getting more speed

[Robert12345]

i have a 52 cub , i want to join my clubs tractor runs but they want you to be able to run at least 10 miles an hour, is there a gear change that can be made to a cub transmission that can get me another 4 or 5 mph. my top speed now is 8.5 mph

 

[rustred]

crank up the governor. go with bigger tires.

 

[560Dennis]

Make sure the you take out all the end play in the steering , ten miles an doesnt sound like much till it flips!

 

[redforlife]

I kind of don't get a club rule like that.

They drive on public roadways for the cruise, right? And anyone can drive on the public roadway as long as it is not lawfully forbidden for a farm vehicle to go less than 10 mph on the roadway, right?

I know the club has this rule so somebody don't become a nuisance to the cruise. Holding up the paticipatants trailing, and forcing them to pass and go around.

Only a 1.5 mph under thier 10 mile an hour minimum rule? I think I'd just go, and make sure that I was the last tractor in the line up at the starting point, as to not be bothersome to anybody else in the cruise. If the club has some sort of pilot vehicle at the rear, I'd just go behind that even. Tell them you'll just be driving separately (on your own). But will be coming along behind the whole deal independently (this may exclude you from any insurance the club might have).

The only downside is, you'll pretty much be alone and driving by yourself shortly after the start. Especially if there is no 10, 11, or 12 mph top speed tractors in the cruise. If they are all going 15 to 20 mph or over, they will leave you in the dust and just be out of site pretty quickly. Technically, you kind of won't be grouped together with them at that point anyways. You'll be an independent traveler as mentioned above. And of course, you will come in late at the finish point. I'm sure your club won't wait on ya to have a beer, or eat a hot dog or whatever.

What are they gonna do? Take your birthday away from ya when you get there?? As long as you stay plum at the rear, especially at the beginning and behind any trailing vehicle that they might have as the club, you be alright.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

(quoted from post at 09:08:23 02/16/23) i have a 52 cub , i want to join my clubs tractor runs but they want you to be able to run at least 10 miles an hour, is there a gear change that can be made to a cub transmission that can get me another 4 or 5 mph. my top speed now is 8.5 mph

There is no gear change.

Most people who have driven Cubs, myself included, will agree that a Cub in 3rd wide open is scary enough, and 10MPH or more would be absolutely insane. That's even with good tight steering.

Also consider that most Cubs can't pull much of a hill in 3rd as it is as they tend to be pretty tired and down on power, and it's difficult to justify a full overhaul financially. Gearing it higher would make that worse.

A C or Super C will do 10MPH, pull all but the steepest hills in 4th, isn't much bigger than a Cub, and is a lot more stable on the road.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Sounds like a good time to get an H or M for this. Granted they can't enforce the speed though it does get a bit tiring to always be waiting on one tractor or 2 that are way behind or going back to check they are alright. The drive over the bridge in Mi has a requirement of minimum of 10 MPH by the bridge authority some don't care and it gets a lot of bad feed back about it to the point I think a few have been not allowed back another year. Don't quote me on that but have heard that in the past.

 

[the tractor vet]

