1949 Cub Natchez MS Updates

[staninlowerAL]

As I use the tractor and keep cleaning I find more interesting things, like I do have the clutch on my deck but it seems to be frozen up. I'm continually spraying it with penetrating oil and greasing the fitting hoping it will start working. If not I'll eventually open it up to clean it.

One issue I have is if I clutch, the mower continues to drive the gear box. I have to flip the PTO lever sometimes so I can stop without fighting the brake.

If you can get the clutch on the mower working properly it will eleminate that problem.

[cavingreer]

I was wondering about that and thought increasing the throw with the pedal would fix it but got that horrible noise. Then after thinking about it I figured that the clutch only disengages the engine but the PTO is always connected to the gear box unless I disengage the lever so that's what I've been doing.

[Dale Finch]

A PO may have welded the parts together in the overrunning clutch. I know on the Woods mowers, that was sometimes a "quick fix" to get a slipping clutch mower working again. Just a thought.

[Denny Clayton]

I was wondering about that and thought increasing the throw with the pedal would fix it but got that horrible noise. Then after thinking about it I figured that the clutch only disengages the engine but the PTO is always connected to the gear box unless I disengage the lever so that's what I've been doing.

You are right, the inertia of the spinning blades continues to propel the tractor. When I used to use a C-3 mower, when it was necessary to stop I would hit the clutch and quickly shift the transmission to neutral and let the clutch back out to let the mower clear itself. I feel it is better to do that than try to shift the pto into neutral since the pto hardware is not nearly as strong. I grew up learning to do that when farming with a Super M Farmall without live pto so as not to plug up the combine or baler.

[cavingreer]

Since I have reclaimed so much of my property this go round with the Cub I've got a little leeway to tinker again. It's time I disassemble the mower clutch and see if I can get it back in working order.
Anyone have a quick answer on what threadlock to use on the steering housing bolts?

[Scrivet]

........
Anyone have a quick answer on what threadlock to use on the steering housing bolts?

If the steering housing bolts are working loose there is a mechanical failure, you don't need thread lock, you need to fix them!
My advice is the same as last month in your steering housing bolts thread. http://farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=89911&p=712622#p712622

.........Helicoil it NOW! .............

[cavingreer]

Scrivet you can quit yelling I get your point, and yes I know I'm going to have to helicoil or retap those or replace the box. I just don't have the time, money or a decent place to do a big tear down and rework at the moment. But that said has anyone re-tapped the holes and gone to bigger bolts? Not much difference between the 2 that I can see other than bigger bolts would eliminate the possibility of the helicoil being a problem coming loose in the future? And regardless it will still need some kind of Loctite to hold the new bolts, so is the blue enough or does it need red?

[brewzalot]

These thread repair inserts from McMaster- Carr are awesome compared to the spring type ones. They are more expensive and need a special tool, but are well worth it and will not come loose. They especially shine where bolts need to be taken in and out often. They are listed right after the spring type inserts if you are looking for them.

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And regardless it will still need some kind of Loctite to hold the new bolts,

Just curious why you feel you need to use thread locker on these?

Tim

[cavingreer]

Tim I've had a couple people tell me I shouldn't. I had read several posts here and there that said to use thread locker but from what I'm gathering now if the bolts are in proper threads or helicoils it's not necessary.

[cavingreer]

Haven't been on in awhile. Been busy prepping for my wedding and honeymoon, followed by eye surgeries in January. The '49 is off the working list until after the first of the year when I can plan and budget the front end rebuild. Meanwhile it's doing duty as a conversation piece and a photography prop. My stepdaughter has done several baby photo sessions with it. Sucker will still crank with no more than a touch! Just wanted to pop in to wish everyone well and say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and I'll speak to you all again soon when I start working on it again!

[Stanton]

Sounds like your plate is full.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well (as well as Congratulations in advance on the new marriage and wishes for quick/complete healing for your eyes). Whew!

