Cub Cadet purist. I will be replacing the 14hp engine with an 18hp DuraMax as well as modifying the steering, adding actual front 5x4.5 spindles, new 20" (R) / 18" (F) wheels, offroad tires, among other things. Stay tuned!

 

[Craig Kelley]

Here are the numbers/specs:

 

[dschwandt]

No, thank you!

 

[Craig Kelley]

On that note, here's the new 18hp DuraMax engine that will replace the original Kohler 14hp:

 

[Craig Kelley]

I did a partial teardown removing all unneeded parts, including the engine, deck, and attaching hardware:

 

[Cubbie]

Interesting project. Is the Kohler engine irreparable/difficult to repair, or just want an engine upgrade among other reasons?

 

[Craig Kelley]

Interesting project. Is the Kohler engine irreparable/difficult to repair, or just want an engine upgrade among other reasons?

Hi Cubbie! I just thought I'd do something different and put a little more tech in my tractor. This engine is +4hp over the Kohler, has electric start built-in, as well as will charge my battery without the need of the original starter-generator.

I also never liked the original fuel delivery system and the general unreliability that I experienced with it over the years.

Thanks for asking!

 

[Craig Kelley]

One of the first things I thought I'd look at is how to mate the new DuroMax engine to the CC147 hydrostatic transmission input shaft. I machined/milled a coupler for the 1" DuroMax output shaft which connects to the original CC147 coupler.

This picture shows the approximate front-to-back positioning of the engine which will give me a measurement of how much to shorten the CC147 input shaft:

Here are pictures of the coupler. Welds are incomplete at this point. Once the original shaft is cut I may weld the CC147 coupler to the input shaft instead of leaving it pinned. I haven't put enough thought into doing this yet to know if it's a good idea.

 

[mgwin]

Why would you want to put a recoil engine with no front PTO on a nice 147? This will eliminate a lot of options for this tractor.

 

[Craig Kelley]

Here's what the coupler looks like on the DuroMax output shaft:

Why would you want to put a recoil engine with no front PTO on a nice 147? This will eliminate a lot of options for this tractor.

Hi mgwin, after I put 30+ years on this tractor I think she's going into retirement, I'm limiting her work options!

 

[bwstevens]

The big question I would have is the new engine would have to run backwards to run the hydro.

 

[Craig Kelley]

The big question I would have is the new engine would have to run backwards to run the hydro.

Hey Brian! Got that covered already, just hoping I don't have to implement it. The engine is counter-clockwise output shaft rotation (which will rotate the hydro input shaft clockwise[from the front looking at the hydro]), if the hydrostatic transmission requires otherwise I have a 2-gear design to remedy that. I don't have the CC147 hydro specs for rotation! If you know for sure I'll appreciate the information. Thanks.

(Oh, and I don't want to have to dig into the pump or flip any gears inside the case, which I guess is a possibility).

 

[mgonitzke]

You will have to rotate the charge pump housing 180 degrees, and you may have to flip the differential carrier too.

I'd get a flex coupling from one of the later tractors for that driveshaft connection and not use the original slot and pin one...that wasn't a good design and later tractors had a much better design. I would certainly not weld the coupler to the shaft. You won't get everything perfectly aligned, and the frame will twist a bit from the torque of the engine, and if that is welded it is going to put some weird loads on the engine and trans bearings.

This is the sort of thing where some planning before you start cutting and welding would be a good idea. You are going to end up reworking a lot of things since you haven't really bothered to figure out any of these details before you started building. And why not turn the engine around so you drive the trans off the flywheel end?

 

[lpalma]

You will be blowing hot air from the motor toward you and the hydro which will make it hotter, also changing the oil may be an issue but it looks like your off to a good start.
Keep us posted on your progress so others can do this re power, take lots of pictures.

 

[Craig Kelley]

Hi mgonitzke-- Thanks for the info, the two things I did consider were the alignment as well as using the recoil end of the engine. I appreciate the flexible coupler suggestion since I figured it would be difficult to get perfect alignment.

Also, I was looking at my engine last night ready to remove the recoil start cover to see what I might machine to make that end useful. Great suggestion.

 

[Craig Kelley]

You will be blowing hot air from the motor toward you and the hydro which will make it hotter, also changing the oil may be an issue but it looks like your off to a good start.
Keep us posted on your progress so others can do this re power, take lots of pictures.

Thanks lpalma!!

 

[vgripentrog]

I guess I'm a purist. That 14hp Kohler is a beast with proper mods. Search "killer Kohler"

 

[Craig Kelley]

All-- Thanks for your suggestions. Matt "mgonitzke" suggested just turning the engine around. Good call, I took off the attached recoil start cover/mechanism and have perfect access to the back side of the crank. I'll machine an extension to the crank and attach to the hydro input shaft with a flexible coupler (again, "mgonitzke"). Here's a pic of the backside of the engine, still in need of some disassembly to get to the crank:

Cooling? Maybe just mount a blade on the other end... Or since the speed of the tractor won't be a factor in cooling I can leave the existing one in place.

 

[Craig Kelley]

I guess I'm a purist. That 14hp Kohler is a beast with proper mods. Search "killer Kohler"

Hey Vince-- Good article, although I'm not sure I can get a 14hp K321 to approach the power of this DuroMax for less than the price of it. The K321 will sit off to the side in my garage for a while, though, if I get the bug to rebuild.

 

[jkoenig]

Orrr.....you could buy my NOS K321A, and be done with it.

Killer Kohlers were once the way to go, but with the quality of the parts available today, I’m not sure anymore. Has anyone figured out if the rods available today balance the same as the Kohler rods did? The balance plate may need to be reworked.