Finally Got My Diesel Cub!

[mhomrighausen]

Hydro Gear is owned by and part of Sauer Danfoss. The 15U Series are still made in Ames, Iowa at the 13th Street facility.

 

[bpientka]

One additional item on cold weather starting. On my 1512 I have found if the turn the engine over for a few seconds (until some smoke come out exhaust pipe) then warm the glow plugs and try to start it fires up quicker. Wonder if it takes a few turns of the engine to get fuel ready.

 

[jstertz]

Has anyone out there retrofitted a cyclops vintage CV joint drive shaft on to an earlier model? I would like to put one on my 1772 my concern is drilling and tapping the input shaft on the hydro. Can this be done or is the shaft too hard? Is there anything else I need to be concerned about with this conversion?

 

[dtanner]

joshua donald stertz
I used a 1862 cv drive shaft in my 1512 Diesel tractor.You can read all about it in 1512 for the Dog rebuild. Its sweet working and smooooth running.

 

[jstertz]

Well guys, I finally got my snow removal setup together for the Cub-Kub and I love it. We got hit with about 12" last week and about 5" yesterday and this thing works slick. I impressed how well it does for a vehicle that is relatively light! I'm going to try to attach some photos once again. The hydro turn blade is an extremely nice convenience feature to have.

I also just received shipment of a used CV joint drive shaft to retro fit into my tractor. I don't know if I'm going to do that soon or wait until the spring. Thanks Rich Patton for responding to my post and for the accuracy and speed of the delivery. We will be doing business again. When I get to work on that project, I will be sure to post pics.

 

[jstertz]

Here we are ready for snow!

One shot from the rear.

With the v-bar chains and a couple of "little" suitcase weights, this thing can push some snow! My uncle Rog helped me fabricate some of the pieces I needed to bring this combo together and also that nifty weight bracket. Thanks. Special thanks to Marlin for the help with the photos.
This is a great little "smoker"!

 

[proessler]

Josh now all U need is a IH Windbreaker with a top & back curtain. Those V bars give your rig an awesome Look.

 

[proessler]

Got Back curtain fabbed up with clear vinyl & snaps onto back of CC windbreaker top. Now I can blow snow with T shirt & shorts with heat off of D600 to keep warm. No pics yet...

 

[bpientka]

Great looking Setup. I like those rear weights.

 

[jstertz]

Paul-can't wait to see some pics of the setup that you have on your smoker. I would love to hunt for a cab for my Cub-Kub someday but I have a lot of other items that I want first. I can't wait to get a 3-pt on it with some attachments for my garden! The only problem with me getting a cab or a windbreaker is that I would want to stay in it and plow snow all day! It is so much fun to use this little diesel tractor!

I'm excited to install my new CV joint drive shaft. It is currently in the shipping box under the Christmas tree next to the kids gifts. It will be great to put that thing to work.


One question about the differential in the supers--did Cub offer them with limited slip, lockers, or a manual locking setup?

 

[proessler]

Josh, I think CC didn't put locking differentials until the 3000 series. Someone can correct me if I'm misinformed. When I drove Farmalls Super C, H, 300, 656,966,& 1466 and needed more traction, I'd use the *Poor Farmer's* right foot/ left foot brake to simulate a semi-locking differential that would help forward motion.

You have that option with your Diesel Super!

 

[jstertz]

Well guys, its been a while since I posted anything but I haven't had time to do anything on the cub-kub. However, today I finally installed my "new" CV drive shaft.

I used my tractor all winter plowing snow with the setup pictured and it worked great. We had the most snow this winter that we have seen in years and it handled it all great!

With the snowing finally done, I HOPE, I took off the plow and installed my retrofitted 54" mower. I cut the lawn a couple of times but kept thinking about the excessive vibration from the somewhat worn "rag-joint" drive shaft. I didn't have the time until today to install it. It took me a little while to remove the old clutched unit. I was told that the drive shaft out of the 2182 would bolt in except for the 1/4" threaded input shaft that was missing on my 1772. I tried the coupler and it fit on the splines great and so I got to work drilling and tapping the input shaft. That took a little while but turned out great. I felt that i had killed a bear and was ready to bolt in my "new" unit. Unfortunately it was about 2 1/2" too long!!! Thankfully my Uncle Roger came to the rescue and shortened the drive shaft to fit properly. Then it was a bolt in operation. we started it and I couldn't believe how smooth it ran. The rag joint unit had about a 1/4" of lateral movement just ahead of the clutch when running. The rear coupler was in pretty rough shape as was the bushing. The CV unit has no visible lateral movement and just glides smoothly. I've got to imagine that it is more efficient than the old setup. I'll try to post some pics later.

Now I need to take care of that periodically leaking check valve...

 

[shank]

That looks nice!

 

[jstertz]

Thanks Sam I sure like it!

Well, I pulled out that periodically leaking check valve and cleaned it out well with break clean. I used a very small allen wrench to push the spring loaded ball up and down while spraying the cleaner on it. Once I felt that it was cleaned out well, I used the compressed air to blow it out well. I rinsed it one more time for good measure and dried it. Then I poured some Hy-Tran on it and reinstalled. So far it hasn't leaked at all. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I ordered new wheels, rollers, shoulder bolts, bushings, essentially any worn out parts on my 54" deck. I disassembled and sanded the deck, removed the worn parts, primed, and repainted the deck. The mule drive arms were worn bad where the contacted the adjusting bolts. We welded that area in and finished the paint on it. Hopefully this week I can get the rest of it put together and set up for the rest of the cutting season. I need to turn my attention to my newly acquired IH 682! Next post, I'll include some photos...

 

[jstertz]

I haven't posted anything in awhile on the Cub-Kub so here goes...

