Cub-Related Book Summary !

[magnumpi]

As a total newbie to the world of Farmall Cubs, I thought it best to do some reading to attempt to get a feel for the topic and be able to communicate semi-intelligently. I jumped on Amazon and Overstock and discovered there was plenty to occupy one's credit card - the problem was what to buy so I offer the following brief summaries in an effort to save some future newbies time and money better spent on parts etc at site sponsors !!
1) Farmall - Leffingwell - Beautiful "coffee table" book with about 25% test and 75% color pictures. Absolutely stunning photos and an interesting recap of the history of Farmall, but little to nothing Cub-specific - several pictures of one-of-a-kind Cubs that I'll never see.
2) Field Guide to Farmall Tractors - Pripps - This is the equivalent to the Corvette Black Book !! Every model's statistics inc. years produced and most major technical specs. Also several color pics of each model mentioned. About 6-7 pages in total that are Cub-related.
3) How To Restore Classic Farmalls - Gaines - To date, this has been the most helpful to me personally. There is a chapter on troubleshooting that includes what to look for when shopping and how to test for it. It looks to me that this will be the book I consult most often when the time is right. Lots of how-to b & w pics with good descriptions IMO.
4) Farmall Cub & Cub Cadet - Updike - This book is about 1/3 Cub with thest post 1960 yellow & white. Exclusively a chronology w/nothing related to hands-on.
5) Original Farmall Cub and Cub Cadet - Updike - The author states in his introduction: "The Farmall Cub and Cub Lo-Boys produced from 1947 to 1963 are not covered in depth in this book" !! I may or may not have opened that one for the last time.
In summation, #'s 3 & 4 would be my choices knowing what I know now. I realize that Rudi's opening "welcome wagon" post contains all I really needed to know about books. 1) Cub Owners Manual; 2) GSS-1411 Service Manual; and 3) TC-37F Parts Manuals will be my next purchases when the time presents itself.
As I was thinking about my "Farmall experience" to-date, it occurred to me that there really isn't one good book devoted exclusively to Cubs !! I'm thinking Rudi, other Team Cubs and Cub Pro's should collectively publish a book !!!! The information presented daily on these boards is astounding and seems available at a moment's notice !! Someone will ask a question and voila !! The answers start to pour in - sometimes with pictures to illustrate the point !! You guys should sit down and assign chapters to those with the most knowledge in that particular area and assemble the Ultimate Cob Book !! I see most of these books are published by a house in St Paul (my barber is about 50' from their office in downtown St Paul !) I'll be your "runner" as it requires little skill/knowledge !! It would be a Godsend to people like me just entering the hobby as well as those who have been at it awhile. Just looking at the 3 pages on electrolysis - there's a chapter right there for parts cleaning !!! This is what happens when I have too much time on my hands.

[rustynuts]

Its simply amazing isn't it? These guys never seem not amaze me with their quick and accurate responces to any question and I mean anything. Even odd ball questions are answered and most of the time like a team of doctors they confer on the answers. And then the solution's to unique problems! It has been one of my joys to get on the computer and check out the new stuff almost everyday. I would say with out a doubt there is a potential for a simply great informative book . From problem solving to complete tear down and rebuild with rather large section on ideas and equiptment. Then get the suppliment for Farm related things and couriousities!!! Great Bunch of professionals,farmers,city folks,regular people, and engineers and all with down home kindness and respect for each other as is with most rural people. Book shouldn't be a problem ,getting the vote in on who should go first and where to start will be a big discussion and would be rather entertaining I'm sure. RIGHT FAMILY??

[magnumpi]

No doubt in my mind - this is an amazing group plus you can't quantify the amount of experience that would be sooooo helpful to guys like me. I think I'm just proud enough to hesitate to ask a question for fear I'd be labeled a dummy. Now when it comes to the credit page, I'm thinking "rustynuts" might want to get another moniker !!! hehehehe

[Eugene]

As I was thinking about my "Farmall experience" to-date, it occurred to me that there really isn't one good book devoted exclusively to Cubs !! I'm thinking Rudi, other Team Cubs and Cub Pro's should collectively publish a book !!!!

Book. I don't know. We can't even agree on which type of oil to put in our Cubs.

Perhaps The Cub site could print up the "how to" section in some sort of format. There are some fantastic sections there that are strictly Cub related.

Rudi. Parts washer?

Eugene

[Bob McCarty]

Since there have only been 100,000 posts, it should only take the Cub pros a day to two to read, review, categorize and print the ultimate Cub bible!!!

[George Willer]

The 'Farmall Cub photo Archive' by P.A. Letourneau is 100% Cubs.

Lots of photos and history, but nothing "hands on".

[Rudi]

As I was thinking about my "Farmall experience" to-date, it occurred to me that there really isn't one good book devoted exclusively to Cubs !! I'm thinking Rudi, other Team Cubs and Cub Pro's should collectively publish a book !!!!

Book. I don't know. We can't even agree on which type of oil to put in our Cubs.

Perhaps The Cub site could print up the "how to" section in some sort of format. There are some fantastic sections there that are strictly Cub related.

