Bought a Cub today.

Saw an ad on craigslist for a "1949 Farmall Cub" with no pictures and a reasonable price, so I had to call... Didn't think I would be buying a Cub today.

I will get pictures in the daylight tomorrow, but so far, it looks good. transmission seems tight, pto engages smoothly, engine doesn't run, but is rebuilt... what? yes... The engine was just rebuilt, but never started. The tractor which was advertised as a 1949 is actually a 1951, and there is a magneto on it. It looks like the engine might have come from a combine, judging by the bushing on the exhaust manifold. I know the combines had a larger pipe with a spark arrestor. Also, the oil pressure gauge is facing outward, not towards the platform and it does look like it has been that way for a long time.

The wiring is the problem. The tractor has the 2 post kill switch, for batt ignition, but it has a magneto. The wires smelled a little hot when he cranked it over for me. I didn't look at it until I got home and noticed the wire is completely fried from the magneto to the kill switch. It appears there was 12 volts of power supplied to the grounding post on the magneto. not good... probably fried the $60 coil... So, does anyone have a battery ignition distributor set-up they would like to sell? They were pretty common. I think it is the same as the Farmall A B C etc...

Aside from that, it cranks over nice and seems halfway to decent.

The guy has a brand new Woods 59L mower, probably from the mid 1990's that has never been installed on a tractor. The blades still have shiny paint on them. deck has a little bit of rust scabs jsut starting, but over all, the thing is shiny and really clean. I think he wants $600 for the mower, definitely a good buy for anyone in Eastern Ohio.


Looks like I have 2 Cubs again...

That would make me kind of wonder what kind of a rebuild job they did on the engine.

My thoughts, exactly!

He presented me with a farmall cub service manual(answer book) when I gave him the money. He said he has rebuilt auto engines, told me about the specs and things... mentioned how he used plasticgauge on teh bearings... I was very confused... How can someone know what plasti-gauge is, get it all rebuilt, and give up when it came down to the small stuff? Well, doesn't seem like much ofa wonder... You either know old stuff, or you are lost in 60 years of technology.

but he said that he bought it with that engine, out of the tractor, and since teh tractor is wired for a battery ignition distributor, and it had a magneto, I figured that the engine came from "some place else" Lots of things seem to come from "some place else" which is a mythical location deep in every classified ad.

He seemed knowledegable about the internal combustion process, but wiring not his strong point. I don't think he has seen a mag before. compression is nice, block is nice, etc...


I will know more tomorrow. I should be asleep, but the dog barked adn I thought someone was stealing the tractor from the trailer. I think I have another J4 coil laying around. Time will tell.

Usually I can spot an "earl sheib" tractor. not meanign the paint, but in general, when someone works on things and they appear more broken than if left alone, I can see. This didn't look that way. I will have to look at it better tomorrow, but for all intents adn purposes, it should be a Cub, now named Doris; and Doris will drive off the trailer she was pushed onto last night. I don't see a single reason why that can't happen.

If all else fails...

The new parts included:

-muffler
-sediment bowl
-points
-cap
-rotor
-6v battery


The good about the tractor:

-final drives original, undamaged
-PTO tight
-transmission tight
-sheet metal good, no rust
-radiator good
-tires and rims
-enigne block in primer, no crack in the famous spot
-belts brand new
-touch control looks solid, no leaks or wierd things
-gen and reg are both new or reman, although the 6v short muight have cooked the reg
-PTO shaft splines are crisp
-rear wheel weights with nice casting, no major pitting or cast shift
-dot head bolts on 99% of the tractor, nothing molested
-flywheel inspection cover, clutch inspection cover original and in place
-6v factory headlights in place, nothign looked changed
-battery box and tool box original, not badly rusted
-original hard pan steel seat on a working seat post without any rust


So, if anything else, it will be parted out, but, I sort-of have taken a liking to Doris. She's not a pretty girl, but I bet she'd make a good meat loaf. That's what life is about. The pretty girl who can't make a meatloaf is worthless in real life. Sure, she may be fun to look at, but if you starve to death because it is horrible to eat, then what good is it to sit there and look?

Doris will definitely make a nice meatloaf, maybe even knows how to dance a bit... You can always put nice clothes on an ugly girl and take her out dancing, but you can't take a pretty girl into the kitchen and teach her how to cook.


By the way... If I find a pretty girl, who also can cook a nice meatloaf, I will marry her. I've waited 32 years to find that girl, so I doubt she is around the corner, and until then, I will wait for the one who knows what a mandolin slicer is.


Cheers,
John

PS: any girl that is reading this, and knows how to prepare zucchini in at least 3 different ways: Will you marry me?

I would force some engine oil into the oil gallery to make sure the bearings have oil prior to starting the engine. He may have thought the mag required battery voltage. You could convert the mag to a distributor by using an auto type coil and running battery voltage to it and using the points and condenser in the mag. Hal

The manifold could be an aftermarket replacement. Those are "will fit" manifolds for all years of Cubs. 184 Loboys had a larger outlet for the muffler, hence the bushing to get the pipe down to 1" NPT.

I think the reason the guy gave up is evidenced by the way the tractor was wired. He's a mechanic, not an electrician.

Engines almost always stop turning with the ignition points closed. If voltage was applied to the mag grounding lug under these conditions, it would have a dead short through the points. That would certainly melt the insulaton off the wire. During cranking, each cycle of the points would alternate power through the coil with a dead short.

My best guess, you need to check the condition of the ignition points. They may be OK, may need cleaning or replacing. Then check for spark. There is a good chance the rest of the mag survived the abuse.

Jim Becker!

I used to post on farmall cub . com all the time until my ISP was blocked from the site. not sure why...

How is George Willer? I heard he was in the hospital with some really nasty breathing problems.

George bought #17 from me. Smiley Cub. What a talented and intelligent man. Spoke to his wife (think her name was Marilyn) on the phone, what wonderful people... So sorry to hear they aren't doing well.









and yeah, the coil is fried. I didn't even have to test it. The windings must have gotten so hot that they boiled the fluid and cracked the case open. I wouldn't imagine it could build up anything in that condition. I do have another one. I also have a Farmall C battery ignition distributor. I got it to put on my other Cub. We will play eeny meeny miny moe and see which one gets the mag adn which one gets the batt ig set-up.

I don't think the Manifold is a replacement, judging by the rust pits. Looks like the tractor has been setting inside a building for it's lifetime, so it has that humidity rust and pitting. It's definitely not new to have collected that much rust. Like I said, there are a few otehr things that lead me to believe teh engine is out of a combine. once I start it up, I will be able to tell you immediately for sure when the governor kicks in as to it's origin. If you've ever heard the gov on a combine engine it is a lot snappier and hotter than on the stock farmall cub. It will spin over 1800.

and yeah, I am definitely going to preoil the engine before starting it. I will remove the oil pressure gauge and put a 35 psi hi-flow on that port and just let it flow for a few minutes.

John, what I have heard about George and Marilyn is similar to what you have been told.

If your userid is what I think, it is still valid. Rather than discussing it here, send me an email with your id and we can try to fix the problem. My email is jim<dot>becker<at>verizon<another dot>net