Sears Suburban 10

[eford]

OK, so take a good look at these pans. Grey is flat stand alone from pump, etc. Black is cub style. Finding a flat oil pan is key for your Sears

 

[eford]

Oh and it is a 1.125" shaft size on my engines, that pulley is on a 1.125" shaft. I'm going to work on removing it you may need it depending on what you find

 

[wsdrake]

Hi Earl,

Thanks for your pictures. I went out today and cleaned out the carburetor really good. It started on the first pull, put it ran in the high RPM range. I wanted it mid range, so I could let it warm up to do final adjustments. Then the gremlins came out. My uncle never truly fixed the linkage on the engine, and now it is completely frozen. I will have to fix that. It bent my throttle cable, so I went to remove it but it is stuck in place on the tractor. Then it started puking gas out of the bottom of the carb. I figured it was best to walk away for today.

The flat style oil pan looks just like what the 8 horse has, so that style would work on my Sears. I have to measure the shaft yet. Thanks for all your help!

Hi Marty,

I haven't seen any pop up down here. When I lived up in Ohio, I would see one very, very rarely. I've heard parts are hard to find, so I'm hoping I won't need anything exceedingly rare.

Like I've said, I don't even remember the Sears catalogs. Dad does though. Thanks for stopping in!

 

[eford]

Billy, that has a down draft carb and I dislike working on them to say the least. PB blaster will be your friend. Honestly if your trans is fine now, the engine shaft pulley will be key to repowering it. Your float is stuck in the bowl of carb. It may have a hole in it. I would stop at this point and find a Kohler if you really do want to do a swap. Those transes had up to 24 HP twins hooked to 'em so reach for the stars!!

 

[wsdrake]

Hi Earl,

With the engine being as old as it is, I would say it is time to (properly) rebuild the carb, but I would rather take the money I would spend on a carb kit and put it towards a Kohler. Kohlers are better engines anyway, lol

I think a 10 horse is what I want, that way it is close to what it originally had in it. I would like to get this 8 horse good enough to turn, that way I can sell it and put that money into the Sears. Thanks again Earl!

 

[eford]

I don't disagree Billy, sound plan. K241 are great engines. I've used a can of carb cleaner sold in gallon paint can size to soak carbs in. If you do that, after pulling parts out, re-spray them with aerosol spray can to remove residue. That stuff is thick. Works well on gunked up parts.

 

[wsdrake]

Hi Earl,

Thanks for your advice. I pulled the carb back apart yesterday, and the float didn't have any gas in it, but the needle is bad. I blew into the fuel inlet, and I could hear air escaping around the needle, telling me it is junk. A new carb kit is $50 from Briggs, or I can get an entire carburetor, brand new, off of greed bay for $25.

I think what I am going to do is start engine hunting. When I did have it running, that 8 horse just didn't feel like it had enough power to do what I want to do with this tractor. I am not going to pull anything really big with it, but I want to make sure I have enough power in reserve, if you get what I mean. I don't think that 8 horse will have that. So, I've decided it's time for a repower. I think the hard part will be finding the right engine. But, hunting is part of the fun, right?

 

[hydroharry]

Billy - I was just reading thru your posts and the others. I had a neighbor when I lived in CT that had 3 of these units. All had the Tecumseh with electric start - which was a Starter/Generator and battery that was crammed in there under the hood area. You might just have enough room for a Kohler K241 with a flat pan. I'd have a good look comparison with your 108. The K241 can have the oil dipstick in the cam cover or on the top of the block which is what I think you'll need. I think you could get away with having the air cleaner towards the front and probably still have room to remove the cover when you open the hood. Getting at the points cover might be hard but with the grill removed maybe easier. I'd have a good hard look comparison.

 

[wsdrake]

Hi Harry,

Thank you for the suggestion. That is a good thought; I would hate to spend a few hundred dollars on a engine and it not fit. That would be kind of disheartening.

I will take some measurements off of my 108 and check. I've never seen this tractor with the original 10 HP Tecumseh, so I have no idea how much space it took. Thanks!

 

[eford]

The 12 HP overhead valve Tecumseh I had was later, 75 ish, and had a gear starter. I'd pull off the hood for doing anything, but hood was broken at the hinge under the headlights. I'm going to take measurements of my k241 in my Case 220 this weekend for you. It has a flat pan and s/g. I am planning on doing an engine swap from the k241 to a k341...

 

[mhomrighausen]

Billy D. First of all.... Congratulations on rescuing that SEARS tractor. You'll love it. I need to get over to a friend's place and pickup a SEARS Suburban 6 (6hp Tecumseh). Believe it or not they actually have the holes drilled to mount the CAT O 3 point onto that little tractor. I agree with doing and engine swap. Once you get the tractor running good I know that you'll want to do more than just use it for light work. Greedpay has a lot of parts and there is a place on Facebook that is for SEARS tractors. Parts seem to be a LOT cheaper on that site.

 

[wsdrake]

Hi Earl,

I would appreciate measurements. I took a few today, but I would like to see what you come up with.

From my measurements, there is about 17" of usable vertical space in the engine compartment. On my 108, the k241 measured 15.5" (roughly). I think it will fit, but your measurements would be very welcome so I have more data to compare.

Hi Marlin,

From what little I have used it, I already do. I did not know they made the suburbans with that little of an engine! It's also astounding they have the 3 point ready to go as well.

I am sure your right, but considering this was my grandfather's, I don't want to get overly carried away working it. At some point, I would like to restore the mowing deck, and maybe use it to mow with. I generally use the 108 for my heavier work, since I know it can handle it.

Thank you for the info about parts. Greed bay is VERY expensive on Sears parts, and pouring a ton of money into this would take the fun out of it. I am willing to put more into this than any other project, but I can only go so deep, if you know what I mean. Thanks for commenting!

 

[kide]

Next door neighbor had a '67 --- 12 horse Tecumseh powered Suburban. Only issue was the solid state ignition would crap out about every 3 years .... got expensive. One reason for engine conversions on them. IIRC there was a conversion kit to different ignition for 'em. Other than that, very tough tractors..

 

[mgwin]

Went to look at a cub 70 and some implements today. The 70 was plain Jane. Found out the implements fit sears tractors.
He had two suburbans and a sears ss (sears suburban?) for sale also.
The implements were a disc, a cultivator, and a front blade. He said they were sears brands.
I'm pretty much a cub man, so he still has them.

 

[wsdrake]

Hi Gerry,

I've always heard these old Sears were tough, which is why I scratch my head and wonder how the original 10 HP Tecumseh blew up. I do enjoy this thing quite a bit, and can't wait to find a new engine for it.

Hi Marty,

That's interesting; I didn't know the implements were interchangeable. If those Sears were all original, you should have picked them up. They are becoming very, very valuable and highly sought after.

I do consider myself a Cub guy as well, but this Sears is important to me. I like to think that if Grandpa had the money, he would have bought a Cub.

 

[mgwin]

Billy,
The sears implements will not fit on a cub cadet, that's why I left them.
I believe the dozer blade was an original sears item, not sure about the rest.
I pretty much stick with Brinly and Haban stuff.

 

[eford]

Sears had their own 3 point style system. Somewhat similar to a farm style, but much smaller. Only way to interchange implements if you had a sleeve hitch adapter and used those implements.

 

[eford]

Seems like something always happens, didn't get into shed over last weekend. Sleeting rain stopped that. The Case is buried in back right now, this weekend looks a lot better

 

[wsdrake]

Hi Earl,

Thanks for the corrections on the attachments. Don't worry too much about the pics- time has gotten a bit tight around here (as well as money), so the Sears is on hold for a little bit. Hopefully I can save up the money to buy an engine for it by the end of the year, as well as new rubber for the front. It needs them desperately!

Thanks for all your help and advice. I can't wait to tear into this thing!

 

[mhomrighausen]

Marty G. I'd love to have those SEARS CAT O attachments if they were only closer. If you make a forty-five degree bracket to adapt the Cub Cadet that is based upon the Pow'r Pup adapter then those attachments would fit right up.

BTW.... Pow'r Pup temporarily put on hold due to some emergency things popping up.