View attachment 71481Years ago I bought a Cub from my friend who had actually used it on his farm. As his operation grew, he parked the tractor in favor of newer and bigger machines. It sat for years. Eventually the motor locked up from rain getting down the exhaust. I bought it in that condition but was never able to do anything with it. I didn't have a truck or trailer to get it back home, and he was over an hour away so working on it was a difficult proposition as it still sat outdoors where it was parked. He sold it again to someone local and I got my money back. I didn't especially like that style, it being one of the square hood numbers with the yellow and white paint. Quite a few years and a few more tractors later, another deal came along. This one was a red 1947 model, parked for at least ten years. Magneto. I'm a little phobic about magnetos, prefer a distributor with a good old coil. I relate better to that. The motor was in good shape, but I was never able to get the ignition to fire. It had some other issues I won't go into, just to keep this a little less wordy. I sold it quickly after buying a few parts and seeing that I was headed down a "rabbit hole" of repairs. I got my money out of it and enough to buy an electric winch for my car-hauler. Recently another red one came up for sale. I made an offer and by some miracle they accepted. I was ready. I had my trailer with new winch hooked up, and headed over. Their driveway, in a suburb of Washington, DC, was like threading a needle. And no I am not expert at backing a trailer. But it all went well. They guided me in, and I didn't run over any mailboxes or plow down their prized rose bushes or anything like that. Slow and steady was the key.
This tractor was a prize.
I thought I'd gotten over any feelings of awe or joy inspired by old iron, but this Cub brought it all back--ripping away layers of cynicism and world-weariness and replacing them with the little-kid joy of a new toy on Christmas morning. What a tractor! Almost new rubber on the rear, chains and weights, front blade or belly plow, and--most unusual--a belly flail mower that was mounted on it. Yes, flail mower. Never seen one on a Cub, and I don't know that they're that common. Original patina all around, the tractor had not been molested with cans of spray paint or shortcut fixes. In fact, it was very well maintained.
I checked compression when I got home. Good across all cylinders. Filled the cooling system. No leaks. Checked spark which was good on all cylinders. Didn't fire, or even try, which was a mystery since it was in such good shape. Had fuel and spark. It was an issue with the timing and it took me a little bit to figure it out but once I got it right it fired up like that's what it had been waiting for for almost twenty years. I drove it around for the first time yesterday. Even tried the flal mower, but my grass was too short.
The photo shows it without the grill because I was so eager to get it going and take it for a spin. I'll put the grill back on next couple of days. Great tractor!
Gerrit
...... little warning, Cubs are additive and they tend to multiply
