1951 Cub - trying to keep my sanity

[randyny]

I’m beginning to ask myself “how much is too much?”

Short history, After spending some time on eBay after having a few beers late at night, I paid way too much for this tractor in another country and ended up driving 1200 miles to Canada to get it. Decided to make it a road trip which is why I didn't cancel the bid. This was about 10 years ago. The nice thing is that it runs pretty good and after I adjusted the valves it runs very good with very little smoke and decent power. I used the belly blade to grade some property and it was good for that purpose. btw, the tractor came with a mower (wrong one, turned out to be Mitsubishi), and a plow (had the beam and the share and thats about it. worthless.) I'm over the initial cost and stupidity on my part.

I always wanted to restore this tractor since I grew up around two of them. I always had the intention of restoring this tractor, and the kids and I decided if we start now it’ll be ready for the July 4 parade next year.

Since parking it five years ago the transmission is locked up. So fine, I was going to take apart anyway Since it sounds like a rock crusher. I sandblast and paint parts as I take them off and a lot of things cleaned up nicely. I already bought a grill, battery, battery box, muffler, switches, gauges, paint, and some other various and sundrie items.

The rust is so bad in some places. I was able to free up the seat post assenbly but it looks terrible with deep, deep rust and blobs of weld. I sandblasted the right fender and found the metal rusted through. Replacing the right fender without a new left fender will look stupid, so that means I have to buy two fenders. The floor pan is rusted terribly needs to be replaced. It also appears the previous owner tried welding the floor pan to the torque tube. Great. Now I pop off the wheels and look at the final drives. Apparently the previous owner ground off the tops of the drive housing for some unknown reason. When I saw this 10 years ago, I thought they was duct tape wrapped around because a cover was missing that I could always replace. Well, there’s no cover.

Can anyone suggest a way of salvaging these drive housings? What started as a fun project with my son and daughter is shaping up to be a real nightmare.

[Bob McCarty]

You could probably repair the fender with some mesh and Bondo. Most of that damage will be hidden by the tire. I can't imagine why anyone would grind the tops off of the finals. Could you form a piece of sheet metal to cover the holes, drill and tap for short bolts and use something like RTV to seal the cover in place? Otherwise, replacement is always an alternative. What part of NY are you in? There are several forum members that sell parts that might not be too far from you.

[muleboss]

Have another beer and then come to KANSAS and I can fix you up with everything you will need to fix your tractor.

[Barnyard]

Randy, you don't mention your location in your profile. (it would be good if you did) but by your user name I will guess you are in New York. There are several CubFests around the country where you can get a lot of excellent help. Look at it this way, you already drove 1200 miles to get the Cub, why not drive that far again to a couple of CubFests to get expert help and meet some great folks as well.

[Jim Becker]

You also said the transmission needs work. You indicated it was very noisy and it looks rusty in the picture. However, you indicated previously the engine runs well. Consider looking for a parts tractor with a bad engine/bolster/radiator and make one out of the two. A non-running parts tractor can probably be found with a little patience and not a whole lot of money.

[Bob McCarty]

After enlarging the photos, I think Jim's suggestion is the way to go.

[Crimson Tim]

That’s so strange about the final drives... Were they trying to create clearance for some odd wheel configuration (wide, high flotation tires?) or what the heck were they thinking there???

[coppersmythe]

Randy , hang in there , the above suggestions are on target . One little positive thought . the pully on the end of the PTO shaft looks like the small one used with a sickle mower . its worth a bit of $$$ if you dont have the mower . selling it can help finance the repairs ...................coppersmythe...........................................

[randyny]

A good night's sleep and I'm sane again. Everything can be conquered. I actually bought this in 2002, and it sat outside most of that time. So I can blame myself for a reasonable portion of the degradation.

This tractor also came with tire chains. When I briefly had them on they would rub everywhere. When I couldn't adjust the rubbing away I inverted the wheels, but I only had them rubbing for a few minutes. Perhaps the PO left it that way for a few years.

I thought about it, and I figure when I disassemble and clean, I can either create a sandwich cover like the clutch adjustment hole, or just fiberglass from the inside and then fill the outside. Ideas always come to us when we think about problems, right? PArt of the fun, I say.

