I had recently said said no more. Yeah, right. Yesterday I was surfing Marketplace and saw an ad for a cub an hour and a half away. The Seller's Description was "1953 Farmall Tractor - Does not run, would be a great project". The year was highly suspect since it had a long ear dash and a four bar grill, but that did not deter me. His asking price was $450.00. That was in the ball park for a non runner so I called. The seller said that actually the motor was locked up. That became a discouragement. We talked a bit and he said he and his dad tried to unlock it but gave up. He said the the owner before them had the engine rebuilt a couple years ago and he put fresh oil in and ran it a few minutes and the engine locked up. I suspected the oil pump was not primed. At that point I had to ask what his bottom dollar was. It was about $60.00 dollars over scrap price so I became interested again.
Today I took a little road trip to check it out. The rear tires and rims are in great shape. The front rims are pretty good but the tires need to be replaced. The tie rods are as straight as can be and the spindles are not welded. Even the steering shaft support arm bracket showed very little wear. The tin looked pretty good. The tank stunk and had tar build up telling me there has been no gas in it for quite a while. I usually stick a hand crank in them to check them out, but since the seller admitted the engine was stuck, I bypassed that. I ended up hauling it to the barnyard.
This evening I checked the serial number and found it is a 1948. I decided to stick a hand crank in it and was surprised to find the engine turned over quite nicely. I had first thought this would be a spare parts machine, but now I am thinking this might be one of those diamonds in the rough.
This Cub will now hitch a ride to the Rocky Mountain CubFest to be a project. Who knows, once started it might knock like a persistent Amway salesman or it might purr like a kitten. It might also be a waste of time hauling it 1,205 miles out there. Either way, it will get a glimpse of the Rockies.
I am hoping this turns out to be the one to power my 4E.
- Like all new residents of the barnyard, Reo had
to sniff it's butt.
- Of course, there had to be a farmer fix exhaust. Not
sure why it has an underslung exhaust elbow on it.
- Yes, there is oil on that dipstick and it
is up to the full mark.
That looks like a real comfortable seat. 
