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.

 

[ultrarunner]

Out of all the tractors the Cub is the crowd pleaser…

The restored Deere M has fans also and sometimes both are out like book ends… one red and the other green.

The cub is crank start which eliminates battery expense.

Many hundreds of family holiday pictures each season with the Cub.

It’s great you are keeping yours in service to help around the homestead.

 

[WinterDeere]

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.

That's pretty cool! Never thought of that, but should be doable by someone who really needs it.

Just a note, the ethanol and water will settle to the bottom, so you'd do well to either let the fuel can sit and settle inverted, or put a drain valve in the bottom. That way you can drain off the water (with ethanol), before pouring any gas out of the can.

 

[DJ54]

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.
View attachment 1899285View attachment 1899286

You might try adding some Stabil 360º to your ethanol laced fuel. It is a fuel stabilizer and fuel system cleaner all in one. We had problems with ethanol fuel here in Ohio years back, and at first I used regular Stabil and every few tank full's of fuel add Seafoam to keep the system clean.

Since the 360º does it all, that's all I use now. Been using it for probably 10 years now with no issues from small garden tractors, up to my IH 656 gasser which sets most years from Sept. until May or June since I only use it to make hay.

It only takes 1 oz. per 5 gallons of gas I add it to the fuel can when filling. Pumping gas in the can mixes it. A quart bottle is around $18 but will treat around 360 gallons of gas so it goes a long way.

It'd be advisable to make sure your fuel system is clean before using it starting from your fuel tank to carb.

 

[ultrarunner]

I use Stabil Marine at home but my brother will need to pick some up for the farm…

Mostly they use diesel and 2-cycle mix and had been running the gas equipment to empty either by shutting off the fuel valve or letting the tank go empty.

I showed him a corrosion ring in the bottom 1/4 of the fuel bowl…

My guess is enough fuel remained to go bad.

 

[wolc123]

We had planned on going up to my in-laws, for the tail end of the Holiday weekend, but my mother in law just called and said they are supposed to be getting 3-5 ft of lake effect snow from Lake Ontario. No unneccesary
travel is advised, now thru Monday.

Since I got a little spare time now, and we are also under some lake effect threat from Lake Erie, I figured I best get the chains on the Cub. It’s all set now. I also removed the knife disconnect switch from the battery because it was causing an intermittent no-start condition.

It started like a champ after I removed that switch and connected the terminal direct to the battery. I’m not sure why the extra disconnect was on it. I’m hoping that it does not have a slow draw that will drain down my battery when not in use. I got that problem with my Durango field car and I installed a new knife disconnect switch on that for that reason.

 

[wolc123]

It’s looking like the wind would need to shift pretty good for us to get much snow at home until about next mid week. I probably won’t be able to play on the Cub any more until then. As I was putting on the chains earlier, I noticed that I had forgotten about one little project I meant to do before I needed them again.

The tip is worn or broke off from one of the connector links on one of the chains. Last winter, I wired that link closed with copper wire, and I had to do the same thing today. I’m going to weld repair that broken connector as soon as I pull it off next spring, so I don’t forget about it again.

I’m also a little worried about the possibility of a slow electrical draw. I purchased the 6 volt battery, that’s on it now, new this spring. Until today, it’s always had the disconnect on it, and left open when not in use.

The old maintenance guy at the factory where I work and that owned the tractor previously was a bit of a tinkerer with antique cars and stuff. He put that disconnect on it and also rigged up a 6 volt horn which still works. I doubt the disconnect that he put in it was really rated for 6 volts. I also doubt that he would have put it on if there wasn’t a need for it (slow draw, etc). Since he passed away sbout 5 years ago, I can’t ask.

If it starts showing signs of a weak charge on upcoming cold starts, I’ll probably leave my 6-volt tender on it, and see if that corrects the issue.

It looks like there is a lot more copper on the knife switch disconnect that I put on my field car’s 12 volt battery. Maybe I’ll polish up the old one from the Cub and swap it out for the new one on the field car.

The field car don’t get much use over the winter anyhow. I used it a lot two winters ago when the cheap aftermarket starter I put in my JD 4120 was wearing out. The only way I could get it to crank when it was real cold was with jumper cables from the field car. That problem went away last year when I put another new cheap aftermarket starter on the Deere.

 

[DJ54]

Points can stick on the voltage regulator and drain a battery. If you find this happens you can always replace the regulator or go back to a disconnect which would be a lot less expensive.

Assuming your VR is working as far as charging I've seen a number of posts where guys have put this style disconnect on and has cured the battery drainage problem. But most are designed for a 12V or 24V system only fitting the negative post. I did a search and did find one that is large enough to fit either post. I'd much rather make the disconnect on a 6V system to the positive side, breaking the ground side rather than having an extended piece on the negative side that could possibly short out.

Just some food for thought.

 

[wolc123]

We are supposed to get snow on Wed so I’ll find out then. If it starts ok, I’ll likely be ok as is. If not, I take the disconnect off the field car and put it on the positive ground side where the bad one was.

 

[wolc123]

We had about 6” of fluffy snow in the driveway when I got home from work today. The old Cub fired right up and made short work of it. I plowed our driveways but not the neighbors on both sides.

I’ll get them tomorrow, maybe with my bigger tractor, because we’re supposed to get about double that overnight, and I need to fetch a load of firewood for the porch.

 

[wolc123]

I cleared another 6” from our driveways with the Cub tonight. Once again, it cranked over and fired up real good, so it definitely seems like there is no “slow draw” on the battery, as I feared.

I hadn’t cleared the neighbor to my east yesterday, but it looked like somebody else did. I did drive over to my aunts house, to my west, and cleared her driveways. She’s staying down in GA with my oldest cousin for the winter months. My younger cousins check up on the house every now and then so I try and keep the driveways cleared for them.

Two days accumulation left snow over a foot deep over most of her driveway, giving the Cub a pretty good workout. It’s well ballasted with loaded rear R1’s with chains, my 215 lbs in the seat, and the heavy steel plate bolted on the drawbar. It didn’t struggle much at all with the heavier snow tonight. I love plowing with the Cub and I don’t mind the extra “seat time”

I didn’t have enough diesel in my bigger tractor, to use that for plowing tonight, just about enough to haul up a bucket load of firewood to the house. I did that, after I cleared all the driveways with the Cub.

It took me about an hour to finish with the Cub (would have taken less than half that with my diesel), and I ran the block heater on the diesel that whole time. It started, just like it does in the summertime, after that. I probably used less that a pint of the maybe two gallons on diesel, that was left in the tank, to haul that firewood.

It’s still got the summer mix in it, and I’ll be filling a couple cans with winter mix this weekend. No rush on that because it’s supposed to get warm next week and there’s no more snow in the forecast.

I always run stabilized ethanol-free 90 octane gas in the Cub. Right now it has 5 fresh gallons of that and a little over a quart of 16:1 oil mix in it, leftover from one of my outboard motors. That little bit of 2-stroke oil is probably good for those old 1957 Farmall valves.