184 Cub LoBoy

[Anonymous-0]

I have a 184 and it seems a little light on horse power. I had it checked out by local IH guy, everything checked out OK, it's just a week tractor. Any way of squeezing more HP out if it.

 

[RTR]

Keep in mind that it is 18 hp, which is just about max for the C-60 engine having that it originally came in the Cub tractor in 1947 and was designed for 9-10 hp. The 184 is also designed to run at 3/4 to Full Throttle when mowing, etc. If you'll read the owners manual, you'll see what I mean.

Check and adjust your valves, give a good ignition tuneup, and possible carb rebuild. The valve adjustment (or head job worst case), is the best thing you can do to the C-60 engine. You'll be surprised at how much more power you'll get by adjusting the valves. Chances are.....in the 35 years its been around, it's never had them adjusted.

 

[Bermuda Ken]

IH sold the C-60 engine (used in the CUB)to Palmer Marine who marketed it as a 30HP Marine engine. The P.M. engine turned 3000? rpm and it held together.

I highly doubt a CUB driveline could handle a 3000 rpm engine and live very long.

A good tune-up is the first place to start with a 184. A compression test is second.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I had my neighbor who works for IH, mostly on their older tractors, look at when I got it. It had a coolant leak at the top of the block. the tractor was a trailer queen and who ever worked on it didn't seal the head bolts that went into the block. I checked out the block and put sealant on the bolts, compression was good and timing was perfect. The manual has this motor at 11.8 HP. I was wondering if advancing the timing and adjusting the valves tighter would give it a boost.

 

[Old-F20]

its got what its got. I had a 154 with a mower and in tall grass with the deck raised all the way it would really struggle. they simply did not make alot of power. mine luckily had the creeper gear which was a god send if i waited to long to mow. keep it in good tune and live with what you've got

 

[jbp]

Probably one of the first things you can do is to sharpen your mower blades or replace them if badly worn.

I have a 184 that was a church grounds mower for about 20 years before I got it. I rebuilt the engine when I bought it as it had seen hard use. I also have a 223 Grasshopper with a 60 inch deck and the 184 will out mow it in heavy growth.

I doubt there is enough valve room to do much head milling as that engine is a flat head with dome pistons. Joe

 

[Anonymous-0]

The C60 is a rugged little engine from 1947. In the 184, higher RPM, domed pistons and zenith carburetor squeezes a stated 18 hp out of it.
If you think you are short on power, the first step would be a good general tune-up and check valve adjustment. A common cause for low power is low RPM. It is often difficult to get the full 2510 no-load RPM. This can sometimes be caused by a weak or incorrect governor spring. Or, it can be accumulative internal wear in the governor. A couple of times, if the governor is in overall good condition, I have installed a shim washer in the governor to get the specified RPM. Just a couple hundred RPM makes a big difference.
Of course, for mowing, the 184 is a lawn mower and not a bush hog for clearing brush land.
K-Mo
IA

 

[Daniel Robertson]

If you are mowing when you think it could use more HP make sure that the front tips of the mower blades are adjusted so that they are slightly lower (1/4" or so) then the rear of the blades. Don't need to be cutting the grass twice as you move over it. It does make a big difference on these engines.
Dan Robertson

 

[petesponies]

I also have a 184 that runs nice, but no power. I can't get the speed to change at all. I assume it's a governor issue. Is there a good picture or instructions on how the governor comes apart and how everything should function? Thanks