The check valve continued leaking worse than ever. I took the info given to me by Bernie and Marlin posted farther down on this thread and located a Sauer Danfoss dealer in Milw, WI. The rep was extremely helpful and the part number given by Bernie was still accurate. The price from them was $65 shipped to my door! The whole experience was great and saved me over $200. If any one needs the specific contact info and contact person, I'll gladly forward it to you. Just shoot me an email from my profile.

I finished working on the deck. All the new parts are on and with the fresh paint, it really looks and cuts good. My only concern is that the drive belt from the PTO to the deck seems to whip back and forth a lot when the PTO is on. Is this typical for these or is my "tensioner" spring on the mule drive getting weak? Or is there another possible problem?

We have had a ton of rain and hot humid weather here in WI this summer and lately I've had to cut the grass every 3 days! Needless to say I've got a lot of seat time and I love it! With the new drive shaft it runs so smooth and the refurbishing on the deck makes it cut great. It has cut my cutting time by about 20 minutes and uses at least 40 to 50% less fuel. Good news all around!!!

Last winter I needed to move my job trailer but couldn't get at it with my dually because the dumpster had been placed too close. I was able to hook on with the Cub-Kub and pull it right out! The trailer weighs about 3500 lbs with all my tools in it. I was impressed!

My daughter playing on it this spring. Hopefully she doesn't take out the key and hide it like I did on my dads Wheel Horse some 30 years ago (what goes around comes around, I know!)

The next thing I need to do is replace the starter. I hope to do that in the next couple of weeks.

 

[jstertz]

It is amazing how a couple of weeks can become months! I went from the summer/fall mowing season to setting up the Cub-Kub for winter plowing duties and still no stater repair! Thankfully we didn't have much snow this last winter here in east central WI and so I only actually started and plowed three times. However, with the super warm weather in early March the mowing seaon arrived about a month early and so off with the plow and on with the deck. The whole sticking solenoid was beginning to be a real pain and I was getting afraid of ruining the switch. So today I decided to make the change to my new high torque starter.

My biggest concern was the removal of the old starter with that long nose cone. My uncle had stopped by to drop off his right angle drill and unibit to drill out the motor mount plate to clear the new power contact stud. I had just finished removing the two starter bolts and motor mount to bracket bolts. I told him about having to lift the motor high enough to remove the existing starter after removing the motor mount. He observed that the bottom ear of the old starter was "all" that was keeping me from pulling it straight back and out. When he realized that I was changing to a completely different starter and had no core charge on this one, he suggested cutting of the bottom ear with a sawzall.

We installed a sharp short metal blade in the sawzall and about a minute later we were able to draw the starter straight back and out! Obviously the old starter won't be able to be used again but I won't ever change from a gear reduction after seeing how well this thing works. Anyway, then we mocked up the new one, located where we should drill our hole, and went to work. I used a long 1/4" bit to pilot a hole through and then the unibit and right angle drill to finish producing the 1 1/8" hole. After the hole was drilled and painted the new starter was ready to go in. The whole procedure took about an hour and a half and I'm certainly happy with the results.

I haven't done much on any of my tractors over the winter because of the lack of a heated shop but I'm hoping to get back at the Cubbie refurbish soon as well. It is good to have this little repair/upgrade behind me however!

My Son on the Cub-Kub which is back in action!

 

[bpientka]

Glad to see things moving forward. I have to do the starter swap on my 1512 at some point. Is it truly a big difference in starting?

Take Care,

Bernie

 

[jstertz]

Bernie,
I'll let you know once I have a couple of months of usage on it. I've read that Matt G. and some of the other guys have done it already and probably would have better insight as to its operation over a period of time. All I know is that it turns over a lot faster than my old starter. It certainly isn't a substitute for a solid running motor with good glow plugs when its cold,but it definitely will be a help in more efficient starts. Especially since my solenoid was shot anyway. Hopefully it will work out well for years to come.

 

[jstertz]

Well, it was finally time to put in a new set of glow plugs for me. The originals weren't working too well anymore and since I was installing the new gear reduction starter, I decided to do the glow plug upgrade. Thankfully, mine came out with out much fanfare and within a couple of hours I had the retrofit complete. They seem to work much better than the original set but I'll keep you posted as we get into the colder weather. I'll post a pic or two of the complete install on my next post although I reckon it won't look much different than the other upgrades.

After cutting the grass today at my place it was time to work this dude a little. My dad has a yard that is bordered by a large field on the north and that field has about a 10% grade to it. When it is bare and the rain comes down hard it washes some of the topsoil to the fence boardering dads yard. This has over the years caused a 18" difference in elevation from one side of the fence to the other. My dad was able to acquire some free topsoil to even this out a little but didn't have a good way to grade it. He asked my if I could bring the Cub-Kub over to do the majority of the work. I had just purchased a used set of 23 x 10.50-12 ags and rims for my Cubbie refurbish project and so I thought it would be a good time to test them out since I knew my turfs would cut it and my v-bars would probably do too much damage.

They look kinda small on the Super and make it look a little low slung in the back but they worked great!

With my 98# weights on the back and slow and steady working the old 1772 did a real nice job.

My uncle Rog, who helped me fabricate the weight bracket among many other things, stopped by and got to do a little grading work himself! He really enjoys running this thing.

Dad was very thankful for the working time that it saved him and because we didn't bring in one of the big farm tractors I think we did far less damage to his existing lawn.

After about an hour and a half it was finished and ready for seed. Now I just need to get a set of 26 x 12-12 ags for this beast!

I have some great video of this thing working but I need to figure where and how to post it

 

[jchamberlin]

Joshua: Looks like a lot of fun, I'm jealous! You really ought to let someone else snap a picture once-in-a-while: there are pictures of two of your "helpers" and your uncle, but none of you.

I want to see what I'm sure is the big grin on your face.