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the history of cubs and farming

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ad356
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the history of cubs and farming

Postby ad356 » Thu Jun 27, 2013 10:22 pm

i have heard allot of people tell me that cubs were never really used much on farms. is that true? i was told they were too small and too underpowered for actuall farm use and they ended up being used mainly for mowing on golf courses, large estates, and even some highway departments. did the cub actually see much service on a regular full sized farm? i understand that later on IH shifted the cub more from the ag market to the industrial maket..... the change in color from red to federal yellow was the big indicator of this change. was the cub used extensively on farms early on, and what would a cub do on a large farm? i know they were not the main plowing tractor. that probably would have been an "H" or an "M'. do cubs still see any farm use even today?

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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby Barnyard » Thu Jun 27, 2013 10:37 pm

Cubs were made to replace the horse on small (40 acre or less) farms. They were never meant to be the main tractor on bigger farms. A majority of Cub are usually found in the tobacco regions. Several of the Cubs I picked up in Kentucky had cultivators and the owners had said they were used for their tobacco crops years ago. Cub were (are great for many uses around a small farm and some big farms had one around to handle small chores.

Here are some videos of a few of mine at work.





At 2:15 in this video you will see one my Cubs running my hammer mill at CI CubFest.
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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby ad356 » Thu Jun 27, 2013 10:43 pm

not really to familar with a stalk chopper. is that something that a farmer might have used a sickle bar for as well. i have a cub 22 sickle bar that's in really nice shape but i have never used it, probably never will. it came with the tractor, it just sits in my loft and i have had thoughts of selling it but its not hurting anything sitting there so it just sits. i use the C3 for all of the mowing

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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby Barnyard » Thu Jun 27, 2013 10:46 pm

A sickle mower is used more for tall grass or hay. A stalk chopper cuts a corn stalk into about 10" lengths, as shown in the video, so they can be plowed under without hanging up on the plow.
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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby Jim Becker » Thu Jun 27, 2013 11:01 pm

You wouldn't have found a lot of them in North Java. Near you, most of them would have been on the truck farms north of the Ridge (Route 104) or in the grape belt along Lake Erie. If a farmer on a bigger farm wanted a small chore tractor, he would have been more likely to go with a Super A or C.

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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby ad356 » Thu Jun 27, 2013 11:03 pm

so most cubs that still have their work clothes on are doing what i do with mine? mowing and snow removal? perhaps light gardening

i just thought of another possible use for a cub. i wonder if you could run a pellet mill off of a cub... you know the type that makes pellets for a pellet heating stove. that's what i heat my home with, i have a harman P61 love the stove but them pellet aint cheap anymore. you would have to have a cheap or free supply of biomass to make it work

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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby ad356 » Thu Jun 27, 2013 11:15 pm

Jim Becker wrote:You wouldn't have found a lot of them in North Java. Near you, most of them would have been on the truck farms north of the Ridge (Route 104) or in the grape belt along Lake Erie. If a farmer on a bigger farm wanted a small chore tractor, he would have been more likely to go with a Super A or C.



i like the A and when i bought my cub i was considering buying an A but if i bought an A i would have to have a super A and they typically go for considerably more then a cub. an A really isnt much bigger then a cub. what advantages does an A have over a cub the A is only slightly larger. sometimes i wonder why i chose a cub and not an A. the A has one really big advantage that i can see, the engine is sleeved that is when you rebuild it you dont even have to remove the engine from the tractor. remove head and install new sleeves. i wonder why IH didnt use the same idea on the cub because i think that is genius. would be nice if more engines were built like that. a rebuild on an A must be considerably cheaper. no need to bore or hone cylinders.

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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby ad356 » Thu Jun 27, 2013 11:20 pm

reason i said i wanted a super-A i wanted touch control

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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby Eugene » Thu Jun 27, 2013 11:23 pm

ad356 wrote: do cubs still see any farm use even today?
Answer on usage will depend on owner, type of farm or acreage. I have two cubs. This time of year, up until mid to late September, they are both used as mower tractors to clean up grass under black walnut trees and around black walnut seedlings. Other than mowers, trailer work is the second most usage for my Cubs.

Depending on amount of black walnuts to be harvested, I have a street sweeper for the standard Cub which I will use to rake nuts into wind rows.

Closer to fall, winter, one of the Cubs will be use to haul fire wood harvest equipment and to tow the log splitter.

