Basketcase Cub

[Steve.43]

This is the basketcase Cub from Omaha I bought last Thanksgiving weekend.

Steve.43

[Tim Martin]

Does it run? Sometimes you can take two basket case Cubs and make one really nice one between them.

[Steve.43]

Hi, Tim:

Actually I bought two Cubs at once last Thanksgiving. One runs, the other is the basketcase. It appears that all the parts are there for the basketcase, and its engine turns (supposed to be a fresh rebuild?). The one that runs is serial no. 4082, so I'm not inclined to do much in the way of parts swapping because of authenticity. #4082 might even have been a circle Cub--with some imagination applied. I'm thinking to make a winter project of the basketcase.

Steve.43

[Tim Martin]

How is that radiator bolster? Any welds or cracks on the major cast components? With a little swap meet and/or ebay shopping it wouldn't take much to locate the missing parts for it. It looks to be just missing sheet metal (fenders, hood/tank, doglegs, grill), fan, radiator, muffler and seat assembly. I am sure that there are more missing parts that I missed and the bad thing is it may be cheaper to find a non-running/parts Cub that has all of those parts on it.

If you are not careful, before you know it, you will have pallets of Cub parts out behind you garage like I do!

[Steve.43]

Tim:

I have all that stuff on the shelves in the parts room. It came with the Cub, just disassembled. I'll probably have to spend a couple hundred dollars at Fastenal, but I think it's all there. It just needs to be put back together. I know I could part it out and make some serious money, but I've never done a true basketcase before, and I like the idea of a challenge. (We'll see how I feel about it afterward!)

Steve

[John(videodoc)]

thats kinda what my basket case looked like when i picked it up. Except mine was already painted. But still in seven boxes....... "Only need wiring harness and battery" famous last words...... Several hundreds of dollars later in misc parts it was done.

[Steve.43]

Hi, John. I hear that, and would add that when I first laid eyes on this my first thought was to part it out. The several hundred dollars, along with hours and hours of prep and assembly, are easily believable.

Steve

[Hengy]

Steve,

I think that load was part of the same cub express that brought my blade to Iowa City for me... That was the weekend that I got my blade on the tractor, and it started to SNOW right after that! I am going to wait a little longer to get my blade on next time because I want it to start snowing just a little later!!

Mike in La Crosse, WI

[Steve.43]

Mike: As it happens, I agree with your cause and effect rationale. Every spring when I take the blade off my Scout we get a major snowstorm. How scientific this appraisal is (ahem!) I'll leave for others to decide.

I met the PO halfway across Illinois to get these two Cubs. What I learned from the trip is that I will never again pull a trailer through the Chicago megalopolis on Thanksgiving weekend in the snow.

Steve

[Hengy]

Mike: As it happens, I agree with your cause and effect rationale. Every spring when I take the blade off my Scout we get a major snowstorm. How scientific this appraisal is (ahem!) I'll leave for others to decide.

I met the PO halfway across Illinois to get these two Cubs. What I learned from the trip is that I will never again pull a trailer through the Chicago megalopolis on Thanksgiving weekend in the snow.

Steve

You should have seen the funny looks that Andy (FarmallCub49) and I got on the way back through Chicago after Cubfest last year! Not fun ANY time of the year driving in that traffic with a trailer. No one seems to care that you can't merge, accellerate or decelerate quickly at all with a trailer and 2 tons of CUB on the back of a trailer!

Mike in La Crosse, WI