[cavingreer]

So after a rocky start this season I'm beginning to sort out and prioritize the issues the tractor has. I've got access to a stash of frame pieces and parts a family member has been hoarding for years, so once I really start to do more major restoration it will be possible to replace the major sections, such as the front end and the hood that are bad on mine. I fought with the starter, saddle switch, distributor and battery combo for weeks, finally discovering a combo of a loose distributor-coil wire and a bad saddle switch. Once I realized the distributor wire was loose inside and got that fixed, the first pull on the starter dead shorted the switch and promptly killed the battery. Only reason it didn't catch fire and melt down completely is I managed to snatch the hot wire off at the last moment before it went up in flames. So a new switch and replacement battery got all those fixed.

Now that the starting is fixed I looked at the watery air/oil bath cup. I had dumped it when I found the nasty mess and today once I got it started it was only running a bit then dying. I tinkered with the choke lever and pulled the breather tube off and it cranked and ran. Thinking it was maybe flooding and that was resolved I looked at the oil cup and there appeared to be anti-freeze in it, which would indicate I'm getting water from the cooling system into the breather somehow? But I'm still not seeing any water in the crankcase oil, it's pretty as can be. So to test I dried out the oil cup, filled the radiator and ran the tractor for awhile. I bush hogged about an acre of yard and chopped down part of a nasty briar patch until a storm rolled in and soaked me down.

I haven't pulled the oil cup because it was seriously storming when I got to the house, but here's what I'm observing right now.
1 - Seems to run decent under load, but doesn't seem to be idling high enough. Possibly the governor needs adjusting?
2 - Choke or carb issue. The choke lever seems to vibrate into either full open or very slightly closed and the tractor chokes down. Once I realized what it was doing I could fiddle slightly with the choke and it would come back to life and have power again.
3 - Where could water be finding it's way into the breather assembly?
4 - My final drive assemblies seem to always be leaking oil or fluid out of the slots at the back. I haven't opened them up yet but does that indicate they're full of water or possibly some other problem?

Because the whole front end is going to be replaced I'll wind up redoing the radiator seals as well. My upper water neck is in bad shape, hard has heck to get the hose to seal, so I plan to replace the neck entirely. While I"m in that process I need to address the water getting into the air intake. While I've got it that far down I want to look into the governor's condition if need be. One of the assemblies I have to replace is the throttle rod. Mine is all worn down and I've notched and filed about all I can and it still pops back into the half position. Today I ran it with a clamp on the pole to allow me to hold it full open. Always baby steps but at least I'm getting a handle on it.

[Glen]

Hi,
There is a small spring in the carburetor to keep the choke in the fully open position, and to make friction when the choke is partly or fully closed. It is rather flat looking, not a regular looking spring. Here is a page from the Cub parts book showing the IH carburetor, the spring is number 15 in the pic.
If the choke lever at the carb moves with no friction, the spring is either bent, weak, or not there. Or the end on the choke shaft that rubs on the spring could be damaged.
I can see in one of your pics on page 5 of your posts that the spring is not touching the end on the choke shaft. The spring is probably bent down slightly. I'm not sure if you can bend it back up, you would have to take it out of the carburetor to do that. If you take it out, a new spring would be better to put in.
I think you have to take the choke shaft out of the carb to replace the spring. Click on the pic makes it bigger.
The final drives leaking can be because the transmission has too high an oil level, or oil and water, like you said. Or the seals can be wornout. There is a seal on each side of the brake drum. The seals commonly wearout and leak after years of use.
Remove the trans oil level plug on the left side of the trans, with the tractor on level ground, and see if oil or water comes out. It should be filled only to that plug. It is a small plug, low on the left side. It and the other plugs are shown in the owner's manual.

http://www.farmallcub.info/manuals/cub_ ... 012-12.jpg

[cavingreer]

Good point about the choke spring, I'll check it. Pulled the oil cup today. This is from completely dry running about an hour

[Glen]

Hi,
The air cleaner oil cup can get water in it from the humidity in the air, when you run the engine for some time, I am pretty sure. I see you are in Mississippi, is there high humidity where you are, if so, the air cleaner is probably filtering the water out of the air. It would be just clear water, or water mixed with oil.