Farmall Cub

My e-mail address is wbennett@uwf.edu. I must admit that I was a little suprised to find a fellow Miltonite on this forum myself. Farmalls are not so common in northwest Florida - I believe that we are outnumbered by Fords. Either way I'm glad to find a Cub owner so close.

Ok, I finally got home and looked at my service manual (bought from Binder Books).

I don’t know what I was thinking when I said conventional design manual transmission…Well actually I was thinking about a three speed rear wheel drive automotive transmission.

First I want to get the transmission terminology correct. The main shaft (upper shaft) of the Cub transmission is the spline and clutch shaft and the countershaft is the lower shaft.

In my picture the gears marked in yellow when meshed together would be third gear. The two gears marked in blue (second from right) when meshed together would be second gear. The two gears marked in orange (third from right) would be first and the two in red would be reverse. As you can see the main shaft first gear is used for first and reverse.

I know straight cut gears make more noise than helical gears, but the complaint (If I remember) was a rattling/grinding noise in second and third. Since second and third gear is one piece I would diagnosis the splines on the gear to main shaft are worn causing the gear to wobble (rattle) on the main shaft when in second and third gear. If I disassembled this transmission I would also check the main shaft (Spline and Clutch shaft) for wear, where the gear slides on the main shaft and check main shaft to countershaft gear (face) for wear. This would be evident by scatches, abnormal marks where both gears mesh together.

My thinking is, since this tractor spent its life in Florida, it cut a lot of grass most likely in second gear.

Jack Fowler

Wow, many thanks Jack . Your diagnosis sounds "on the money" considering the way the transmission sounds.

As Slappy is coming by this afternoon, with parts and service manuals, I'll probably be ready to split it within the week.

And I will certainly take your advice during the search. I will keep you posted on my findings......and will probably have more questions.

I feel much more comfortable knowing there is a support team out there.

Thanks again, Jack

We split the Cub yesterday at the transmission. After some disassembling we found the reason for the clatter. 1) a tooth is missing from 2nd gear and 2) a shifting rod fork is busted.....probably the culprit of the missing tooth.

I also found the LH axle to be in poor condition with considerable grooves made from the bolt holding the brake hub to the axle.

Though nothing is/was leaking, I suppose it best to replace all the seals while I have her split. Anything else yall think I should inspect/replace while she's split, please let me know.

Kirk, the brake drum setscrew is supposed to tighten down on a halfmoon key rather than directly to the axle. The key is easy to push out of place when reinstalling the brake drum, which may be what happened the last time it was apart, causing the grooves.