Unknown Cub Cadet With Problems

[bfleisch]

No matter what you have a unique one of a kind tractor. Nice !

 

[dware]

Back in their day all IH tractor were wired positive ground and serial numbers started at 501 .

 

[PACub100]

Glad to hear you got it running. It is a model 71 with a 122 motor and # 122 decals. They probably picked up a couple of 122 decal numbers when they put the 12 hp. engine in the tractor, and replaced the #71 with them.

I'd imagine they probably swapped the hood along with the engine from a 122 parts tractor instead of applying new decals...with the way the decals are faded along with the hood paint and such, seems likely they're original.

 

[Colton Stevens]

Not sure if any of you are still following this thread, but I have updates. I finally got back around to working on this tractor because I now have a need for it. Our newer plastic POS cub cadet with a kohler 27 has a cracked block, and we need to mow soon. I pulled this tractor out of it's hiding place and I have discovered a lot about it. As the people on this post suggested, this is in fact a 71 with a 12hp motor from a 122 and it has 122 stickers placed right over the 71 stickers. I have completely rewired the whole tractor, finding many many horrible wiring "fixes". Very glad I did that. Generator would not charge, I tried cleaning it, but I concluded that it has a bad feild coil, and the armature was beginning to have some marginal continuity to the shaft ground of the generator. So I found another starter/generator and it seems to be working. May have to clean this one a little, as I have only seen it put out 13.5 volts, but I have not grounded the field coil to measure full output. My brother and I searched high and low in Western NC for a narrow frame deck, and found none within reasonable driving distance considering diesel is over 5 dollars a gallon. So my brother found a wide frame deck and was able to make it work with the tractor. I will eventually get some pictures of the setup. It went pretty smoothly. Now we are fighting pto clutch problems and we should be mowing soon. It is rewarding to see something that sat for 30 years become useful again.
On a side note, I was in my local CC dealership, and I couldn't believe the prices. $5k for a very mediocre, run of the mill cub cadet. It makes me feel less stupid about putting money into a tractor from the sixties.

 

[1811Cub]

You are far better off sinking cash in your vintage steel Cub than the latest plastic and tin machines. Glad you put forth this effort on it.

 

[PACub100]

On a side note, I was in my local CC dealership, and I couldn't believe the prices. $5k for a very mediocre, run of the mill cub cadet. It makes me feel less stupid about putting money into a tractor from the sixties.

Most people will finance and by the time they pay it off, they'll be looking to replace. In today's "use it and throw it away" society, that's just what you do. Every summer my neighbor and I banter back and forth...I ditched my Craftsman I'd bought new and replaced it with a late 70's 1450. He has a zero turn. He laughs when he starts mowing after I do and finishes before I do. I've joked back that I can put a snowthrower on my cub for the winter, he says "that's why I have a four wheeler with a plow". I say, "but that's just another piece of equipment you need"...
Surprisingly he told me just last week that he was looking at another zero turn. I asked why and he said his was getting rough and he was hoping it can get him through this summer.
He bought it used 7 years ago for $3,800...it's about 10 years old. To him, he got his money's worth. To me, I compare and see that I spent $750 and have been using this 1450 for going on 3 years...and it's from the 70's.
There's a reason why I like old stuff...heck even my stove is a 1956 GE Liberator.
They're simple, easy to fix and they just seem to last forever. Yes, they're not as fancy and convenient as new, but I'm happy to deal with that because I'm not parting with my hard earned money to enjoy those fancy features and conveniences.

 

[mgwin]

Colton,
You can take the bad starter/generator to an alternator repair shop and get it refurbished for around $40.
You live about 110 miles from me. I may have a narrow frame deck and mule drive for your tractor if you still need one, and are interested.

 

[mgwin]

Did the 71 have the serial # located on the tranny the same as the 70/100?
I have a 122, and it has a tag on the back of the tranny to the left of the fluid level plug.

You can see the tag on the left just above the hitch bracket.

 

[dschwandt]

Is the number within the range of the 71 series from 127161 to 218009 from Aug '65 to Nov '67 for series #3??