Broken Ear Support (the final chapter)+ new left side pic

[Jeff M]

So it would be $70 for any combo of two.

That's the way I read it...

[Rick Prentice]

Dave, Let me know what part is confusing to you and I'll try to clear it up. If you order just one support(choice of lt. or rt., the cost will be $40. If you buy more than just one support(any combination), the cost drops down to $35 each. I may even go alittle cheaper on bigger orders.

Maybe the cost list should look something like this

0-1 = $40ea
2-6 = $35ea
7-? = $30ea

any combination.

It's easier to make a bunch at once, while everything is all set up(lathe, saw, bender, welder,etc) I don't have the room to buy a ton of steel and make gobs of each part and have them setting around, so to keep from tripping over everything, I make stuff as the orders come in. Plus, if a better change occurs, I don't have unwanted parts laying around.
I could sell all the products abit cheaper if they were bare steel, but looks like most have issues of getting their parts primed/painted without warm weather. That's why I decided to just paint everything and help everyone out, and to keep your wives on your good side or vise/versa.

Lets here your suggestions. What method do you want, within' reason I'm easy to get along with.

Rick

[Tim Martin]

Question: Is there one side of the engine block that is more prone to break than the other?

[BigBill]

Nice looking job Rick looks great!!!!!!

Anyone can make anything but it has to look professional and you always do just that way to go keep up the awesome work. Designing it is just the beginning its planting the seed sort of speak, but its seeing the actual piece in place doiing what it was designed for that counts. And a great paint job matters too.

Retirement is awesome mine started when i was just 52 when i became disabled but we have to play the hand that god deals us. Luckily I had a warning a few years back it was going to happen so i purchased plenty of fishing stuff and it boiled over into tractors. I can still do a little bit......

I fish heavy in the spring as much as i can for an hour or so. I'm trying for a new state record large mouth bass so far i'm up to 10lbs and i've seen bigger ones. I've caught some awesome 30" pickerel too they are like there big brothers too(pike) in being just as mean. My point is get out there when the sun first breaks the daylite and watch nature at its finest. I've seen fresh water otters splashing the fawns at the shoreline with water. It was fun to watch in person rather than on tv, wild america is all around us if you get out there early in the am...

[cowboy]

Rudi I am planing on meeting EZ early april or june 8 which ever works out. I am taking the 54 snow plow he bought from George and he is picking it up in the UP. Check with him he might take them across and mail them to you.

Billy

[Rick Prentice]

Question: Is there one side of the engine block that is more prone to break than the other?

Tim, the right side is prone to break first, because of the cub's offset design. There's alot of cubs out there with welded up ears. Not as good as a replacement block, but alot of people don't have the money or resources to find another block, so they weld it up and hope for the best. Eventually the left ear would also break, if something wasn't done to the right side. If the right ear and the left ear are both broke, you already know what happened

My .02,
Rick

[BigBill]

Rick I was thinking for heavy use to put rails like the larger farmalls have on both sides to connect the first set of threaded bolts on the driveshaft tube to the front bolster. I was thinking of putting a plate between the bolster and the engine were they meet(3/8" plate) then connect the channel with holes drilled in it for appearance from the rear of the bell housing to the 3/8" plate. Heavy use would be a FEL (front end loader). It would be a higher subframe that could also connect to every point on the tractor for strength front to rear too.

[Jim Becker]

Question: Is there one side of the engine block that is more prone to break than the other?

Tim, the right side is prone to break first, because of the cub's offset design. There's alot of cubs out there with welded up ears.

I agree with that. I have seen quite a few blocks broken/patched on the right side only. But I don't recall ever seeing one that was broken on the left that was not also broken on the right. I have seen one or two broken steering gear housings, so even with the brace, the tractor isn't indestructable. But tractors broken that way seem to be fairly rare.

I would strongly recommend a right side brace on any tractor with one of the front hitches. (I wouldn't have a front hitch without one!) I also recommend one on each side for tractors with loaders, especially the loaders that do not attach to the front implement socket.

[dirt devil]

Rick

That makes perfect since now. I wasn't working with coffee this morning when I read it.

I can see at least getting one.

Dave

[billboyM]

Rick,
I have to say you've done an awsome job with this one!!! I have a lots of admiration for your work & lots of respect for all of your projects!!
You'll probably sell a whole bunch of these...
Good luck & congratulations on your new venture..

[Tim Martin]

Thanks Rick and Jim. I was thinking the same so I will just order one for the right side.

[Rudi]

Rick:

So.. here is my question. For Ellie and Granny, neither will have anything on the front bigger than a Cub-54/54-A and possibly the hitch setup with the receiver. Would 1 brace per cub (as in right side) be sufficient? If so, then consider a pair ordered. I don't much care if they are painted or not, as I gotta paint anyways, but if everyone else is getting em painted, I would like 2150 please and thank you.

I will probably order up a pair of skids as well. Although they won't be mailed. Other arrangements are being made for delivery. I might even order up a mirror/basket/refreshment centre as well

Toys, decisions... just too much enjoyment in one post

If there is one item/combination that you should consider making more of are those two parts for my Hydraulic Project. Those would be a winner/seller for sure. Those are just pure class and fantastic fabrication... Best of the Best

[Super A]

NOw, don't take this wrong. Both of those parts look excellent, I wish I had the tools and the talent to work with metal like that. But...will they really do that much good if you get the cub "in a bind" enough to break something? Or will it just break anyway, but maybe at the clutch housing instead?

Not criticizing, just curious....

Al

[Barnyard]

I guess if you put anything in a big of enough bind you're gonna bust it. I think I would rather lose a torque tube than an engine. The benefit I see of these is you have less chance of losing anything.

[Trent M]

Sure you could still break something. What this does is address a well-known problem. The ear of the block is cantilevered on a relatively thin piece of cast, so its really no surprise that it breaks. Like post tensioning concrete, the tension in the rod has to be overcome before the ear can crack. This significantly reduce the chances of doing that. The torque tube is not cantilevered out there like the block ear, so the chances of breaking it are less than the chances of cracking an unsupported ear. This idea is not not new, see GW and Lombard's fixes, as well as many other attempts that you see from time to time. What is new is that they are now readily available to us, look fantastic, and at a more than fair price for custom work. Thank you very much Rick!!