Hello from upstate NY

[Paul Raymond]

Hello from upstate NY.I recently purchased a nice CC106 in very good condition. I have gotten a lot of information already from the forums and haven't even asked anything specific! LOL

 

[RAllison]

Glad to have ya Paul!

 

[JPrattico]

Welcome! I am also from the Upstate NY area, and I also have a 106. They are very nice machines and it will serve you well.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Paul, WELCOME!

 

[hydroharry]

Paul - welcome to the Forum. Nice looking 106. Interesting to see you have a 44A/50A deck on a narrow frame tractor. Don't recall seeing that before. The deck requires an off-set on the left side of the sub-frame (because the center pulley on the deck is offset) and a mule drive with slightly angled pulleys. Wonder if mounting it to the narrow frame just requires conversion of the front hanger bracket. If you happen to remove your deck and sub-frame sometimes it would be interesting to see pics of it.

Because of your pic with this deck, and because another member wanting a Quiet Line unit with a 44A/50A deck, I went and looked thru my literature pile and found a couple cross-reference guides. One actually has a chart that states the 44 deck is not adaptable to the 106. The literature is from 1987 so it would be a newer 44 deck probably not the 44A. I'll try to attach the chart.
View attachment 145146

 

[hydroharry]

Here's the chart from the 1987 literature where it says the 44 deck is not adaptable.

 

[hydroharry]

And here is a chart from a 1994 literature that shows an asterick noting one of the 44 decks is adaptable.

 

[Paul Raymond]

And here is a chart from a 1994 literature that shows an asterick noting one of the 44 decks is adaptable.
View attachment 145152

Hmm,I'll have to look closer at my serial numbers both on the tractor and deck.What I really found interesting was the front roller is wood.

 

[hydroharry]

Paul - the wood front roller is correct for a 44A deck. No need to look at the serial numbers for the tractor or deck. The mule drive and sub-frame you have is what interests me. Somehow what is commonly a wide frame deck was adapted to your narrow frame tractor.

 

[Paul Raymond]

Ok,next time it's off,pics will come

 

[hydroharry]

Paul - even if you could take some close up pics from the lower front so we can see the mule drive, and some from the left side so we can see the sub-frame, how it hangs, etc. Those pics could be helpful right now.

(And by the way, in case you didn't know it, that seat you have is EXPENSIVE. You can't find that vinyl pattern style any longer. It's been discontinued from Cub Cadet for quite some time. Every once in awhile you see an NOS one come up but the price is $$$$$.)

 

[mconway]

welcome fellow upstater....you'll find a good people and info here.....

 

[wh cc guy]

Hello Paul and welcome. Nice looking tractor







.

 

[Paul Raymond]

Ok hydroharry,I think we have some answers.I mowed almost the whole yard today,herd something squeaking,and thought it was the wooden roller......til I heard the THUNK under the mower deck.Turns out sqeaking was one of the mule drive pully bearing.
I took some pics before I pulled it off and after as well.I'm pretty sure someone made it fit.From what I see,everything looks OE except the spacer blocks on the rear hangers,maybe 1/2 inch at a guess.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Hydro, a wide frame deck on a narrow frame Cub Cadet has been done before. I believe it was John Lang that had this 122 with a 44" deck. I believe all that has to be done is to swap out the wide frame mule drive for a narrow frame mule drive on the deck hanger. I have enough of the correct parts around here that I could test this theory if I only had the time... If the proper deck hanger portion is not used, I believe the lift height is limited and the deck hanger can hit the center pulley on the mower deck.

 

[RAllison]

Wow that sure is...blue!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Here's another look, or two, at it after John polished it up a bit, painted some parts, added new rear tires, a new seat and a special decal.

 

[jkoenig]

That Special Decal needs to go! I have always been careful to call them by their full and correct name, with no shortening, and no nicknames, or I may have to switch brands for the very reason on that decal.

Go Cardinals!!!

 

[hydroharry]

Paul - thanks so much for posting the additional pics.
And Kraig - thanks for digging up John Lang's blue tractor.
Looking at Paul's first, it does look like someone added the steel blocks under the rear deck hangers (as Paul noted). This probably provides clearance for the deck center spindle. What I do wonder about is how the deck gets leveled after doing this.

I also wonder about the belt alignment. The wide frame mule drive has angled pulleys to direct the belt towards the center pulley on the mowing deck. In Paul's pics you can see the pulleys direct the belt straight back so there is probably unnecessary pressure and twisting on the belt to run it to the offset center pulley on the deck.

So Kraig - when you said all you thought John had to do was swap out a wide frame mule drive for a narrow frame, well, yes that probably works, since that's mostly what was done in Paul's situation. But it really needs more than that.
What I think it really needs is a wide frame mule drive and swap out the "hanger bracket" for a narrow frame version. You really need to keep the wide frame sub-frame with the offset to clear the center pulley, and you really need to keep the angled pulleys from the wide frame mule drive, and just as well keep the spring set-up that goes with it. So in the end, the only thing you use from the original narrow frame is the hanger bracket with the quick attach latch so it can mount to the front of a narrow frame tractor.

 

[hydroharry]

Hey Kraig and Paul - thinking further about this, and since Paul said one of the pulleys seems to have failed, I'm wondering if the pulley bearings failed because the belt puts twisting pressure on the pulley (I also noticed in Paul's pics that one pulley has a big dent).

Kraig - (one way or another I may get you to come up with enough time to test out this theory). You posted a couple pics of a wide frame mule drive and sub-frame on another thread, and I'm reposting below. In these pics you can see the angled pulleys and the sub-frame offset. If Paul could get these parts (complete wide frame mule drive with the sub-frame that has the offset) it looks to me like all he'd need to do is the following:
Switch the narrow frame hanger bracket onto the wide frame mule drive, along with the narrow frame tension spring (since the wide frame tension spring is to wide to fit). He'd have to figure out how to attach the back end of the spring which I think maybe just a matter of a longer bolt holding the pulley BUT since the pulley is at an angle that may not be the real answer.