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New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 3:40 pm
by Smith
Ive had a Cub 154 now for a couple months. Previous owner had just replaced the clutch and drive belts and it came with a snow plow and a freshly installed Zenith (i think) carb. Hydraulics are highly responsive with no priming. I ended up paying $1400. It runs really well and will fire up immediately with no choke as long as it hasn't sat for longer than 2 weeks. It Just had a bad PTO clutch that my brother and I thought would get me through the summer. Unfortunately it lasted about one mowing. Had a Craftsman Mower (42") that I was borrowing from my dad and was just going to wait until winter to tune up the 154 and replace the PTO. Well finally the sears mower belt snapped and it was either get the PTO or replace the sears belt. Got the PTO clutch from Hamilton Bobs and wish I would have done it much sooner. I believe the mower on my 154 is a woods and man does it do so much better cutting my 3 acres than the Craftsman. Anyway a few questions.

Which way does the Woods mower discharge? The mower didn't come with a chute or block off plate installed. Its open on both ends of the mower. Im going to get me some steal plate and make a block off plate but don't know which end to put the plate and which to put the chute on. When mowing last night it seemed to throw the grass equally out both sides.

Next what spark plugs should I use and can i get them at Advanced Auto etc? The previous owner put new wires on the thing but not new plugs. The 154 will mostly be a high use machine and primarily will be mowing and possibly plowing the lane in the winter time.

I thought I read somewhere that the Hydraulics shares the fluid with the rear axle. I thought this was odd that the rear axle didn't use gear oil but whatever...... Anyway if this is true do i just pull the two ports on either side of the axle to change the hydro fluid? They don't seem to be very low to allow an efficient draining of the system.

Anyway thats it for now. I know there was a few more things but i forget them now.

Thanks

Re: New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 7:49 pm
by Bob McCarty
Smith, Welcome to the Forum. You'll find a lot of friendly and knowledgeable Cub lovers here. I'm not real familiar with the numbered LoBoys, but here is a link to the manuals available on the Forum. I'm sure others will be along to answer your questions. http://www.cleancomputes.com/Cub/Number ... index.html

Bob

Re: New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 10:43 pm
by RaymondDurban
Welcome to the forum!

The Woods deck should generally discharge to the right, if the front of the deck is a bit lower than the rear as it should be. The blades rotate clockwise if viewed from the top, so the leading edge travels to the right, and should the clippings. If the deck if setup flat, it may shoot out both sides as the trailing edge travels to the left, as will the clippings as the grass gets cut again.
The hydraulics shares fluid with the transmission, not the finals. They have their own separate oil supply. The fluid gets sucked from the bottom of the transmission case, where the normal FCub's have their drain, through the filter to the pump. Depending on the year of the tractor, it either returns on the left side of the transmission case, where the FCub's full plug is, or it returns through the gear shift plate. To drain, crack the line under the tractor coming from the bottom of the transmission. I'd recommend changing out the filter while you are at it.
For the plugs, I use Champion D-21's. Anything equivalent will be ok.

Re: New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 12:01 am
by Boss Hog
Be sure to use Hy Tran [ I use it ] or some good grade of hydraulic oil that meets Hy Tran specs in the transmission
Boss

Re: New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 3:25 pm
by Rudi
G'day and congrats :applause: on acquiring your 154. As Bob mentioned there is only a little bit on the 154 on the server but there is a service manual of sorts, and owners manual and a parts manual. The Woods section will have the manual for your mower if it is indeed a Woods. I think it should be a right hand side discharge but you have to check the manuals to be sure.

Hydraulic Fluid - as Boss said, Hy-Tran is the best for the tranny. That said however, you can use any hydraulic fluid provided it meets or exceeds MSO 1209.

Probably the Champion D-21 will be the best plug to use especially for one that is used a lot and in all seasons. That is what I use in my F-Cubs. D-16's are a little cool to my mind - Cub can get cantankerous with the D-16's.

Hopefully this helps. Oh yeah -- Image

Re: New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 9:41 pm
by Smith
Is there any image showing me where to drain and fill this Hydraulic fluid? Im new to these cubs so Im not sure at all

Re: New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 12:13 am
by Jim Becker
There is a diagram in the Owner's Manual. A pointer to an online copy was posted earlier in this thread.

Re: New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 9:35 am
by kyleh1
Reviving an old thread. I've searched the forum and read the manuals as described in this thread but cannot for the life of me find this elusive drain plug. I've scoured the entire bottom of the transmission/rearend and the only fitting is the hydraulic suction line. The fill plug is integrated into the rear cover plate. I guess the only thing to do is to remove the whole plate to drain it. That seems crazy. Has anyone else had to do this? Once the plate is removed does it make sense to drill and tap in an actual plug for the future? I assume regular RTV gasket maker would be work.

Alternatively I suppose I could detach the suction line too. I just hate messing with fittings that aren't already leaking.

Oh, by the way I've got a 1969 154.

Thanks,
Kyle

Re: New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:04 am
by John *.?-!.* cub owner
The transmission is drained via a plug in the bottom, it sets in a flattened bulge, it faces forward. Here is a picture from the TM Tractor site of a cub transmission, but it is the same. Note, it does not share fluid with the finals, they have their own independent supply.
Image

Re: New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:26 am
by Eugene
It may be easier to remove the differential rear cover plate. Depends on if mower deck is still mounted and any equipment mounted on 3- point.

RTV works well. Change the filter.

Re: New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:46 am
by gitractorman
The number series lo-boy tractors actually use the Cub Cadet transmission, not the F-Cub transmission shown above, that is why you cannot find the drain plug. The location of that drain plug shown above is where the hydraulic return line is piped to.

Yea, you have to remove the rear differential cover to drain the transmission. It's not a big deal to do, and I'd get a new gasket from a Cub Cadet dealer prior to draining it. You only have to do it every 5 years or so, so really just not a big deal to remove the cover. It's a good time to spray the inside of the differential out with some diesel fuel to clean out all the gunk. I just did this on a Cub Cadet and it seems that the Hytran gets a little frothy and sticks to the high points inside the gear case after years of mixing with condensation. That stuff turns to a really sticky, goo, that kind of coats things above the liquid level. Anyway, just pop the rear cover off and make sure you've got a big container underneath. It holds about 6-quarts of Hytran.

Re: New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 11:14 am
by Jim Becker
The Owner's Manual identifies the place where the hydraulic suction line attaches as the drain plug (same location pictured above). I've drained mine by unhooking that line with no problems. Mine already leaked there anyway. Since this tractor is new to you with an unknown maintenance history, I would do as gitractorman advised to inspect and clean things up. When you want to drain it in the future, you can do it either at the suction line or back cover, whichever you find more convenient.

Re: New Cub Owner-Couple questions

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 11:20 am
by kyleh1
Guys, thanks a bunch for the quick replies. I'll remove the cover and see how everything looks but will probably look to add a plug somewhere.

Thanks again!