New to me 1450 cub

[OTHill]

Hi! I just picked up a project tractor. 1450 cub cadet. Gonna either widen out and mod a golf cart using it for drive or build from scratch a Jeep type of vehicle using golf cart front axle and suspension parts. No engine in it right now. I'm trying it out using cordless drill connected to input shaft and can't seem to get any movement out of it. I've never had anything to do with cub hydrostatic drives and need some guidance please? Is there a disconnect lever somewhere for free wheeling as it does wheel without resistance? What are the 2 little spring loaded buttons on top of the drive for? They move freely but no difference if I hold them in or let them out.
Oil level is right up and looks clean. Also nice to know the year? Will include some pictures. I just love the heavy cast iron construction. I did get mower deck,tiller,and dozer with it which I don't plan to use. Brand new tires all around. Freshly painted totally wrong color which doesn't really matter to me.

Last pic is engine head. Engine came with in pieces. Not sure if I'll try to use it or not.

 

[2manyrocks]

The Cub Cadet 1250-1650 quietline series was the last generation of Cub Cadets made by International Harvester from 1974-1980. Each had a K series Kohler engine. The only difference between engines was the bore displacement. These were different from prior Cub Cadets in that the engines were mounted to the frame with rubber "iso" mounts, there was a muffler box assembly that was different, and there were side panels to dampen the engine noise.

There isn't a hydro disconnect. The two springs on the top are part of the assembly that helps to govern the hydro speed. Usually, a slot gets worn in the metal over time causing the hydro to lose speed going up a hill. Just have to reweld that slot to fix that as I recall.

Engine repowering is a challenge with these machines because the hydro drive has a coupler to the engine on the flywheel side and an electric clutch assembly is mounted to the output shaft facing the front of the engine. There are some predator adapters on ebay, but I think you have to cut the frame to physically mount the engine. If you could salvage the engine, that would likely be your best option.

However, there is so much space under the hood that I wonder if an electric conversion would be possible?

 

[OTHill]

My intention is not exactly to repower this tractor. I want to repurpose the hydro drive and differential. The tractor doesn't seem complete. There is nothing to activate the spring loaded plungers on top of case.so I'm not sure what you mean by welding up a slot. Also I'm gathering that the input shaft would turn counter clockwise looking from the front. Is that correct? Thanks for your reply 2manyrocks!

 

[ChasHM]

If the hydro isn't reasonably full of fluid, the tractor is likely to freewheel.

The buttons on top look exactly like the freewheel 'pistons' on my Allis-Chalmers 416H - depress both to engage the freewheel; it has a little assembly to lock the two pistons down when you want to push it around the garage.
On your tractor, are these somehow depressed or released by sitting on the seat, so you can't drive the tractor unless you're in the seat?

 

[2manyrocks]

I couldn't do a decent job of explaining the hydro control which is essentially the control arm on the side of the hydro. This thread discusses the hydro in detail. There's a slot in the hydro control that becomes elongated and a pin that gets worn down that results in a sloppy control. It manifests itself by the tractor not maintaining speed when going up a hill. Gear driven or Hydro Driven

If you ever think about welding that control slot to get it back to OEM specs, it's important to wrap a wet rag around the shaft that enters the case so the seal doesn't become overheated.

Yours appears to have a rear lift or a portion of it (the cast fitting at the rear of the tractor). I think the control arm to it is missing.

 

[2manyrocks]

Just to clarify, the hydro forward-reverse lever is just under the steering wheel. There's a linkage that goes to the control shaft on the side of the hydro.

Your Cub has an optional rear implement lift as well as having a hydrostatic lift instead of a manual lift. There should be a control linkage down in the frame assembly that goes to the rear lift and the mid mount mower lift. The same lift would also have controlled the lift of the dozer blade, but I can't remember how all that worked. It's been about 20 years since I worked on any of those systems.