It is definitely aluminum. The person i picked up this 149 from was definitely a "Cub Cadet guy" that admitted he just didn't have the time anymore. In fact, i counted at least three other 60-70's IH Cub Cadet GT's while i was there, one of them was in a shop and looked like it was off the showroom floor. It is possible that this machine might have been victim to a parts swapping. When i started pulling the engine at home i kept looking for a starter only to check photos and realize that it uses a starter/generator, which was not present...but he says i can swing by and pick one up from him (allegedly).

It was obvious to me that the pan had been rremoved once already and it's also very possible that some grade 2 junk bolts were used when mounting. About 70% of the engine serial number tag is missing, i am going to try and run what's left to varify that it is even the appropriate engine (appears correct though).

I did download the .pdf from this site on the engine and i will at least measure the the crankshaft journal before i try and run it. The rod seems to slide lateral/horizontal along the journal a little too easy, but i also admittedly know next to nothing about small engines and this might be normal. I also found the oil slinger to be marred and the bits from the marred slinger were found on the bottom of the pan, how that could have happened i really don't know. It turns over very smoothly, has compression, and i visually ensured the valves are doing what they are supposed to do.

That is normal for the rod to slide on the crank easily. If it didn't, the engine would seize. If there are chunks of the dipper missing, DO NOT run the engine. If that breaks off it will ruin your day. You are going to need a new rod before you try to run it.

There was no significant structual damage done to it, no way it will break, but i do wonder how in the world it became marred up, i will post a photo later today sometime to get some opinions.

Each ding on it is a place for a fatigue crack to start that will eventually cause the dipper to break off. Aluminum develops fatigue cracks very easily. Any structural damage to a connecting rod is significant. Even when I install a new rod, I usually go so far as to carefully file/sand any sharp edges before I install it.

Also, like you said, it would be a good idea to figure out how the rod got all dinged up. Something had to cause that, and hopefully your pictures will show it.

Is the balance gears still in the motor? My 149 had a snap ring come off the balance gear causing the gear to come the shaft. Here is what the oil slinger looks like:
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...149/motor6.jpg
This is what I found in the oil pan:
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...49/Motor-5.jpg

Those are your balance gears... :(

Everything appears to be as it should, meaning nothing is obviosuly broken. I have been turning it over rapidly by hand and all seems well.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...IMG_4325sm.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...IMG_4322sm.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...IMG_4328sm.jpg

There's blue RTV all over the gasket surface, so someone was probably in there before you got it. Perhaps they removed whatever was hitting the rod. Try to wiggle the balance gears with your fingers; if they wobble, I would either replace the bearings in them or remove them altogether. That rod needs to be replaced. That is a failure waiting to happen.

Yeah, i had mentioned in my reply to you earlier that it was obvious someone had already been in the motor and that possibly a cast iron pan was swapped out.

I am glad you brought up the balance gears...i did notice that the lower gears wobbles a ridiculous amount and the upper gears wobbles too, just not as badly. Honestly, it wobbles so bad that i assumed it had to what it was supposed to do, but that pretty much flies in the face of any other engine allowances. I just took a quick video, click below...i am guessing this pretty bad, huh?

EDIT: I just did about ten minutes of reading on the balance gears, quite strange. They will certainly be coming out. If the bearings are destroyed in the balance gears this badly, it leads me further down the road wondering if a full rebuild will be in order.


http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...GearWobble.jpg

I used to have a 1650, and when I pulled the pan to change a leaky gasket, I found balance gears that were just as wobbly as those. The bearings in them have an extremely hard life. In my case, the rest of the engine was in excellent condition and needed no other work.

It's possible one or more of the rollers from the bearing came out and was floating around in the oil and hitting the dipper. Those were probably small enough to just drain out with the oil during an oil change.