mark02tj
Platinum Member
I may be getting my Grandpa's old Cub sometime soon. Here's the story... My mom was born on a small "farm" (21 acres) in West Virginia back in the 30's. While my grandparents were still living there my Grandpa bought a FarmAll Cub. I don't know if he bought it new or used or what year it is. I think it's an early 50's model. All I remember is that he always had it. As a kid, I was allowed to play on it but never drive it. Actually, I don't have any firm memories of even seeing my Grandpa on it - it seemed like he always used it right before we visited so I never really saw it in action. By the time I was hanging out at the farm (mid-late 70's, early 80's) he was only using it for mowing the meadow with a sickle bar. After my grandparents got up in age, they moved to town. My parents bought 6 of the 21 acres and a neighbor bought the rest. Our six acres included the house, shed, etc. Shortly after they moved out (around '82 or so), I made a trip down there and got the old Cub running again. I put in new points, plugs, condenser, wires and rebuilt the carb. I had a blast driving it around the property while at the same time feeling a bit "bad" as I had never been allowed to drive it up until that time. Fortunately Grandpa approved! :thumbsup: Since no one was living at the property, things started to disappear, including the tractor. One of the neighbors took it for "safekeeping". We never had much contact with him over the years and I pretty much wrote off the tractor at that point. My life had changed (married, house in the city, etc.) and I didn't have any place to store or use the tractor. My parents did hear from the neighbor from time to time with offers to buy the remaining acreage but they always declined.
Fast forward to now... someone burned what was left of the house down a few years ago on Halloween (no it wasn't the neighbor! :laughing
. My parents are getting up in age and no longer able to even drive any more. Earlier in the summer my dad called the neighbor and asked him if he wanted to buy the property. He said yes, they agreed on the price, and then out of the blue, the neighbor asks Dad if he wants the old Cub!! Of course, I said yes!!! So, I'm going into WV next week to take care of the sale of the land and take a look at the tractor to see if it's worth bringing home. I don't know if it's been stored inside a barn or out in a field. Hopefully if it was outside he at least put a coffee can over the exhaust. I do know that it hasn't been driven as I took the carb with me when I left it back in the 80's.
So, here are my questions....
Where is the dataplate located on these old Cubs? I'd like to find it so I can figure out the year, etc.
Are parts still available somewhere? Can I still get ignition and carb parts?
I'd imagine that it's still a 6v system. Is there any way to tell for sure? If it is 6v, how involved of a process is it to convert to 12v or should I even do that?
If the engine is locked, is it even worth bringing home and trying to get going again? With gas, borrowing/renting a trailer, wear and tear on the truck, etc., I figure it's going to be $300-500 to get it back home. (The neighbor said that his son would trailer it from there to here for a yet to be agreed upon price. I will most likely take him up on it.)
I'd imagine the tires are pretty much dry-rotted at this point. What's a set of tires going to set me back for this tractor?
As far as using it around here, this will mostly be a nostalgia project. I have a Deere 3520 that can do all I need done around here. If the sickle bar still works, I might use that from time to time to mow along my road/ditch. But other than that, the only reason to bring this home is that it was Grandpa's tractor. And it's not like I don't already have 586 projects already in the queue!! :laughing:
Oh, and as an added bonus, the neighbor also hauled the old hay rake out of the hollar many years ago. That may be come a piece of yard art at our place now! :laughing:
THANKS for any advice you might be able to give me.
Fast forward to now... someone burned what was left of the house down a few years ago on Halloween (no it wasn't the neighbor! :laughing
. My parents are getting up in age and no longer able to even drive any more. Earlier in the summer my dad called the neighbor and asked him if he wanted to buy the property. He said yes, they agreed on the price, and then out of the blue, the neighbor asks Dad if he wants the old Cub!! Of course, I said yes!!! So, I'm going into WV next week to take care of the sale of the land and take a look at the tractor to see if it's worth bringing home. I don't know if it's been stored inside a barn or out in a field. Hopefully if it was outside he at least put a coffee can over the exhaust. I do know that it hasn't been driven as I took the carb with me when I left it back in the 80's.So, here are my questions....
Where is the dataplate located on these old Cubs? I'd like to find it so I can figure out the year, etc.
Are parts still available somewhere? Can I still get ignition and carb parts?
I'd imagine that it's still a 6v system. Is there any way to tell for sure? If it is 6v, how involved of a process is it to convert to 12v or should I even do that?
If the engine is locked, is it even worth bringing home and trying to get going again? With gas, borrowing/renting a trailer, wear and tear on the truck, etc., I figure it's going to be $300-500 to get it back home. (The neighbor said that his son would trailer it from there to here for a yet to be agreed upon price. I will most likely take him up on it.)
I'd imagine the tires are pretty much dry-rotted at this point. What's a set of tires going to set me back for this tractor?
As far as using it around here, this will mostly be a nostalgia project. I have a Deere 3520 that can do all I need done around here. If the sickle bar still works, I might use that from time to time to mow along my road/ditch. But other than that, the only reason to bring this home is that it was Grandpa's tractor. And it's not like I don't already have 586 projects already in the queue!! :laughing:
Oh, and as an added bonus, the neighbor also hauled the old hay rake out of the hollar many years ago. That may be come a piece of yard art at our place now! :laughing:
THANKS for any advice you might be able to give me.