I use my Cubs more frequently than I do my larger tractors, not more hours, just more frequently.

i wonder if you could run a pellet mill off of a cub.
You will have to research the power requirement for the mill. I do know that some local turkey farmers have chippers for cedar tree logs. Cedar chips are used as bedding. The chippers are electric powered due to the operational cost of the tractor and fuel.

Edit: Hydraulics/touch control is available for Cubs.

Nother edit: Biomass for heating. In this area, central Missouri, wood is readily available. A lot of the wood harvested for heating comes from cleaning up downed trees. Any way, as son and I are removing unwanted or damaged trees, cut into fire wood.
I have an excuse. CRS.

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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby ad356 » Fri Jun 28, 2013 12:01 am

i know touch control is avialable on cubs. that's why i bought a cub and not an A. touch control is on a cub and super A and super A's typically quite a bit more money then a cub. that's why i went with a cub and not an A. the cub has served me well. i would have liked an A because it has a few extra ponies and the engine is easier/cheaper to rebuild. they are both good chore tractors. i do think the cub might have one advantage over the A, i dont know how tight the A can turn but the cub has an excellent turning radius, very manuverable, especially with a 60" mower on it. the mower has allot of deck hanging out on either side. i find the cub to be adaquately powered even with a 60" deck but the A would have al little more power.

seems like the cub might have one more advantage.... a wonderful community and a great following. dont know if the A has that same kind of community behind it or the parts aviablity. i have had ZERO problems finding anything i might have needed for the cub. when i bought my danco and realized that i didnt have the mule drive, i had little problem finding what i needed. parts for cubs are no problem. i think it helps that it was one of the longest if not the longest produced tractor IH made. that fact is kind of weird, the smallest tractor IH made also happens to be one of the longest run tractors they made. i wonder if any tears were shed when the finally pulled the plug on this great little machine

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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby Super A » Fri Jun 28, 2013 7:21 am

Better believe they were used for farming, at least here in eastern NC. There were still lots of mules being used well into the '50s from what I have been told. Many farmers' first tractor was a Cub or Super A. As little as a Cub is, when cultivating tobacco it could accomplish in a single pass what used to take three passes with a mule. That was a huge step forward.

The Super A is about a third bigger than a Cub. Owning both, it "feels" like a lot more. Yes it's only a light 2 plow, or regular one plow tractor but it is a lot more substantial.

Both have their place, their good and bad points. If I could only own one it would be a Super A, but the Cub really shines cultivating when the crop is small (need to go slow) and after mounting the A-22 sickle mower on the Super A the other day, I can say I prefer the Cub for that task. Even though the Super A is small I like the Cub for plowing smallish garden spots.

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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby v w » Fri Jun 28, 2013 7:26 am

IH marketing was aimed directly at farmers. The lowboy was marketed more toward golf courses and didn't come out until later. Dad bought the cub I now have to cultivate his garden but did use it a little on the farm. One man who worked for dad picking tomatoes told me he remembers the cub in use there. He now owns a couple of cubs. I have driven an A and they will do more. I would never try to pull a wagon load of hay with a cub except a short distance on the level but an A can do it. Maybe not too safely down a steep hill. Vern

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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby Dusti Snider » Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:03 am

My grandfather farmed 56 acres with a team of horses before and just after The War, it was all he ever knew. In the spring of 1951 he bought a new Farmall Cub and it changed his life. I've often wished Poppy would have bought more implements to go with the Cub, but in hindsight he bought what he could afford, a rake, a mowing machine, a plow and a disc. He never bought a planter, never bought cultivators...yet planted acres over corn every year and huge garden. Never owned a blade for it, but I've seen him chain railroad ties together behind the drawbar, short chain one side, and use it to drag snow out of the 1/4 mile long driveway. He'd do the same with fields, pull two crossties in tandem behind that little Cub for hours, leveling new land. So many implements he could have acquired for the Cub over the years that would have made his life so much easier. I think over the years he literally worked himself to death and he probably wouldn't have had it any other way.
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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby Steve Woods » Fri Jun 28, 2013 11:41 am

What a great photograph Dusti!
and
Barnyard, I always enjoy your videos but there has got to be something slightly illegal about having THAT much fun! The stalk chopper is interesting. You must have hand shucked that patch of corn before chopping the stalks? I remember, as a kid growing up, helping shuck corn. I had my very own shucking peg, not exactly one of my favorite possessions. Shuckin' corn was rough on young tender hands. I'm trying to remember what we did with the stalks. Disc them up I think.

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Re: the history of cubs and farming

Postby Dusti Snider » Fri Jun 28, 2013 12:37 pm

Fortunately I have the matching photo with my Grandmother...and another with my Mother...

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