Farmall Cub

these are fine little tractors and will do allot of work when you can get traction. seems like traction is the biggest problem. what do you guys do to improve the traction at a reasonable cost? i am running the IH wheel weights, i think they are 100 lbs. does anyone run additional weights in the back, what are the safe limits for these tractors to run? i think they have plenty of pushing power if only i could get that power to the ground. what about tires? does anyone run tires other then the traditional AG tires? i do have chains as well. i think this tractor should be able to push more snow easier then it has been. any suggestions?

How much snow are you trying to push? I have weights and ag tires and have no problem on level ground.

There are a 'boatload' of variables that influence the answer(s):
Is the snow light and fluffy or wet and heavy.
Fluid in the rear tires.
No fluid in the rear tires.
Air pressure in the tires.
Surface upon which you are plowing snow.
Amount of tread on the rear tires.
Design of the tread - 23 degree vs. 'dogbone' vs. 'conventional.'
Tire chains on top of or between the tread bars.
I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind.

I have loaded tires with two sets of rear weights and plow on concrete driveways. As long as I keep the concrete surface clear, I can push 10 or 12 inches of snow easily. If there is any buildup on the concrete it is much more difficult and may require chains.

The rear weights are 150lb each, so 300lb. In snow/ice, when you start to spin, it is over. Use as little throttle as possible to start pushing, then increase it some. Allow the governor to add power as it is needed.

Your tires, tire pressure, chains, clutch, steering brakes, wheel weights, loaded tires, surface being plowed, angle of area being plowed, governor function, gear choice, outside temperature, texture and weight of the snow, all have something to do with how your cub will "hook up".

Experience and finding the right combination of all of these areas, is the answer to your question.

Bill H answered best, I hated to delete my answer after hunting and pecking to write it. LOL

...from several years ago, forum member Tucker in Vermont has these on his Cub;



Peter

Check your air pressure, then look to see if they are radial or bias ply. If radial your air pressure should be the same as the tire size. Same as when I am plowing the fields with my diesel, the tires are 18.4-something, I run 18 pounds in them, when haying I pump them up a bit to handle the weight of our equipment better

ad356 wrote:Seems like traction is the biggest problem. what do you guys do to improve the traction at a reasonable cost?

You can double up the weights on the rear wheels.

Purchase an additional draw bar with brackets. Build a weight box for the new draw bar. Load the box with handy weights; rocks, cement blocks, etc.. Around $100- to $125-, give or take, for the draw bar with brackets.

Get a bigger, heavier, tractor. When things are to slick for my Cub, I use one of my bigger, weighted, tractors.

I am in upstate NY where a 1 to 3 foot snowfall is not uncommon. I have a long, stone driveway. My snow plowing cub has front and rear weights, double ring chains plus 3 cement blocks and a 18" section of railroad track resting on a platform on the rear drawbar. Sometimes I have to plow sideways, but I have never lost traction.

One thing to remember is, it's always best to run out of traction before running out of power. If you have as much traction as power that's when things start to brake.

ad356 wrote:these are fine little tractors and will do allot of work when you can get traction. seems like traction is the biggest problem. what do you guys do to improve the traction at a reasonable cost? i am running the IH wheel weights, i think they are 100 lbs. does anyone run additional weights in the back, what are the safe limits for these tractors to run? i think they have plenty of pushing power if only i could get that power to the ground. what about tires? does anyone run tires other then the traditional AG tires? i do have chains as well. i think this tractor should be able to push more snow easier then it has been. any suggestions?

I run duel weights and fluid in the rear tires too on my working cubs. You dont see many farmers that dont have the tires full of fluid around here.
Boss

Dual wheel weights and an additional 250 lbs on the draw bar if necessary. Coupled with chains I can't imagine needing anything more.



Even with single wheel weights and chains, a Cub will push a lot of snow.

Normally all I have on Ellie is the rear weights and me. That is about 300 lbs for the weights and 190 for me. Also run chains. Under 2 feet of snow I have not had a lot of problems and have never lost traction. This year I didn't get the splitter off of Ellie. Now there is some traction..... But it really didn't make a lot of difference. The few times I was able to plow this year (health reasons), there wasn't a noticeable difference either going up hill or down hill. Ellie moved snow just as well as in years past. When there is too much snow, one has to decide if the Cub is up to it or not. We have some Nor'easters here that only a larger tractor with a blower will do the job. If Granny was ready with the blower then it wouldn't require a different tractor, but a Cub and a blade is no match for 3 to 3-1/2 feet of heavy drifted snow. Tried that a few times and it doesn't work so well. There are times when conditions are simply too much for a Cub without a blower.

These tire chains along with one weight on each side will get you lots of traction. You do not want to slip (spin) them on concrete or asphalt though.

My home made duo-cross ice bar tire chains work awesome i have practically no wheel spin now even with single rear wheel weights. All my ladder tire chains did was to spin and spin more no traction at all. The ultimate snow pushin set up would be 4 rear wheel weights with my duo-cross trire chains with the ice bars they look similair to Peter's chains. You need the duo cross setup so the cross links stay up on the tire lugs. I also noticed my spreaders on the outside maybe too strong because they pull the inside side links to the edge of the inside of the tire. I figure a spreader on the inside would solve that.

To push snow we want the skinny tires on the rear with duo-cross chains and plenty of wheel weights. Actually the rear weight is the key to pushing snow with a plow. Back in the 50's when 4x4's weren't that popular we used an old ford 1 ton truck wrecker with two 55 gallon drums of water on the rear with tire chains/plow. This 2wd truck pushed all the snow we wanted it too.

If you're just opening the throttle, dropping the blade, and dumping the clutch, that's half your problem right there. Ya gotta "finesse" it a little bit or it's just going to break loose and spin.

It also needs to be able to spin at some point or one of these days you're going to hear a sickening POP and notice a black puddle forming underneath the rear of the tractor.

The issue here is you need to know if you're just lacking traction or asking too much of the tractor. Spinning may be saving you big $$ repairs.