Tractor Stories

Today I got out to my Tractor Building and put 90 weight gear oil in the two reservoirs near the rear wheels. Previously I made a simple device with a funnel and a large diameter piece of clear plastic tubing to facilitate getting the gear oil around the 90 degree angle of the plug and into the tractor. It surely makes the job less messy. Each half moon reservoir takes 1 ¾ pints of gear oil so that is nearly half a gallon. A long handled half inch wrench removes the plug quickly since the plug has a half inch square indent for just that purpose. I had already removed the hitch to get the half moon parts off and the left plug can only be accessed with the hitch off the Cub. Once the plugs were back on I put the step back on too then cleaned up the tools and wiped the few spills. Oh, it was below sixty degrees this morning so quite cool and the gear oil flowed pretty slowly. That is viscous stuff!   Tractor Boy

I went out to my Tractor Building and checked the gaskets on the half moon covers and found the seal is just fine. I do think the one on the new made gasket has a better sticking, but the other is on there good too. I will put the silicon on the top part of the gaskets this afternoon and put them back on the Cub. Then on Monday I can add the gear oil and hopefully have that part fixed. I still need to drain the radiator and put in some chemicals to flush the cooling system. No way of telling whether that has ever been done. The Cub will be 60 in mid January.   I bought some implements from a guy in Kinmundy, Illinois. I got a single point hitch for the rear of the tractor and then a plow and a carrier. The carrier is a box that attaches by the single point hook. The plow also hooks by a single hook. I decided to let the disc go as I cannot haul it back this trip. I still have my incomplete standard disc plow. I have been unable to find parts so far and may just make them. How...

The gaskets I made for the Cub rear end which hold 90 weight gear oil were leaking. I decided to go ahead and remove the half moon gear cover and put some silicon grease on both sides of the home made gasket. This is the right side gasket and I tore it while removing it. I used rubber cement to attach the gasket the first time. After making a new gasket today I used an automotive (or tractor) silicon sealer. Tomorrow after it has dried I will cut out the center part and apply the silicon to the top side then reassemble to the tractor. After that the left side will be fixed. Once the silicon has had twenty-four hours to cure the 90 weight gear oil will be replaced and I hope all will be well. If this does not actually solve the leak then I may go to cork which was the original gasket material instead of the rubberized fiber material I used. Yes, I could buy replacement gaskets; however, I can make them too.   It has become cooler so it is easy to get out there in my Tractor Bu...

The fire is out! Today I decided to use a propane torch to solder the overflow pipe onto the neck of the radiator. Soon smoke was coming from the neck followed by flames; however, the solder was not going where I wanted it to. Using a trick I learned from watching my father handle a carburetor backfire in his automobile, I put my gloved hand over the neck of the radiator and stopped the flames by reducing the oxygen to the flames. Then I started up the Cub and drove it back into the Tractor Building where I used JB Weld to fasten the overflow pipe to the radiator neck. Starting was a real challenge until I finally remembered to pull out the ignition switch. Once I did that it started right up and I used the choke to adjust the fuel until it was running smoothly. Maybe I need a check list to remember the ignition switch. The 8 inch step arrived today and I quickly figured out how to attach it. It does indeed make it easier to mount to the platform than it is to step that 8 inches hi...

I took my granddaughter, Aleia with me to the tractor show in Temple Texas. It is held the first weekend in October each year. I saw many Farmall tractors as well as John Deere. There were oldies like the huge Case and the Oil Pull. There were more rare ones like the BF Avery. Watching the tractors drive by and hearing their engines was wonderful. Aleia wore out after an hour which was maybe one fourth of the sights to be seen so we went home. Still, it was a good day! I got to see some cultivators on Cubs. There was what looked like a reducer on one Cub PTO. The Cub PTO is opposite all others in rotation and revolves at 1800 RPM instead of 540 RPM.   Tractor Boy

This evening at twilight I opened the doors to the Tractor Building. The Cub started right away and with a little adjusting of the carburetor and throttle it warmed enough to keep running (on the third try) so I backed out of the building. I took a few pictures of the tractor as it ran. Among them is a good picture of the carburetor showing the choke on the left and the idle adjustment on the top right. Even more important is the one showing the oil pressure gauge with its pointer to the far right. Seems like plenty of oil pressure. Actually it is enough that it forced a bit of oil around the copper washer on top of the oil filter case. Another important picture shows the ammeter indicating the generator is charging the battery. Note that the generator and light switch is set on H for “high charge”. When set on L “low charge” it was not noticeably charging at the particular engine speed. The other three pictures show the running Cub (engine is running, anyway)....

Last Sunday afternoon, just before going off on my last TDY trip as an Army officer, I decided to adjust the carburetor on the ’49 Cub. The manual states it to be a simple job. Just turn the adjustment to one revolution, run the engine until it is warmed up, retract the throttle and then turn the adjustment either in or out until the Cub engine runs smoothly. Advance and retract the throttle to check the adjustment. Simple; however, the engine died and was difficult to start. Once again I had forgotten to pull on the ignition switch. Finally, after fiddling with the adjustment a while and getting the engine to stay running, I drove the tractor into my Tractor building and shut it down. I was quite concerned that I was going to have to push the Cub into its parking place which is difficult to do. Usually I use the 8N Ford to push the Cub into the building. Fortunately I did not have to.   Today, a week later, I had charged the battery, tightened the negative cable on the...