Rear ballast?

[DZG]

Hey guys first post in many, many years here but i have a, lossibly stupid, question...

Is it possible to over ballast a cub? I got rimguard in the tires (pry right around 130-135lbs per side) and just bought a set of 150lb (per side) wheel weights...so roughly 280per tire and 560 total. I know cubs arnt quite as fragile as they are made out to be but im not risking breaking anything am i?

[Bill V in Md]

A standard configuration for the Cub is to have two wheel weights on each rear tire, which would amount to about 300 lbs per side. I have been running my cub that way for several years with no problems.

[ricky racer]

That should not be any problem at all. I've been running double rear weights for years. Having ballast is a good thing, it makes the tractor more stable and helps reduce tire slippage.

[DZG]

That should not be any problem at all. I've been running double rear weights for years. Having ballast is a good thing, it makes the tractor more stable and helps reduce tire slippage.

Thats why im adding the weights lol. When i first got the tractor it just had air in the tires and honestly it was worthless for anything besides mowing. The rimguard helped ALOT but it still seems to break traction way before the motor runs out of power.

A standard configuration for the Cub is to have two wheel weights on each rear tire, which would amount to about 300 lbs per side. I have been running my cub that way for several years with no problems.

I did not know 300lbs was pretty standard. I wont worry then. Tbanks guys

[Glen]

Hi,
The style of rear tire tread makes a difference in how a Cub pulls.

The 45 degree straight bars work well.
Curved treads like they had in the late 1940's don't work as well.
We had one of them on a Cub, the traction was not as good as the 45 degree bars, which may be why IH put the tires with the 45 degree bars on Cubs after the others, in the 1950's.

Our neighbor had a 1948 Cub for decades that had the curved tread rear tires, he said it got stuck easy.

Below is a page from the 1949 Cub owner's manual showing the curved tread.

http://farmallcub.com/rudi_cub/www.clea ... age-44.jpg

Below is a page from the 1955 Cub operator's manual showing the 45 degree bar tread.

http://farmallcub.com/rudi_cub/www.clea ... e%2003.jpg

I've never had a Cub with the newer 23 degree bars on the rear tires, they are supposed to work better than 45 degree bars, I guess.

[DZG]

Hi,
The style of rear tire tread makes a difference in how a Cub pulls.

The 45 degree straight bars work well.
Curved treads like they had in the late 1940's don't work as well.
We had one of them on a Cub, the traction was not as good as the 45 degree bars, which may be why IH put the tires with the 45 degree bars on Cubs after the others, in the 1950's.

Our neighbor had a 1948 Cub for decades that had the curved tread rear tires, he said it got stuck easy.

Below is a page from the 1949 Cub owner's manual showing the curved tread.

http://farmallcub.com/rudi_cub/www.clea ... age-44.jpg

Below is a page from the 1955 Cub operator's manual showing the 45 degree bar tread.

http://farmallcub.com/rudi_cub/www.clea ... e%2003.jpg

I've never had a Cub with the newer 23 degree bars on the rear tires, they are supposed to work better than 45 degree bars, I guess.

Good info on that. Mines definatly got the older style tires. I know just loading the tires made a massive difference so im hoping the weights will improve it that much more. My tires are in good shape yet i hate to replace them lol.

[Matt Kirsch]

The manual also describes installing one or two sets of wheel weights.

Of course keep in mind your mileage may vary, as we are talking about a... well, since you didn't say what year Cub... a really old tractor here. Even the '79's are over 40 years old, and the '47s are 74. You don't know what's going on inside, what's on the verge of failure due to normal wear and tear.

Should something go awry, it wasn't anything you did or any design flaw in the tractor. It was age and wear. Just keep your expectations realistic.

[DZG]

The manual also describes installing one or two sets of wheel weights.

Of course keep in mind your mileage may vary, as we are talking about a... well, since you didn't say what year Cub... a really old tractor here. Even the '79's are over 40 years old, and the '47s are 74. You don't know what's going on inside, what's on the verge of failure due to normal wear and tear.

Should something go awry, it wasn't anything you did or any design flaw in the tractor. It was age and wear. Just keep your expectations realistic.

Absolutly. My cub is a 48 and has actually been in family since new. My great grandpa bought it in 48. Its actually lead a pretty easy life. I dont beat it but i definantly use it. However in the future it may have some company in the barn by way of an A or C, or maybe even an H, or hell maybe a N series ford lol.

[Glen]

Hi,
I sent you a PM.

[DZG]

Well thought id stop by and fill yall in since i got the weights mounted. Currently running around 135lbs of rimguard and 145lb of wheelweight per tire (so...280 per side if my math is correct) and i literally CANNOT believe the difference the extra weight made.

I needed to go back and scrape out the muddy mess that was where my horse stall exited into the pasture (the stall goes a bit downhill as did the side outside so all the water collected in a "bowl" right where the horse walked), it was over ankle deep gunky mud and the little cub with the belly blade shoved it all out IN ONE PASS....well two, cause the stall is about twice as wide as the blade lol...but still. Before it would of never dreamed of it.

I also got the hills graded so it all runs downhill now in the pasture...took me about 4 hours total (got caught in a monsoon...you dont realizehow slow a cub is untill youre in 3rd wide open racing for the barn in a hellacious downpour)....

But either way bottom line is i am more then happy with the cub now and it actually works like i always thought it should....the motor actually pulls against the governor and moves stuff instead of a tire just spinning lol,

Best 200 bucks i ever spent.