Inherited a Cub

[soldierforlife74]

Greetings all, new user here....

I inherited a 1949 cub from my grandfather after he passed. I used to ride it with him when we worked his fields back in the 70s and I loved it. Now that I have it, I intend to give my daughter all those same great memories. I have a whole list of questions about it, so I can get it back to operational status. I ran it a year or so ago just for a few minutes, as it has not been ran prior to that until sometime in the late 80s. I guess my first question, is, what type of oil is best to use in these old engines? Its a few decades due for an oil change! Also, should I consider changing any other fluids? The coolant will be changed as I had to drain it all to get some parts off to fix them.

Hope to hear from you all soon!!!

[raystractors]

First of all Welcome to the greatest cub site on the net. These people will lead you to the information that will get your little cub running like it did when you rode on it in the past. As for the question on the oil, these little tractors used a common oil of the day which would be dependent on the daily temp. 30 weight will be fine for most days. The question on others fluids would be yes they will need to be changed. The first after the engine would be the transmission, over time water can build up inside. Another thing that I would suggest would be to make sure that you have oil pressure, over time the oil pump can drain itself and need to be primed. Others will follow with more information and direction. Good luck

[Bob McCarty]

If you click on "Manuals" towards the right side of the tool bar above, you will find a section of manuals you can download or print off if you don't have them. The owner or operator's manual has a page on lubrication. This includes some often forgotten places like the fan hub and throw out bearing. Welcome to the Forum and feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Bob

[pickerandsinger]

In addition to what Bob said, you would probably be wise to replace all the fluids..Coolant, Engine oil and transmission, finals etc....Bear in mind oils and etc have greatly changed since the 40's and 50's...And for the better...There are many thoughts along this line, some people use Hy Tran in the running gear, some a heavier viscosity to "quiet " down the gear noise.....Engine oils are pretty much operator oriented...You'll get a lot of opinions on that...Without recommending I'll just say I use diesel 15/40 in the engine and hy-tran in the running gear, hy tran in the Hydraulics...Rudi has gone to a great deal of work in supplying the manuals for pretty much all the info we need to work on these tractors...You would be well advised to make use of them as much as possible...Also there are 2 lubrication points on your generator, alsong with the fan and TO bearing Bob mentioned...I understand they used to cut the 30 weight motor oil for the engine with kerosine in the winter, I don't think you would want to do that .....I'm sure you'll get more people chimming in as the post evolves....Keep the questions coming...Dave

[Stanton]

Welcome to the forum! Glad to hear you've kept the Cub in the family.

Post some pictures of your Cub when you get a chance. Help on posting pics can be found here: viewforum.php?f=148

[vttrailboss]

I see you can still buy non-detergent 30w oil at walmart, but I'd rather use the 15w-40 diesel oil. Not to mention is was cheaper. I don't have much history with Cubs, but easily find my way around machines. These are the simplest things I've worked on... I like that!

[Bob Perry]

[Donegal Cub]

A Big Irish welcome to the best tractor on this planet The guys on the forum will be of immense help. Go create your own good memories
Bernard,
Donegal Cub.

[soldierforlife74]

Thank you for the warm welcome and the advice. I have been tinkering all day on it and am currently trying to just get it to fire. I am getting fuel and its turning over very nice, but I don't think I am getting any spark. I will get some pictures together when I can for all!

[Hengy]

Does it still have its original Magneto or has it been converted to distributor ignition? Are you getting spark at the spark plug wires? Check this by taking a plug and attaching it to a plug wire and laying it next to the head or some good ground. Crank and look for spark. Easy check...make sure that the wires are on the right plugs. Firing order is 1-3-4-2...#1 plug near the radiator. Since the tractor ran (albeit briefly), I am guessing it has to be something simple...

Mike

[bythepond88]

If she has not run in a year, you should first make sure that the oil pump is primed. Remove the oil filter cap. Inside the oil filter housing, front, down an inch or so is an opening. Put a half cup or so of engine oil in the opening. Using the hand crank or pulling on the fan, crank the engine half a revolution. Add another half cup and turn another half revolution. Add another half cup. Then crank engine over with the ignition off and make sure that oil flows back out of the opening in the filter. If not, repeat above until you do see oil coming out of the opening.

[Rudi]

Congrats on becoming the keeper of your Grandfather's Cub. I am sure that he would be very pleased to know his grandson is continuing the tradition with your daughter. Really cool that .. multi-generational Cubs are pretty special.

The guys have already given you great info .. so I will just add the links to a lot of the great information/resources we have available to our members.

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 the most important resources are Owner's Manuals, Parts Catalogs and Service Manuals. The Cub Manual Server is the home of the jpg versions and the [url=http://www.farmallcub.com/[ Sorry, direct links to manual section is not allowed. ]/index.php]PDF Manuals[/url] -- well the pdf's of course Enjoy!.

McCormick Farmall Cub Operator's Manual 5-1-49

[Smokeycub]

Congratulations on getting your Granddads' Cub, that's pretty special. ...and welcome, as the others have said, this is the best place to be for info and advice on Cubs. Show us what you've got, implements too!

[Xperimental]

I have been working on my 1961 Cub, which had not run in over 7 years when I brought it to the farm last month. It would not try to start until I changed the points, condenser, distributor cap and spark plugs. It now starts easily. One of the first things I did, after going to my first Cubfest in September, was to build a temporary gas tank. I saw Barnyard using a temporary tank at the Tipton Cubfest and I just had to have one. Having a way to run the engine and troubleshoot the tractor without the hood and gas tank in the way, has really made bringing this Cub back to life much easier.

[Glen]

Hi Xperimental,
I agree, a temporary gas tank is a good thing to have around. Hope you get the Cub working good again.