Rudi. Parts washer?

Eugene

Eugene:

It is on my list of to do's hopefully over the winter. Right after I get the pole barn up and then I can start to play in slightly less finger numbing shelter.. lots to do and so little time to do it.

As far as the How To Section, I have been thinking on it.. it is a bit of a jumble at the moment, and needs to be refined. This is one project for the cold days when there is like 8 feet of snow outside

[Little Indy]

I had this idea to do a Farmall Repair Manual. I was even going to volunteer to do it with all profits going to the forum. And pass it around to the pro's. Figured I was one of the better people to do it (because I know so little about repairing, restoring. and maintaining Cubs; I know so little I read everything). But I have since semi retired and am now too busy. Funny how that happened. But if someone does actually do the project here are a few of my ideas.

1] Make the pages loose leaf. So that they can be easily updated.
2] Allow customers to make one copy for shop and keep original next to bed.
3] Allow customers to buy one chapter which should be priced so that if they bought the whole book chapter by chapter it would cost 25% more that way plus shipping.
4] When you guys/gals do this put me down for the 1st copy. And can I get it autographed?

Richard

[Cecil]

The autograph page would be almost as large as the book. I started downloading some of the info once and decided to just look things up when I had a problem. Saves on trees.

[dracer398]

How about putting the how-to's on CD? It would save a lot of trees!

Just my $0.02 worth...

Brian

[Rudi]

Actually you may or may not believe this, but I have been researching on the net for almost 4 years now exactly how to do just that. I have mentioned this to some of the Team Cub Members and at least 2 of the Cub Pros over the years. However, one of the major concerns I have is that these yo-yo's on eBay will somehow get a copy and then start selling it on eBay, and THIS is the primary reason why I have yet to do it. Plus, permission will have to be gotten from each of the authors of the articles...... and until I can guarantee that the CD's/DVDs will not be able to be bootlegged, then it won't get done...

Also, there would definitely be copyright issues that would need to be solved on some of the material, especially if it was sold. That is one of the reasons why it will not be done in that manner ever.

So far way too much has already been bootlegged and sold to unsuspecting Cub Owners who all of a sudden may realize that what they have is copied directly from the server. I will finish my list eventually.. hopefully saving you all some money..

BUT!

I have a dream :!:
I have a wonderful dream

If and when I can get ALL of the manuals and such, all of the FAQ's that are either organized or I can glean enough of the primary one's from the archives., If I can get enough of the How To Articles done as well as all the Maintenance Tips and Techniques...

I had a thought.

I was originally thinking about putting them on a CD available ONLY to Forum Members for the cost of the Cd's and shipping.

However I have a problem....

1. I DO NOT have ALL of the Manuals yet. -- but I am trying and my Visa card shows it. I have about 100 either on the server or just about ready to upload and there are more.
2. I DO NOT have ALL of the Brochures yet -- but I am trying and my Visa card shows it. I have a few on the server but there are probably about 100 more to scan and upload..
3. I know I don't have all of the HOW TO's done yet .. still need a bunch and still need volunteers. check the How To Forum and the Maintenance Tips section of the server...
4. I Don't have all the projects done yet ... still need a bunch and still need volunteers, check the Projects and Sketches on the server
5. I really need a secretary or something to help me scan the manuals that I have but still have yet to get done..
6. I really need a secretary or something to help me get the web page all reformatted and stuff..
7. I have quality control issues. I am a perfectionist.. ahh duhh.... I do not have great manuals for some stuff, and I do not have great scans for some stuff and a lot of those scans will have to be re sized and cleaned up. This is a lot of work.

And I think it will have to be a 2 or 3 DVD set... So far I have 4 gigs of Cub related data on my hard drives and almost 2 gigs of data on the server. Obviously it all isn't on the server yet.. and I know that just by looking at my library shelf behind my desk...

So just a quick idea of why sometimes it takes a while to get stuff on the server. Bermuda Ken knows what I mean, and I think Carl knows what is involved as well.. and remember.. this is on top of everything else I do.. or need to do which may or may not have gotten done. Also, I have to decide just how practical this is, as it would have to be a quality project and would have to be somewhat searchable...

Thinking, thinking, thinking..

[Cecil]

As usual let me know what help you need. I do have a scanner and lots of disk space for that part of it. But you are much smarter than I am with the rest of the stuff. I might have access to the old server (for free) from work. It held all the business systems. Maybe we could set something up there. Just a thought. If we talk tonight we'll discuss this.

[Lurker Carl]

Writing a book? As Rudi will attest, simply writing a "How To" can take several years. Life gets in the way!

A lot of great information was forever lost when the original farmallcub.com server crashed and burned earlier this century. My suggestion is to print interesting threads and articles as you come across them and make your very own book. These pages can be organized with your GSS-1411 for easy reference.

[PKS]

I agree with Carl. His is a very pragmatic idea and you can personalize it any way you want based on your needs or interests.

[magnumpi]

Souc: You and Carl are probably correct, but I'd also consider the many folks who have no idea this website exists. There were almost a quarter million Cubs made (who knows how many still live), but I think I saw something like 2700 registered users of this site !