Cub Cadet Model 128

[dschwandt]

cskinner
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Dave S. #2 tiller refurbish | IH Cub Cadet Forum

 

[Matt Ellerbee]

Very nice! Here’s my 128.

 

[jeff kaufman]

looking really good!

 

[ffgosda]

Does your 128 move slow enough to till well. My Dad bought a new 149 w/tiller in about 1973. Also got the tilt bed IH trailer to haul it on. The hydrostatic was great for tilling.

 

[kharvey]

With the creeper drive it should go plenty slow enough to till. I had a number 2 tiller on a 124 with
a creeper and my biggest problem was lifting it. Had to have the helper spring cranked up tight.

 

[hydroharry]

Calvin - geez, where the heck did you find that brand new seat??? That style was originally first used on the Quiet Line series and as far as I know hasn't been available for several years.

 

[cskinner]

I don't remember the name of the store, but found it online searching for cub cadet parts. They had a lot of parts with the IH part numbers listed. I believe it was the only one they had. They got a good dollar for it, 183.00, but it is really nice and not cheap made.

 

[john.knutson]

a butt in the points???somebody is messing with you or previous owner.I'm not paranoid but I'd want to check a lot of things before starting it....

My first thought was that it was some sort of "kill switch" to prevent unauthorized folks from driving the tractor. I might be (probably am) putting too much faith in people having good reasons for doing things though

 

[gary noblit]

John, I believe 95% of people are good people.The other 5% need to shipped to an island off Anartica with a loaf of bread and one match...I'm a bit "cold hearted" when it comes to devious humans...This of course has nothing to do with Cubs...just saying...

 

[knolte]

Your tractor is looking good. Keep up the good work on it.

 

[cskinner]

Hello everyone. I've got the 128 working with the tiller hooked up. There are two problems I have to work out though. Hopefully someone here can help. The first problem and the most problematic is what Kharvey mentioned. It is virtually impossible to lift the tiller with the implement handle. I did buy a used spring assist thinking it would solve the problem but it didn't make enough of a difference at all. The tiller is heavy and I've bent the lift handle slightly pulling so hard on it and I still can't pick it up. I am wondering if the used assist spring is too weak or has lost its strength? Any ideas?
The second, minor, problem is the throttle keeps backing off. Is there a way to tighten the friction on it so it stays in position?
By the way the tiller works great. I used it to till up a small section of the lawn behind the garage and it looks good. It would be really nice to use if the throttle would stay up and I could raise and lower it easily or at least easy enough for my old muscles to do it. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Calvin, the throttle tension is adjustable. If you look under the dash, here's a photo of the underside of a 149 dash, which should be similar to your 128. Note the circled part has a nut on it. That's the tension adjust on the throttle control. You will need a right angle Phillips head screw driver and a wrench to fit the nut to tighten it.

Regarding the spring assist, just in case you are not aware, the amount of spring assist can be adjusted by tightening the nut where it attaches to the back of the frame. Here's the instructions for the IH spring assist. If you have the Brinly version let me know and I'll post that up as well. The Brinly spring assist attaches on the right hand side onto the bar for the rear lift.

 

[cskinner]

Thanks Kraig for the info. Getting the throttle to stay put looks to be easy enough and will be a big help when operating the tractor.
However the assist spring is another story. I am sure I have it installed correctly per the installation instructions you provided. I have tensioned the spring as much as possible, even as far as it can possibly go, which is to the point of it hitting the rear attachment bracket. I had to put about 3/4" of washers under the tensioning bolt head in order to utilize all the threads available in order to pull the spring towards the rear and bottom it out against the rear bracket. And it still doesn't have enough assist tension to help out. I'll see if I can send some pictures to clarify my installation. I'll also send some pics of the garden and the fine job it did tilling it up. we had hard rain last night and yesterday so it settled it down some. Do you think it is possible the spring has lost some strength over the years? I haven't been able to find a new one. Thanks again for the help.

 

[kmcconaughey]

I've never used that type of rear tiller but I can imagine it's quite heavy. Hopefully someone that's got one on a manual lift Cub Cadet will chime in.

 

[cskinner]

Here are a couple pictures showing the spring assist tensioning bolt and how I got it to go as far as it could go. Also a picture of my little test garden. I did tighten the throttle lever and it now stays in position when under full, or near full, running position.

 

[lpalma]

Looks like the bracket that mounts to the frame is on incorrectly, see pictures.

 

[digger]

Looks like it is on incorrectly, see pictures.

 

[cskinner]

Hey Lewis, thank you thank you.Turning the bracket around should do the trick. Such a simple solution and I couldn't see it. A picture is worth a thousand words!

 

[dschwandt]

Yeah, Ya got it bass akwards!!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Even the the bracket that Lewis posted the photo of is installed wrong. According to the manual it should hook over the rear of the frame so that the bracket is on the outside of the frame rail, not inside. Here's an enlarged excerpt of the drawing in the manual:

And the text: