Unknown Cub Cadet With Problems

[Colton Stevens]

Hi everyone,
I am new to the forum as I recently took interest in an old cub cadet sitting on my property. It was a family members and has not run in about 20 years. It was under a barn until a couple months ago. I work on cars and trucks all day but I do not know much about these old tractors. I do not know what year it is, or much about what the tractor is, or if it is of any value. If you could help identify what this tractor is, I would love it. I hooked some cables up to it to try to start it and I am running into some problems. When I turn the key, the starter solenoid clicks on but the starter does not engage. It sounds like the solenoid is working properly but it does not turn the starter. So I jumped the solenoid with a screwdriver and got it to turn over. It turns over really good. I am not getting spark though. I noticed that the power wire going to the coil was frayed so I ran a new temporary wire straight from the positive terminal to the coil. Still no spark. I know that most cars will run like that but I can't tell if there is some kind of inline resister between the battery and the coil. Old dodges have a ballast resistor there and I didn't know if tractors were the same way. I tested the power from the stock frayed wire that went to the coil and it was reading some small number like 6 or 8 volts so that led me to think that the coil might not need 12v but maybe it was just a bad connection. Either way, no spark from either of the setups. Just for fun I tested if there was power coming off of the plug wire with the key on, and it was reading 12v, so maybe the coil is bad? Not sure. I also am only really accessing the left side of the tractor at the moment because the other side is up against briers. I am pretty uneducated on the ignition system on this tractor, I don't know what system would effectively replace the purpose of a distributor on a car. Typically cars have power running to a coil that then goes to the distributor, and then to the plugs but I only have a coil and the little metal pickup next to the coil. (Excuse my ignorance). Is there some kind of safety like a brake safety switch that is keeping the starter from engaging through the stock solenoid and then also maybe hindering the ignition system? I figure surely this thing predates safety. One last thing, below the fuel tank there is a sort of petcock. It looks almost like a fuel filter was supposed to fit onto this little bracket, I will include pics. As far as I know this tractor was running when parked and has been untouched ever since but anything could have happened. Is there supposed to be a part there? Any help on any of these issues would be appreciated

 

[dschwandt]

Sediment bowl under the tank is missing the bowl.
Cub looks to be a 70 or a 100.
Yes it has value, Mostly in the fenders.
Please break up any future posts with some punctuation.
Very hard to read as is with these old eyes!
Got spark out the point side of the coil?
If not, then points are dirty. Drag a piece of 200 grip paper through them and try again.
There is supposed to be a condenser on that side as well.
Don't see a coil in the picture, is it there? Should be bolted to that side of the engine.

Heck, you know it takes squeeze, spark and fuel, it'll run!
Get that poor thing in out of the weather!
Good luck!

 

[bjames]

Looks like it's a 100. Engine has been replaced because decal is newer style. Has headlights and switch, fenders which were options.

 

[tromaniecki]

The wheel weights and ag tires are nice to have too!
Probably says on the hood what model it is but that part of hood is outside picture.

 

[bjames]

The wheel weights aren't IH. Hood and grille do not look correct.

 

[Colton Stevens]

Sediment bowl under the tank is missing the bowl.
Cub looks to be a 70 or a 100.
Yes it has value, Mostly in the fenders.
Please break up any future posts with some punctuation.
Very hard to read as is with these old eyes!
Got spark out the point side of the coil?
If not, then points are dirty. Drag a piece of 200 grip paper through them and try again.
There is supposed to be a condenser on that side as well.
Don't see a coil in the picture, is it there? Should be bolted to that side of the engine.

Heck, you know it takes squeeze, spark and fuel, it'll run!
Get that poor thing in out of the weather!
Good luck!

Thanks for the information, yes the coil is there but it is the same color as the air cleaner and it is kinda hard to see.
I will try pulling it out to a more accessible location to get to the other side of the tractor and so some more digging on it.

I will try to find a sediment bowl at the local lawn mower repair shop/cub dealer

 

[Colton Stevens]

Looks like it's a 100. Engine has been replaced because decal is newer style. Has headlights and switch, fenders which were options.

Never expected the engine to have been replaced, that is interesting.
I will try to do some more digging and get some better pictures. Are there any ID tags that should be on the tractor itself that would tell more about it? I couldn't see any but I didn't look real hard.

 

[Colton Stevens]

The wheel weights and ag tires are nice to have too!
Probably says on the hood what model it is but that part of hood is outside picture.

I will try to get some better pictures of it soon, thanks for the help.

 

[Colton Stevens]

The wheel weights aren't IH. Hood and grille do not look correct.

I will try to get some better pictures of it soon.
It was owned by my late drunken great uncle, and I wouldn't have expected him to change anything on it or put forth any effort lol, but it very well could be mixed up.
The hood seems to fit correctly but I may be wrong there, I have never owned one of these so I am not familiar with them at all.

 

[etopel]

It's not a 70 or 100, the front end is wrong and it has a solenoid. I know 70/100's and Quietlines, I'm kinda fuzzy on the ones in between. Somebody here will know. On the ignition, I suggest you read up on points ignition systems so you understand what you have there. You work on cars and trucks but I'll bet you never saw anything without electronic ignition. When you understand how points ignition works ( it's pretty simple) you won't have any trouble working on it. Your points are probably dirty from sitting so long and not making proper contact. They are located under the little rectangular cover near the front of the engine on the left side down by the frame rail.

Found this article-https://www.gasenginemagazine.com/gas-engines/understanding-breaker-point-ignition-systems

Also you don't have a distributor because you only have one cylinder so the coil tower runs straight to the spark plug.

 

[Colton Stevens]

Update: The property is pretty far away from my house so I can't just walk out there and take more pics but I did happen to find some pics of it in the background of other things. It looks like the sticker on the side says 120. I never knew that referred to the size. (Lol I am not pretending to know what I am talking about)

 

[Colton Stevens]

It's not a 70 or 100, the front end is wrong and it has a solenoid. I know 70/100's and Quietlines, I'm kinda fuzzy on the ones in between. Somebody here will know. On the ignition, I suggest you read up on points ignition systems so you understand what you have there. You work on cars and trucks but I'll bet you never saw anything without electronic ignition. When you understand how points ignition works ( it's pretty simple) you won't have any trouble working on it. Your points are probably dirty from sitting so long and not making proper contact. They are located under the little rectangular cover near the front of the engine on the left side down by the frame rail.

Found this article-https://www.gasenginemagazine.com/gas-engines/understanding-breaker-point-ignition-systems

Also you don't have a distributor because you only have one cylinder so the coil tower runs straight to the spark plug.

Thank you for the info. I was confused on the system because I couldn't find the points located anywhere so I imagined it must have some other kind of system. Thank you for telling me where they are.
I am very inexperienced with these tractors so I am not trying to pretend I know what I am talking about here.

 

[Colton Stevens]

Now looking through some more old pics and finding that they might not have made a 120, it looks more like 122... definitely 1-2- something

 

[Colton Stevens]

Here is another pic. The numbers are real faded..

 

[glippert]

Welcome, Colton. I think you may be right about it being a 122 - it looks like there's a silhouette of a second 2 that's peeled off. I don't know anything about that model, but you've definitely found the right place for information, answers, manuals, parts-lookup, photos, FAQs, etc. There's a ton of knowledge and experience in the membership of this forum. I recommend you spend some quality time familiarizing yourself with the layout of the forum to make your searches for information more productive. In the meantime, photos (expecially full-size) will make it easier for the experts around here to answer your questions.

That doesn't happen to be a young Colton Stevens in that photo, is it?

 

[glippert]

Here's a link to manuals:

http://ccmanuals.info/manuals.html

 

[Colton Stevens]

Welcome, Colton. I think you may be right about it being a 122 - it looks like there's a silhouette of a second 2 that's peeled off. I don't know anything about that model, but you've definitely found the right place for information, answers, manuals, parts-lookup, photos, FAQs, etc. There's a ton of knowledge and experience in the membership of this forum. I recommend you spend some quality time familiarizing yourself with the layout of the forum to make your searches for information more productive. In the meantime, photos (expecially full-size) will make it easier for the experts around here to answer your questions.

That doesn't happen to be a young Colton Stevens in that photo, is it?

Thank you! And no haha that isn't me, but the tractor has been sitting there since I was about that age!

 

[tromaniecki]

I think it's a 71, at least that's what it looks like to me.......Need better picks from all four sides. Pic of the sn tag from rear end would be helpful too!

 

[tromaniecki]

it looks more like 122..

122 did not have the round rear fenders!

But the 122 hood and front grill are the same as the 71, except for the decals... so it could be a 71 with the wrong hood?

or a 122 with the wrong rear fenders.

 

[gchunnett]

The ID trick will probably be in the serial number of the TRACTOR, not the motor. (That's a nice set of pictures, but the serial number of the motor which you show is not the the clue to answering your question just yet) So to find this you need a scotch-bright or steel wool or really fine emery paper in hand.

Then on the RHS of the gearbox just behind the footrest should be a raised portion. Not engraved as part of the casting, but STAMPED onto a small raised portion that's machined flat, and often unpainted.. that's where the scotch-bright is needed with a bit of gentle careful rubbing to expose the

stamped numbers.

Try here. International Harvester Cub Cadet FAQ, Digger and or others on the forum has a while set of pics on where to find the number but I cant find that just at this moment so I've annotated a pic of one of mine
Digger and others have buttons at the top of the site page, and with coffee to hand make a wonderful covid stay at home distraction.

With that serial number in hand you try here. ( there are more details lists but for now this will narrow the options.