Farmall Cub

So I met a guy today who has a 1976 model 185 that he says is for sale. It has a plow blade, a set of chains, A mower deck underneath, and he says it starts and runs and will mow the lawn just fine. He tells me that it definitely needs some elbow grease, and that second gear went “bang“ on him a while back and hasn’t worked since, so he fully expects that something inside the transmission went South. But reverse, first and third all work fine. It has the three point hitch on the back as well. He’s only asking $300 for it, which to me sounds like a hell of a deal, if you are looking for a project, which I’m not afraid of… Is there anything about this scenario that sounds particularly awful? I have a standard Cub, of 1949 vintage, so I am well-versed in how those things operate… But a 185 is a different animal and I don’t know much about them.

sounds too good to be true, but it would be worth that. I have 2 --185's and a 154, nothing harder to working on them than a regular cub.

The 3 point hitch is worth the $300. If it were closer to me I'd be trying to figure out how to get there ahead of you.

Yeah? They sure are covered up with a lot of sheet metal though… My standard Cub is all out in the open and doesn’t have a frame. This thing looks like it’s completely shielded from everything.

Otherwise, I know the guy, and he’s a decent fellow. It’s not “too good to be true“… He’s just a guy that has too many tractors.

Honestly, one of these style machines makes more sense than my standard Cub, I live in a regular neighborhood, and I do not farm or have a big garden or anything. I just like machinery. Definitely pondering it...

Go for it. The 185 has more ponies too. Drawback may be all the wheels and tires are shot.

Nope. It’s got turf tires on it and they’re all in great shape. I’m all ears on what to look out for though, since I’m not familiar with this model? I know that second gear in the transmission is blasted, but otherwise, I don’t really know what to look for. I’ll be studying up here on the forums for some more information like that.

Do it, before I grab it!



Unlike some others, I AM close enough

I thought you knew that you are into some rebuild of the tranny part at least. Many advise and posts mention the shift forks breaking to where the gear doesn't engage correctly. That's probably good because there aren't heavy particles around. It still requires the cover removed to inspect. The tunnel cover is only a few bolts but then the fun begins.

The last parts machine that I had around here had a bad transmission that got full of water and rusted it up completely and was locked up solid. I took a couple of pieces off of that and then re-sold it to somebody else that was looking for a project… I have been kicking myself ever since, because I know that was an easy fix and I got nothing else to do for projects anyway. I think this is someone’s way of saying that I need to dig into one of these transmissions, whether I want to or not.

What are you waiting for?
The sheet metal comes off quickly with a few bolts. The worst part of a 185 is the clutch and is buying gallons of HyTran for the transmission.
Bring it home and pull the shifter. Pretty sure you will find a shift fork bent or broken.

If the 2-3 shift fork was broken, wouldn’t that also disable the 3rd gear as well? He says R,1,& 3 all work as they should?

Could be a lot of things, but the easiest items to check are the shifter ball and cup and the forks.

Looks like we have a date set for Tuesday to pick it up. I'lll see if I can start getting some answers on the problem then... no doubt I'll need a little Q and A with you folks for trouble shooting, so I'll get back to ya.

Nothing to be afraid of,---the parts are small and easy to handle!

Well, she’s home! Here’s some pictures and a few things I found out on the day we picked her up (yesterday). But the time we got it off the truck yesterday it was pitch black and getting a little late, so we didn’t mess around with it too much…

https://flic.kr/p/2gqemjW

https://flic.kr/p/2gqe4bm

https://flic.kr/p/2gqemkc

https://flic.kr/p/2gqemgj

https://flic.kr/p/2gqe4ae

So that’s it. The carburetor is a little finicky and the clutch must have an adjustment because it’s really loose and you can’t really engage the gears without clashing. It turns out that NEITHER 2nd or 3rd work, so I’m cautiously optimistic that it is just the shifter fork situation I’ve heard so much about. But yeah, it runs and the mower deck works and the clutch pack was recently changed in the PTO, so that’s already been handled as well. The creeper gear is sweet, too. it feels like it has power steering. These steer so nice. I’m very surprised at that with such wide front tires. I’ll start digging in to this soon... I’ll be back with questions for sure.