So, this IH Cub Lo-Boy 154 is quite the beauty. I love mowing with it. I brought it home, drove it off the trailer, lowered the deck, engaged the mower, and off I went. Mowed 5 acres in a couple hours. I'll tell you, it was quite the ride, a world of difference from mowing with a 124. It is like comparing a Ford Fiesta to a Maserati. There is no comparrison.
So, here's the story. Bought a new house, figured I'd buy a new tractor, gotta mow right? I had my eyes open, few weeks went by, nothing jumping at me. Then on the way home one day I passed a 1950 Case VAC farm tractor with rear blade and bush hog. I loved it, and I had gotten rid of my Farmall Super A with woods deck a few years back, and missed it. They're practically the same right? Well, as it goes, it was an impulse buy. After a few weeks of recconing, I decided that the Case was not a good mower. i had a bush hog that attached to the 3 point hitch. If I wanted a finishing mower that attached, the best thing I could find in the area was $2000+. So I decided to keep my eyes peeled again. Somehow I came across the 154 on the net, and was amazed. I had never seen one before. I quickly searched and found every one in a 300 mile radius. The closest being 15 minutes away, the farthest 292 miles away. I looked up specs, found some could be had with a blade. I wanted a blade, I like to plow snow. There was one with a blade in a reasonable distance (190 miles). He wanted $2500 for the tractor, blade, and deck. The blade and deck were not attached, but rather in pieces elsewhere. I asked him about the price, but he was firm. A bit more than I wanted to spend, quite honestly, plus it had those skinny dig in the mud tires on it. I had seen turf tires, and I wanted them. Badly. So, I went and ruled out all without turf tires. I was at 3. The one in worst condition was $2500, the one in mid condition was $3200, and the one in best condition was $1750. I decided to try my hand at the $1750. It was 129 miles and 3 states away, but when you know what you want, something like that isn't much. Plus, I like road trips. I got as much info as I could, spoke iwth the guy for a while, thought for a day, called back, asked if he'd take $1500, he said yes, I said I'll be there Saturday. So I headed out, it was his late father's estate, and his late father's tractor. I went over it, no leaks, hydraulics worked well, started strong, new battery, clean, etc. I said I'll take it, handed him cash, loaded it to the trailer, and made my way home.
I've owned a tractor or two in my day (roughly 15). I have never in my life been this excited about one. The ride quality is unbelievably comfortable, in general, not just for a tractor's sake. The turning radius... I was driving in strait circles around mid sized tree's. No reverse, forward, reverse, forward, and making 8 passes. I come up on a tree, I circle it, and continue on my way. That was extremely impressive in general, not taking it's size into account. I hit high and wet grass in the back yard, all of the back yard, and it breezed through it. I did hit a surface root, which stopped it dead in it's tracts, even cut the engine off. I was mowing from about 8" grass down to as low as it would go though, can't help it I didn't see the root. Still, started right back up, raised the deck, went over, lowered, and was on my way. The tires... man are they sweet. It's got a cigarette lighter. I've had this before, but they never worked. High and low beams? Now we're talking. I'm going to find a way to install a cup holder to this thing, and it'll be perfect.
Here's some pictures!
