New cub owner... Questions on issues I am finding

Hi all... New Cub owner here. ALways loved these tractors, finally own one. Bought one that the previous owner made "purty" but I think it has some mechanical issues. I think he focused manily on the cosmetics (it sure is sweet looking) but didnt do much in the mechanicals from what I can see.

Mind you he put in all new wiring, genrator, magneto, tires, paint all sandbalsted, etc and the like. Its the engine and tranny I think he didnt dig too far into when he "restored" it.

OK.. my problems to date:

first off, transmission. I know they can be noisy. Some are, some arent from on line videos I have heard of tractors running... Mine is slightly noisy in first, a little more in second, hardly anything in third. No problem there. I can live with that.. as long as its solid...However, today, it "jammed" between gears. Could NOT move it. Took off the 6 bolts off of the shifter and top cover and using a flat blade screw driver, pulled the gears back to neutral, and put the shifter back on. Been OK since, BUT, whats causing this? Bad shifter forks perhaps? If so, can I buy a new unit to replace this one?

Or are there deeper internal issues I should be concerned with? All looked good inside the tranny case., Nothing looks damaged or broken either.Gears all slid nicley on the shafts with no binding, etc. Again, could it be the shifter tower worn out or something like this?

Second.. The clutch pedal doesnt want to return all the way up easily. Its like its binding, or needs greasing. Pushing in the clutch and then letting off the pedal, the pedal is slow to come back up after letting foot pressure off...I took off the bottom inspection cover and greased the Throw out bearing collar (it has a simple grease fitting) Didnt change anything. Even squirted some lithium gerease on the shaft. Nothing changed..How to loosen this up so it returns all the way up?

Is there something else I should be looking for top make this return better?

Lastly...power. I know these old tractors dont have gobs of power to begin with. BUT, it seems like it wants to stall when letting off the clutch in third gear. Gotta really ride that clutch so it dont stall.

The motor seesm to be in tune. I checked the plugs, all gapped properly. Seems to purr nicely, but no real power.

NOW. Ill admit this. the motor does smoke some. Not all that bad. I changed out the oil once I got it home for some rotella T and this seemed to lessen the blue smoke by quite a lot. Still, it smokes some.. Could the fact that this engine smokes be a big contributor to loss of power? I know that blue smoke is a sign of worn rings or valves or other issues. BUT, could this be a really big contributor to loss of power? Would a re-ring bring back my power so this tractor can push a plow (the reason I bought it to begin with, to grade my gravel driveway)

Any and all input deeply appreciated.

I have a 54 and a 55 and the trans in the 55 is noisy. I had it stick like that one time and don't know why. I drained the trans of 90 weight and put in the correct amount of "ATF" and ran it for a few hours "driving it around".

I then drained the "ATF" it cleaned it out nice.I replaced the 90 weight with 90 weight full syn Royal Purple oil. Wow does it shift nice no matter the temp out side.

The sticky clutch maybe just lack of use.

As far as power goes do a compression check and see what you have.
You can rering the motor with out taking it out if that's all that is wrong.

I have cut the heads on my 54 and 55 raising the compression ratio.

I cut .060 of the 55 and it runs strong. I then did the 54 and cut .100 and it also runs strong with no heating or fuel issues.

Also check the wide open rpm just to make sure the governor is set correct. I turned up both tractors another 150 rpm to the more modern specs of the 185s [same motor].

Use a timing light with a tach in it.


If you rebuild the carb buy the dealer [I.H] kit. I have tried several of the after market kits and they "suck" , yet theres people who sware by them. They may cost more but it lasted how many decades , you pay for quality.

When you get by all the problems you will find alot of odd jobs for that little tractor.

I also have a fully restored W-6 and Super M and the cubs get used 10 to 1.

Congrats you will love it .

Jim

The Cub's a NICE little tractor. Others with more experience with them will chime in with advice specific to them, especially with the issue with the shifter.

But . . . about your gears. A change of tranny oil will help to quiet them down some, but if second is noisier than first, that may be a clue that that's where it was used most. As long as it gets along okay, a touch of something between a groan and a howl is not cause for alarm and, to some extent to be expected from a tractor that saw a lot of work in its day.