I was going to weld in a piece od sheet metal to replace the rusted out floorboard corner. I may try that before replacing, as it gets covered by the battery box anyway. And if I spring for that slick black mat? The problem literally disappears. haha.

btw, I added location to profile. I'm in Long Island. I've been to a few of the LI Power Association meets where there are many, many Cubs. But that's once a year. Any members from LI?

[randyny]

I took the wire wheel to the final housings, and I think a rational man would say it has to be incidental rubbing rather than grinding. If you were grinding, after the first side you would realize going deeper into the second valley of the housing is of no benefit so you wouldn't do that. But if it was grinding from chains, damn, that's amazing.

Anyway I bet solid fiberglass and a paint job will make this beautiful. I'd rather not have to, but you know, whatever.

btw, check out the beautiful rust pits and weld blobs on the sandblasted, primed and painted seat post. At least I have a working spring now! (20-ton press, PB blaster, torch, hammer, and finally air hammer)

[BigBill]

You can either bolt covers over the holes in the finals using angle iron ground to fit with a good silicone. Other parts can be found on eBay. Where do you live? A good welder can weld 1/4” plate to the cast iron finals. I’m in ct.

[Glen]

Hi,
The final drives are supposed to have 1 3/4 Pints of gear oil in each one. The holes could have let all the oil be thrown out by the gears turning.
If they have no oil in the pans, you should look at the bearings, they could be worn and loose. There are 3 bearings in each final drive.
JP Tractor salvage at the bottom of the page might have used final drives that are still good.

Below are pages from the Cub parts manual showing the final drives. The bearings are numbers 5, 17, 19, 23, and 25 in the pic.

http://www.farmallcub.info/manuals/cub_ ... 007-12.jpg

http://www.farmallcub.info/manuals/cub_ ... 007-13.jpg

Below is the page of parts TM Tractor has for final drives.

http://www.tmtractor.com/new/fr/fi_001newparts.htm

[randyny]

Yes, I bought the parts & owners manuals a while ago. I'd like to replace all the bearings in the rear. Tranny, finals, etc. It will be some bucks but the noisy rear was the biggest issue I had. And I realize that welding/braizing/fixing cast iron is "kinda ok" at best, but terrible at worst. I figure the area of the part that needs to repaired is not structurally important at all. So I am going to go with fiberglass at this point. It will look perfect. Realize, I had crappy duct tape wrapped around the hole for 15 years. Permananet fiberglass will be two to three hundred times better.

Biggest problem now is I have an unheated barn. New York (Long Island) goes from full summer to mild winter in a week. I was spray-painting very happilly last week but now it's 50 degrees rather than 70 and different rules apply. Wonder what Debbie will think when I bring the torque tube inside the house to piant it, hmmm.....

[Waif]

Yes, I bought the parts & owners manuals a while ago. I'd like to replace all the bearings in the rear. Tranny, finals, etc. It will be some bucks but the noisy rear was the biggest issue I had. And I realize that welding/braizing/fixing cast iron is "kinda ok" at best, but terrible at worst. I figure the area of the part that needs to repaired is not structurally important at all. So I am going to go with fiberglass at this point. It will look perfect. Realize, I had crappy duct tape wrapped around the hole for 15 years. Permananet fiberglass will be two to three hundred times better.

Biggest problem now is I have an unheated barn. New York (Long Island) goes from full summer to mild winter in a week. I was spray-painting very happilly last week but now it's 50 degrees rather than 70 and different rules apply. Wonder what Debbie will think when I bring the torque tube inside the house to piant it, hmmm.....

Ya , temp outside will be an issue. Those couple golden days in Oct. go fast!
Running a salamander to pre-heat and then maintain a heat while drying would stir up a lot of dust.
Wouldn't be safe to spray paint while it was running.

Lots of other work to do if painting is out of the question..
Your Cub has a strong heart...from your description of it's engine.

[randyny]

Here's an update on the finals. I've been dragging my feet on this restore for a looong time, then my 13 y.o. son parroted back to me "you just have to accept that this is going to cost money".

Upon completion, I will upload a spreadsheet of every cost of parts and tools I bought for this project.

So it really is an important realization that no matter how bad an old part looks, after sandblasting and painting it will look new. Check out my finals: