Brought 57 cub home today

[wolc123]

What are some of your thoughts about how your 57 Cub operates compared to today's smaller compact tractors? It has that offset steering wheel for visibility for one thing. I've seen them all my life, but never operated one.

The offset design was developed (by IH) for cultivating, so that the operator could look directly at the plants without hunching over. That made it easier to get real close to small plants and they were very popular with gardeners and truck farmers.

I actually hated using them for cultivating, having grown up only cultivating field corn, usually when it was taller and easy to sight down the rows with an “in line” tractor. My grandpas 1950 John Deere model M was great for that, with the ridge running down the center of the hood. I could keep my head up high, and cultivate in a higher gear.

With the Cub with its “cultivision”, I had to slow down and bend over, looking down at the rows as I went, usually ending up with a stiff neck by the end of the day.

When I sold my first Cub about 10 years ago, I certainly didn’t miss it for cultivating, but I did miss it for snowplowing. It’s nice to be able to see most of the plow as your working. There is no modern tractor that I enjoy plowing with more than those old Cubs.

 

[ultrarunner]

The offset design was developed (by IH) for cultivating, so that the operator could look directly at the plants without hunching over. That made it easier to get real close to small plants and they were very popular with gardeners and truck farmers.

I actually hated using them for cultivating, having grown up only cultivating field corn, usually when it was taller and easy to sight down the rows with an “in line” tractor. My grandpas 1950 John Deere model M was great for that, with the ridge running down the center of the hood. I could keep my head up high, and cultivate in a higher gear.

With the Cub with its “cultivision”, I had to slow down and bend over, looking down at the rows as I went, usually ending up with a stiff neck by the end of the day.

When I sold my first Cub about 10 years ago, I certainly didn’t miss it for cultivating, but I did miss it for snowplowing. It’s nice to be able to see most of the plow as your working. There is no modern tractor that I enjoy plowing with more than those old Cubs.

Following because have both Cub and JD M tractors plus Kubota L3800 for every day...

 

[wolc123]

Following because have both Cub and JD M tractors plus Kubota L3800 for every day...

My 2005 JD 4120 does most of the work at our place. Grandpas old John Deere M has not run in about 10 years but likely would if anyone tried it. It’s sitting in my parents barn, about 20 miles away, with both rear tires looking pretty flat.

My own first tractor was a 1951 Ford 8n, that I bought from the widow of the original owner. The JD M, which grandpa bought new, was the first tractor on our farm. Back then, the Ford 8n’s were a lot more expensive than the John Deere M (also a 2-plow tractor).

My Ford 8n is down and out right now, with some type of electrical problem, causing a weak and intermittent spark. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get it running over the winter. I love it for spring plowing. It has draft position, which my JD lacks. It also plowed better than it ever did the last couple years since I accidentally lost the calcium fill on the furrow side rear tire when the original rim rusted thru on that side.

It always use to pull the opposite way because the furrow side always got better traction, when both sides were loaded. Now that the furrow side is not loaded and the sod side is, it pulls dead even, and I don’t need to ride the break on the strong side. That means less fuel usage, less wear and tear, and more acres per hour plowed.

Having a full time job and trying to do a little farming on the side, doesn’t leave much time to keep too many antique tractors going. I’ve only had my current Cub a few years now and haven’t used it much but it hasn’t been too bad to keep going so far at least.

The last one I had was pretty well worn out when I got it and it was a real bear to keep going. So much so, that I swore I’d never buy another red tractor. I’m glad that I gave them a second chance though, because this current one is pretty sweet. It probably had less than 500 hours on it when I got it though, where the last one likely had 10,000 or more on it.

I’ve also had some issues with an Allis Chalmers and am currently loosing faith in my old Ford. JD has never really let me down (nor my grandad or my dad) so it’s easy for me to see why they were the only American tractor maker to survive. If I gotta get the work done that’s the brand I want. The very best thing about owning those other colors, is the appreciation it gives me for the green.

 

[wolc123]

The Cub did real good on leaf duty, after I removed the pvc “stone guard” from the bottom of the blade. It just rolled over the leafs with that on. After I finished pushing the leaves, I put the pvc back on to get it ready for snow. There is none of that in our forecast yet, but it’s nice to be ready for it before it hits.

I also had another little issue to the care of, after I broke the pressure treated pine board adapter that held a heavy steel rear ballast weight on the rigid drawbar. Just a little too much tongue weight on my boat, the same cause of damage to the plow frame, when I tried using that for a “hydraulic lift” front hitch.

There is a place for pressure treated pine but this clearly wasn’t it. I replaced the broken pine board (made a nice drill pattern anyhow), with a big hunk of white oak. I don’t think my boat is heavy enough to snap that.

Now, all I got to do is put the chains back on the rears and I’ll be ready for the snow. I can’t hardly wait for it. I’ve never used any machine that was more fun to plow snow with than this old Farmall Cub.

 

[DJ54]

I could be wrong, and don't like knocking someone else's work, but I think you'll have the same problem at some point. Looks to me the way that is built you've created a fulcrum. With tongue weight on the ball you're putting upward pressure on the front pivoting on the drawbar itself. All the bolts are pretty much in a straight line and may be pretty close to the same line of grain in the wood and may very well split too.

With the ball at the back and bolts holding it that far forward that creates a good bit of leverage, plus what weight of that plate is between the bolts and ball adds to it multiplying your tongue weight somewhat.

I'm seeing two options using with what you already have made. A similar piece cut to fit underneath using the same bolt holes, but you'll need a spacer to equal the thickness of the drawbar. I'm guessing around 5/8" and cut to fit inside the drawbar, basically sandwiching the drawbar on the outside edges which would increase strength.

The other option is getting a drawbar extension like pictured below and bolt it directly to the drawbar. It'd just have to be long enough to clear your plate. It could be mounted either on top, or underneath. Underneath you'd only have to make a relief in your plank for the bolt heads with say a Forstner bit. On top the relief would have to be made for the extension and bolt heads. You could use a router to cut the relief deep enough to clear all, or just deep enough for the extension, and Forstner bit for the bolt heads.

Personally, I'd go with the drawbar extension. They can be bought at about any salvage yard for around $35.00. If you have a weld shop around that may have a piece of 5/8" plate you may get them to cut it to a custom size and either you, or them drill holes to match your drawbar.

Again, don't want to knock anyone's work, but don't want to see anyone get hurt, or something damaged. Just throwing in my 2 cents worth.

 

[WinterDeere]

Hey wolc,

Looks like the old plank split along the grain, with the grain on top under tension, treating the bottom edge as a fulcrum. If you could bore thru the plank and insert some fasteners going fore/aft, it’d increase the strength of the replacement dramatically. If that’s too difficult, plowing matching dado’s in two planks and epoxying them together gives you effective bores for inserting long carriage bolts or all-thread thru the whole thing, and the doubled thickness also halves the tension on the top face.

But your new design already looks pretty strong, in that your fasteners are all in a row. That was a good move, as it mostly eliminates any torsion across the grain.

 

[wolc123]

Regarding the broken pt pine board, I didn’t have any trouble with it, until I loaded a bunch of extra stuff into the front of the boat, greatly increasing the tongue load. I’m thinking that the shear strength of the white oak should be much greater (2X or more) than the pine, so I doubt it will break angain, under similar usage.

The cross section at the break is also more now than it was, because the oak is 2” thick, while the pine was 1-1/2”.

I used the old pt pine setup 6-7 times through the summer and fall, most of the time with front livewell tank on the boat full of water, so there was a pretty good load on it. One of the best things about the gravel floor in my pole barn, is that I can drain the livewell right into it.

We are having a pretty good drought right now, and I doubt there will be enough water in my pond to keep the (4) largemouth bass that I put in there this year, alive thru the winter. That means I’ll be needing to restock it again next year and likely hauling the boat back there again with the Cub a time or two.

 

[ultrarunner]

Brought the 48 cub out for the Christmas Tree farm today.

My brother was not able to get it to run and it normally fires on the first or second crank pull.

Checked the carb and blocked with corrosion.

Used compressed air and a stiff wire for a quick and dirty fix while I had it apart and it worked.

It’s a shame one needs to be a carb mechanic now when you have old equipment on California pump gas… no pure fuel stations surround here.

 

[wolc123]

Too bad you can’t get ethanol free gas. That’s all I’ve run in my seldom used engines and I’ve had no carb issues with any of them (around a dozen total). I did sieze up a little boat motor running a 16:1 gas oil mix this fall, but I think that was because the water pump wasn’t working. I’ve got to add that leftover gas mix to the Cub over the winter, to use it up.

I’ve got about 2 gallons of it left in the boat motor tank. I’ll add a quart or so with every couple gallons of plain ethanol free gas to the Cub, until it’s gone. The little bit of 2-stroke oil will give a little added valve lubrication.

That Cub looks nice with the Christmas trees. It don’t get much more Christmas like than a red Farmall Cub and a Green John Deere M.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

There are YouTube videos how to make real gas. Basically you add water, shake container and let it sit. The ethanol binds with water and you pour it off.