It followed me home...

[mminnig]

At least the price was right, came with the mowing deck and a snowthrower. Immediate plan is to use it to fill in lawn duty and then rebuild the deck in the wintertime.

It appears that some repair work was done on the desk and the ID tag is no longer present. Anyone have a guess as to what deck that is? It has three equal size blades and no front wheels only sliders.

Any signs of trouble I should look out for in the future? So far it starts right up and runs pretty steady. Could probably use to have the brakes adjusted along with the mule drive.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Nice find! I'd say the deck is a 44C.

 

[mminnig]

So in my new found obsession I have been looking into the deck more. I am still on the steep part of the learning curve so I will be ever so humble if anyone else has a correction to what I am about to say.

Using the very scientific approach of internet photo comparison I am starting to think the deck might be a 50" based on the following.

Here is a photo of a known 44" deck

and here is a sample of a known 50" deck

Note how the stamped ridge on the 44" deck is positioned to the right of the chute exit where the 50" deck is more to the left and intersects before the chute exit.

Now here is a photo of the prize is my garage

This would seem based on the above observation to be a 50". Unfortunately my new toy is at home while I am at work, but I looked up the replacement blade sizes for both (15 1/8 for 44" and 17 3/16 for the 50") and I will compare what I have to those measurements tonight.

In other news I know that at least of the spindles has some wobble to it, hence my reasoning to restoring/upgrading the deck this winter. Anything else I should consider doing while I have it off? I saw someone who converted the front slides to wheels and reinforced the mounting points. Is that overboard or actually helpful? I imagine it would be worth the money for a set of Gator blades as well?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Matthew, from the comparison photos I'd say you are correct and that could be a 50C. I'm no expert on the later series Cubs, more of a narrow frame guy.

Hopefully either Richard C. or Steve B. will see your post, those two know that style deck very well.

 

[mgonitzke]

That's a 50C. The gauge wheel is way too far away from the back tire for that to be a 44".

 

[wheinsohn]

Matt M.,
Get the front gauge wheel kit and install them. It was the best thing I ever did to mine. It will make it cut smoother and not have one side cut a little shorter from one pass to the other. The 50C has the narrow lift points in the front which makes the deck almost balance on the left lift eye. The gauge wheels keep it from dipping on that side.

 

[agitch]

Matt. M.

Try and pick up one of those deck leveling gauges. The one that reaches up underneath the deck where you can measure distance from ground to blade tip it'll be alot more accurate. Wes it right about how the 50c seems to want to lean a little to one side so you'll need to compensate for that with adjustments to your front eye bolts and the lift clevis. Definitely get the front wheel kit like Wes said.

 

[rbedell]

Matt M:

If the model number of the deck starts with 358, then it's a 44C. If it starts with a 359, then it's a 50C.

 

[mminnig]

Well, the 682 is looking a little different after this weekend. I took it out in the yard for ~10minutes to make some passes and see how the deck was cutting. Came back and parked it in the garage while I went in to get a drink and cool off. Came back to a garage filled with smoke.

Lucky for me there were no actual flames, just a slow smoldering heat. Also really very lucky that the firewall did its job. As you can see in the next photo the gas tank actually got hot enough to melt back away from the heat.

I blame myself for not going over the tractor more closely before playing with it. My best guess from the remains is that something had left some nesting material between the carb and exhaust shield on the right side of the engine under the air cleaner where I did not notice. This seems to be where the majority of the heat was concentrated.

If the gas tank had gone it most likely would have taken the whole tractor and my garage with it before I got there with an extinguisher.

On the upside, I know have a nickname for the 682 (which will be Torch) and I have the chance to work everything over well. From the initial teardown I know I will be looking the following:
1-coil
2-condensor
3-plug wires
4-voltage regulator? I believe this is the three wire connection that was melted in the last photo.
5-air filter
6-fuel lines
7-carb rebuild? I am guessing the seals and gaskets took a good heat cycle and should be replaced.
8-gas tank

Things I will probably replace while there:
1-plugs
2-points
3-carb throttle spring
4-hood ornament
5-strip and repaint heat sheilds, hood, and grills

Another other suggestions of what to check out while I am in there? Also, any idea where to find an 82 series gas tank? I think I have found sources for the rest of everything from the sponsors.

Thank again!

 

[thoffman]

MAtt "M", How's about "SMOKEY" for a nickname?


Even though you had this misfortune, it's good to know that the IH engineers were thinking when they built these good ol' girls. This should be a good lesson to all, including me. So when you see that the safty stuff, it's there for a reason. Leave it there!!!

 

[aclark]

Hey Guys
My 682 after mowing about an hour when you shut it off the engine seems to get VERY HOT you can not hold on to the dip stick to check the oil I removed the heat shields to see if this would help cant tell any change is this normal

Anthony

 

[agitch]

These kohlers do get pretty hot. I'd leave all heat shields/air ducting in place. If you still have that inlet screen on the bottom of the frame in place, make sure that isn't plugged up with grass/debri. That's where your engine pulls in air. If that's not in place, check your flywheel area and make sure that doesn't have a bunch of debri plugged up in it. Also, if it's been a while, make sure the cooling fins on your heads aren't all gunky. When mowing run at full throttle your engine will cool better. They still do get pretty hot though.

 

[aclark]

Adrian
screens are in place and I keep them clean but what I don't do is run at full throttle I usually run half the reason for this is because the engine has 1082 hours and was trying to make it last a little bit longer

Thanks Anthony

 

[mgonitzke]

Anthony C.-

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS run an air-cooled engine at full throttle! You are damaging your engine by mowing with it at half-throttle. The only way it'll cool properly is if you run it at full throttle.

 

[mminnig]

Running the engine at full throttle not only cools the engine more efficiently but provides better lubrication. The throttle level only controls engine speed not load. The carb opens up in response to load at any given speed and the more gas burnt as the carb opens equates to more heat. Your oil pump on the other hand runs an oil pressure curve that tends to increase with speed and little else.

In my case during teardown I did located a deceased field mouse along with 5lbs of nesting material that was around the flywheel. I could not see this nest from the front of the engine which is the scary part.

 

[aclark]

Matt and Matthew
Thanks for your input I have never liked to run anything full throttle this almost seems like abuse although I lost a pump on a cat loader for the same reason it also runs at full throttle the kohler has 1083 hours I am afraid of what will happen when I run it hard BUT I will take your advice and will try it out today after work

Thanks Guys
Anthony