Farmall Cub

Just to be clear, do the despeeders make the drive more fragile even when not engaged? I understand that they widen the wheel base.
I have other equipment I can use for gardening, just thought it would be fun to put the Cub to work. If this isn't practical it's not a great loss.

Arthur,
No, the despeeders do not weaken the tractor. The caution is because with lower gearing folks often try to pull or move more weight than the tractor should attempt. Since you have many lower gears than the typical 1st gear, it would "feel" like the tractor can pull a lot more than it would in regular 1st gear.

Unfortunately, as others have mentioned, your tractor with the deespeeders really limits it to a mowing machine only. The Lo Boy never did have cultivators that were made specifically for it, because it sits too low to the ground for belly mount implements (other than the mower deck). So you're out for cultivating unless you have pull-behind cultivators.

Now, the other problem with the despeeders is that they widen the track of the rear wheels, and space out the final drives away from their normal position. This is unfortunate because the final drives are the implement mounting points for all the rear-mounted implements that were made for a lo boy. Likewise, a "fast hitch" will also not mount on the tractor with the despeeders because the final drives are spaced out too far for it to bolt up to the tractor.

Yours is even more complicated because on the "highway mower" setup, they turned the final drives so the pans are facing backwards, instead of forward like on a standard lo-boy. They did this to lengthen the wheel base to make the tractor more stable for mowing on side slopes of highways, which worked very nicely. This configuration though, totally gets rid of all the mounting points to bolt up rear-mounted implements. So, yours will not pull a plow or disk, unless again you have aftermarket, drag-behind implements.

Having said all of this, your tractor would be PERFECT for one thing that many folks on here would like to do with a Cub. Rototilling!!! You're not likely to find a rototiller that will directly mount to a Cub, as the Howard Rotovator was the only one known to be built for a Cub, and they were only built for standard "high-boy" cubs, not for a lo-boy. However, if you search around Agri-Fab and Brinly both make gasoline powered roto tillers for mount on the back of garden tractors or 4-wheelers, and I'm sure that you could fabricate a mounting. The typical problem with a cub is the ground speed being too fast, but yours with the despeeders will solve that problem.



However, as others have said, your tractor is quite collectable, and if you would rather have a standard cub better suited for plowing, disking, cultivating, then I'm sure you could make a sweet deal and likely trade yours for a cub with all the implements. I'm sure you'll get many offers if you decide to go that route.

Bill

Okay, I'll toss in my 2¢. Since it was your Dad's and looks to be in great shape, I say keep it and use it for mowing. Loboys are great for that. Now, if you really want to use a Cub for garden work and such, keep the Loboy for mowing and go out and find a nice Cub and some implements. They are great for all kinds of jobs. If you don't want to change implements each time then get one with a fast hitch with fast hitch implements. Or get several Cubs and have a different implement on each. Okay, that last idea is a little far fetched but there are probably some people out there who do that.

Thanks for the great explanation of the despeeders and the configuration and general capabilities of the Cub. You fellows are certainly a great resource.
Since this is my Dad's tractor, I will most likely hang on to it. We mow several acres here, so the plan is to put it back to work at it's original job, mowing. Wife and I have also had thoughts about putting it in a couple of local parades, I think that would be a lot of fun. It is not uncommon around here to occasionally see a Cub sitting along the side of the road with a for sale sign on it, next time I might stop and take a look. It would be nice to have one to do a little grunt work with. I like the idea of that pull behind rototiller.

I have gone through the carburetor again and honestly can't find any more jets and ports to clean. I'll put it back on and try it again. It might not be getting spark, as last time we had to fiddle with the points, it might be time to take that all apart and clean and adjust. I don't know when I'll have time to do that, but I'll update ya'll on our progress.

Sounds like a plan.
On your carburetor, make sure you're getting a good seal to the manifold. Since these are updraft carbs, and require the gasoline and air to travel up into the engine, a little leak in that carburetor gasket will give you all kinds of problems.

Also, make sure that the air cleaner is not plugged up. There is not an air cleaner "cartridge" to change out. Instead, the air cleaner is packed with wire mesh, and uses the oil bath at the bottom to trap the big stuff. If it was not properly maintained, the mesh could be plugged up, causing a lack of air to the carburetor and engine, essentially choking the engine. Sometimes you have to pull the cannister off of the tractor and rinse the mesh out with diesel fuel if they're packed up bad.

Just to wrap this thread up since I have another thread going now, I think gitractorman had the answer. Over the winter I made a new gasket just to be doing something after going through the carb enough times to make further work on it pointless. The old gasket was old and stiff, and had some cracks and gouges in it. With the new gasket she started right up and now runs great. Thanks all for the help.

I love hearing stories like this one Thanks for the follow up post, Arthur! Great job Gitractorman!

You might be able to use an L-54 blade on the front.