As far as that third gear . . . First and second are close together for gear ratios. They're its working gears. It's not as pronounced on a Cub as on the bigger Farmalls, but the highest gear is basically a road gear. On the Cub, it delivers more than twice the speed over the ground as second. Road gears are notorious clutch eaters. Usually not a problem because they don't get used a lot, but they do require some SERIOUS featherin' in, even with low engine speeds. You do want to be above low idle but not much to start off in it. Too quick on slipping the clutch in the road gear and too low on engine speed, and you can drag under even a good-runnin' motor. Fixin' that by starting from a higher engine speed and you can be poppin' wheelies (undesirable!). Most Farmall folks have a hair-raisin' road gear story to share.

Before the night is out somebody is going to suggest getting a manual. Not a bad idea. The first one to get is the Owner's Manual. It will cover basic operation and basic maintenance. As it happens, it's also better than the srvice manual for things like setting clutch freeplay, which may or may not be a factor in your slow pedal return. From there, the Service Manual would be the next one to get, which will be a help if you have to break things down to fix the clutch or anything else.

Good luck, have fun and be safe with it.

for info farmallcub.com
for new parts external_link
for used parts ralphscubs.com

adjust the valves to the proper setting, probably way too tight
3 1/2 pints HY-TRAN or 80-90 wt gear oil in the trans, probably get a lot more out due to water in the trans
change oil in the air cleaner, use same as in the crankcase
pour half can of seafoam in the oil, balance in the fuel tank
manuals on line look at farmallcub.com, use them until you get yours

good luck
Ron

well thank you both for those quick and in depth replies! Much appreciated. I think for the tranny, Ill try the synthetic route as well. I remember an old Military Dodge I had with a rebuilt rear diff.... It was so hot after a short ride I was scared. SOmeone suggested the sythetic 90 weight, and by golly, that case temp went down I just couldnt beleive a simple change in oil would change it like that!!

Maybe it will help in my tractors tranny too.

Let me run this by you all....I am running a thicker Rotella oil as well in the engine, to try and reduce as much oil blow by as I can for now... I am running 15w-40...

Could this be part of the issue of lack of power Anyone think so? A heavier oil like a 15w-40 be the reason for less power in an engine?

I may try and go back to a straight 30 weight oil... the previuos owner thought marvels mystery oil might loosen up the stuck rings. It smoked like the devil! When I first got the tractor home, I drained and replaced the marvels contaminted oil with new rotella straight 30 weight oil, and it really stopped a lot of the smoke. To a point where only when the engine was "goosed' would i see smoke. Before, it smoked at all speeds.

The 30 weight worked. But I still had a little blow by, hence my reason to step up to the thicker 15w-40... Maybe it was a bad choice.

Anyway, hopefully I can work through all these issues soon so I can put her to work.

i owned a cub for nearly two years, before i traded for a bigger one, For the stuck rings what i would do is, take a can of seafoam and put half in the oil and put some threw the intake of the carb untill the tractor stalls out, but the rest int he gas tank, walk away for about a half hour or so and come back and start it up ( it wll smoke ALOT so do it outside) this cleans alot of the carbon out and may help with the stuck rings.

The noise in 2nd and first is normal, nothing to worry about there, 1st and 2nd are the working gears.

The clutch pedal always seems to get sticky in colder temps but eventually gets better as the tractor warms up, for now just pull it up with your foot, it may get worn in a little and might ahve been a lack of use

For engine oil, what temps are you running the tractor at? That is pretty thick stuff to be in the engine IMO i would go to a 15w30 personally but thats just me,

If the rings dont un stick with sea foam, pull the hood off and spray some pb blaster down into the cylinders and let it sit overnight or a couple days when your not using it, no big deal

the shifter rail may have a hairline crack or the shifter rod may need some building up. farmallcub.com is a good site for info and parts.

How much wear does the pin the shifter pivots on . Cleanand lube the moving parts on the clutch linkage install a better return spring. Probably need some new bearings on the shafts in the tranny.

Looks like the guys have covered things pretty well. On the clutch pedal issue - make sure the return spring is still attached under the platform and lube the pivot shaft on the pedal where it enters the torque tube.

Is that little finger still on the inside trans cover or broke off? And for power and 3rd gear takeoff, you only got about 10 hp.