Farmall Cub

Hello all,

I am a third generation owner of a 1948 Cub bought new by my grandfather. My dad bought it from my Grandpa before I was born, and I grew up with this Cub. When my dad died a number of years back, I was living out of state, but had my mom hold onto it. When I moved back to Michigan 6 years ago I put it in storage, since I live in the city. There were some carb issues that I never had time to sort out so it was not running during this time. I would occasionally check on the old girl, hand crank the engine, but that was about it. My dad took really good care of her so she was never neglected and always stored covered up.

Anyway, I recently met someone who is starting up an organic farm nearby and we agreed to trade use of the tractor for produce etc. and the opportunity for my family to be able to work out at the farm (and me to be able to run the tractor!)

So now I am scrambling!

We transported her out to the farm and managed to get her running by cleaning the fuel system. However the carb was leaky, so I pulled it off and am having it rebuilt at the Case dealer here.

I have read over the manual, and most of the FAQs here, but I still feel like I'm a bit over my head being responsible for the care of this tractor. I know my way around tools, but there is a lot to learn about this tractor.

Anyone in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area that would be able to show me the ropes?

Thanks for the wealth of info on this site...

-Matt

Matt fear is a fearsome thing. I hope you changed the oil and oil filter. Sitting all those years doesn't make the oil better.
Go to Rudi's site and down load a manual. It will show how to change oil and filter A 48 may or may not have hydraulics. If you do the manual will show how to check them too. After all that time sitting around I would change the transmission fluid too. Many times water gets into them. How to check transmission level is in the manual too.
If the generator is working you are lucky. Corroded contacts in the regulator and or problems with the Generator it self may have happened through the years. If you have a battery charger I wouldn't worry about that right now. I would read up on lubricating the generator and do so relatively soon. No way to tell the last time that was done.
When you move the throttle, the rod that goes to the front of the engine moves a small l shaped of piece iron. It pivots on a pin fastened to the governor cover. You don't really need to know the details I gave you but put some oil on the pivot. When left outside for any period of time this pivot can rust up and is a bugger to free up.
Lots of luck with your Cub.

Matt, as Bill said, I would change all fluids, especially the engine oil, filter and tranny fluid. When I buy a tractor, the first thing I do is change all the fluids, lube all the specified lube points, don't forget the fan assembly. When a tractor has set for a number of years oil will migrate and it can leave the bearing surfaces dry. Grease hardens and does not lube well if any. No sense in starting a tractor and causing more damage. If nothing else, changing all the fluids gives you a baseline for future maintenance. Change out the oil in the oil bath air filter too.

As for local members, check the map at the top of this page. Not all members appear on the map, I know I'm not on there. However if you can't contact anyone local, you receive great advise and help here.

Matt:

Giday and congrats on becoming the next generation keeper of the your Grandfather's Cub Not all of us are lucky enough to have that kind of connection to our Cubs.

to Farmallcub.com Forum Family. And you have come to the right place for all things Cub related. If you click on the Site Rules, Regulations, & Important Information, it will point you to the Welcome Wagon wherein you will find links to many useful sites and topics. One of which is the Cub Manual Server. Enjoy!.

Couple things. If you are comfy with tools and how to use them, then you will have no problems maintaining a Cub. It is a rather simple mechanically and if a guy like me who has no mechanical ability can do it, I am sure you can as well. Read the Owner's Manual and then become familiar with the applicable Part's and Service Manuals as they will help explain things a lot. Also the Cub Book of Knowledge is a great resource for visual How To's on a number of different aspects. As this is a living document as in constantly growing it will hopefully cover just about all aspects of maintenance eventually.

Enjoy your Cub, enjoy operating and then enjoying the fruits of your labour with your neighbour and his truck farm

Thanks for the advice everyone.

When I get the carb back and installed I will start checking/replacing fluids per the operator manual. Thanks for the tip on the governor linkage, I don't think the governor is even mentioned in the manual. She was always stored inside so there isn't a lot of rust and corrosion and everything I've checked so far seems to move freely.

Putting the carb back on should be as simple as reconnecting everything and then adjusting the idle, right? That's what the manual seems to indicate...

Thanks again,
-Matt

Matt,

Do not attempt a start until you have primed the oil pump. Search here for the procedure. If you can't find it, let us know.

Well, it has already been running, but would stall out due to (I'm pretty sure) carb problems. Since the carb was so leaky I decided to start by having it rebuilt.

So is the oil pump priming a non-issue now? Not having primed it means the Cub probably got an initial dry start?

-Matt

Are you getting good oil pressure?

OK you are all going to laugh, but I didn't know there was a gauge.

I know now after reading the manuals more thoroughly.

Hopefully the old girl won't suffer too much as I learn!

Next start, I will prime the pump and check the oil pressure.

-Matt

In most, if not all, cases, a Cub will lose oil pump prime if it sits unused for an extended period of time. Only time will tell if any serious damage was caused by starting it with no oil circulation. You may be lucky, but I doubt it. Be sure to prime before the next start. How long did you run it without knowing if there was oil pressure?

It didn't get run much, the fuel problem was obvious pretty quickly.

Wouldn't a lack of circulation have been immediately known? Like engine seizure? She sounded great when she was running.

-Matt

Takes more than a second or 2 to seize an engine. Occasionally the pump will pick up and self prime too.

Congratulations on that third generation cub and welcome to the forum.

Matt ! Welcome to the forum.