Nope , from the fly wheel back to the ring and pinion it is 1to 1 in third gear at the ring and pinion it starts the gear reduction then more in the finial drives . And like others stated third on a cub is fast enough . I had a Cub way back and drove it all over for jobs i did with it and third was fast enough to get me where i needed to go. If ya want Speed then well jump up to a 460-560 put 16.9x38 tires on the back and bring the engine RPM up to 24-3000 RPM NOW ya ya got SPEED , i will not tell you just how fast a 460 gas will go at over 5000RPM BTDT . or stuff a 390 Ford V8 into a oliver super 88 and run down the road at 5000RPM . Just remember to add a chin strap to your hat and some good sunglasses. Years back every year when my two girls were in Girl Scouts every year they made up floats for the big bash here intown 's peraide and every year we used my S/MAT and my Accountant's john Deere 530 . First year the girls did the wagons up out at the shop some 7 miles out of town . Dummy me hauled the two tractors in and then went back out to pull the wagons in with my truck , bad mistake even at 35 MPH with the added wind of Mother nature i about destroyed there handy work and had to rebuild and hour before we were to line up out on the east end. . after that the girls did the wagons up here at the house in the back yard and i hauled the tractors in and back . all but one year when we drove the tractors back My one friend was driving the Deere and when we left the last light in town i took off with the MTA and with the big tires and a few more RPM's then stock she will run around 28 MPH I never looked back and when i got to the shop the Deere was nowhere around . I had visions of it drop kicking him and he was DOA along side the road someplace and went looking for him , Nope he was still coming at a turtle pace of under 15 MPH . Now as to the OIL ALL OVER 88 with the 390 that one i was stopped by a state cop for EXCEEDING the SMV speed limit as he did not think it was funny while pulling two gravity boxes full of ear corn down the highway at 52 MPH , hey the wagons pulled straight so why not .

 

[Stuart]

Big deal. I have a farmall A with stock rotating assembly that does 32 mph. What are you scared of????

 

[DaveBN]

A member of our club replaced the original Cub engine with one from a Cub 184. That engine has a higher rpm governor. He keeps up fine now and has no driveability of steering issues.
Dave

 

[the tractor vet]

Ya can make a as i call them a SUPER CUB , by changing piston, heads carb and redoing the gov. as i have done a couple over the years , first one was for a friend's brother who was complaining that he was lacking power to ru his 60 inch woods mower in first gear . Well when done what he had trouble doing in first he was now doing in second with no lack of pony power. Dump the cast iron pistons put the 184-185 head on add the 185 carb and bump up RPM's

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Yep, all it takes is MONEY. Anything is possible when you throw thousands of dollars at it.

A basic overhaul of a Cub engine is well over $2000 these days with the parts and machine work. That's standard parts, not the special sooper-dooper 184 parts that are hard to come by.

That doesn't even fix the tractor for high-speed operation. Most Cubs these days have a third of a turn in the steering wheel before the front wheels even twitch, so you gotta fix that or you'll be in the ditch before you can blink at 10MPH.

Where there's a will and a bank account to back it up, there's a way.

 

[ss55]

Talk to the other club members about the rules and how their tractor rides actually work out once they are on the road. Some run a slow group (10 MPH) and a fast group. Maybe try riding along with another driver for your first ride. Some clubs stay together in a pack for the whole trip, while other club rides turn into free-for-all race home after the meal, irking both the slower club members and the other motorists on the road.

You don't want to invest a lot of money into upgrading your tractor and then still be that guy who shows up with an extra slow tractor and expects everyone else to slow down for him. There could be a lot of grumbling and hard feelings if you don't do your homework.

 

[Robert12345]

thanks for all the input sounds like many in runs like to go fast and resent the slow guy , ill be looking for a tractor with a 4th gear or join a cub club if there are clubs with only cubs or tractors with speeds like cubs. i actually like going slow and enjoying the scenery.

 

[gene bender]

JUST play with the gov till you get the speed you want but better set the wheels out those Cubs arent realy meant to go fast. I have three of them and 3rd is fast enough unless the wheels would be set out

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

(quoted from post at 18:49:07 02/22/23) thanks for all the input sounds like many in runs like to go fast and resent the slow guy , ill be looking for a tractor with a 4th gear or join a cub club if there are clubs with only cubs or tractors with speeds like cubs. i actually like going slow and enjoying the scenery.

If it were just "every man for himself" you'd just go at the back of the pack and when you get there you get there.

On these organized tractor rides, there's more to it than just jumping on a tractor and going down the road. A big line of tractors will make a very noticeable impediment to normal traffic, and you don't want that to be a surprise to the town(s) you're traveling through. They may want you to have police escort, or some sort of escort, and the riders have to be accommodating to those escorts.