Gramps O Is Home
 

Boy I'm stoked. A couple of months ago, my Aunt talked to the fellow who used to own the local IH dealer and mentioned to him I was into Cubs. He told her that he still had my Grandpa's Original that he aquired when Gramps sold his home in the late 70's. We arranged a visit and I got to see the old girl for the first time in 30 some years. I told him if he ever decided to sell, to please call. Yesterday the phone rings, says he's ready to sell, and a deal is struck. After loading the tractor, I thanked him for thinking of me, and he said it was meant to go back to the original family.

Grandpa bought it on May 10, 1961. Serial # 796. Had the recoil starter but gramps had the dealer add the electric start to it.

Bob

Long story short, here she is with my son

That is a great looking Original! I'm sure your grandpa is smiling down on you! Glad it came back to you! :ThumbsUp:

How sweet is that? That is about the coolest thing that could happen to a guy, good for you.
Enjoy your piece of history, must be quite the feeling using your grandad's tractor?
Have fun, and pass it on down.

Great story and great looking low number Original!:beerchug:

That was meant to be ......she looks to be in great shape :beerchug:

Wow!! What a great story and an awesome looking cub, with fender option and all!! Sit in that seat with pride!!! Congratulations on acquiring your grandpa's cub.....makes me wish I had my dad's first one.

Cub Cadet 123

Great looking "O" you have there. Lucky for you Gramps had good taste in tractors. That should remain in the family and be babied from now on. Take good care of her.
CaptMax
:American Flag 1:

No restoration needed, has a great story behind it, and it found its way back home. Doesn't get any better than that here in tractorland.

:beerchug:

That is like the find of the century. How sweet getting your Gramps old tractor and to have it a 3 digit O . On top of that it is in fabulous shape for not ever being restored. The pull starter is a pretty rare bird also. :beerchug:

Man that is so awesome it found it's way back to your family after all of these years. So many great things to say about it but back home sums it up best! Awesome threee digit on top of everything!

Awesome story and great looking 3 digit O!!:beerchug:

Thanks guys. I haven't really had a chance to get to it yet, been too hot. It sat for a couple of years, so a good cleaning, carb rebuild, fluid changes, etc. are in order. The old magneto ignition still seems to throw a pretty good spark,( just ask my son), so it shouldn't take much to get it running.
It sat on the showroom floor of the IH dealer for over twenty years, till they closed up and the owner brought it home in 2001. They did some quick touchup paint here and there before they put it on display, but it's pretty much original. Other than going through the steering column, which has some play, right now I don't plan on restoring it, maybe a future retirement project. Plus my son went in on the deal with me, it's going to stay in the family.

Bob

Bob,
I own 76X and it's a pull start also. Not as nice of shape as yours. What dealer did it come from? Mine came from Quackertown area.

Bob when they look that good you don't restore them you show them!:biggrin2:

Yeah, it looks great and too much history you wouldn't want to sand off.

Show it off some and use it some.

:)

Awesome story and congrats on bringing home a piece of family history. :beerchug:

The Cubs that were in your family are good ones to have.
I wouldn't change a thing on it.
I have a 70 thats been in my Wife's family since it was new.

Is the pull start is still there? The 2nd, 3rd and 5th pictures show parts of the pull start.

Merk, pull start is still there and works fine. Having the electric start added to it early on probably saved a lot of wear and tear on it. The Delco S/G has a date tag of 5-8-61 so it's an early one with the oil cups. The only thing missing is the engine ID plate. I suspect the IH dealers employees removed it when they cleaned and touched up the motor many years ago. Finding the correct pull start data plate is gonna be tough.
It was bought at a dealer here in Manhattan, Il. , Consumers Hardware and Auto. They were a combination Chevrolet, IH dealer along with a hardware store. They had a showroom with space for about two cars and I remember they always had a Cub or two for sale in the corner in the 60's. My Dad bought our 102 there also.
I also got the original mower deck with it that's in pretty good shape, minus a few dings, but the old girls working days are pretty much over.

Bob

My kind of store to go to.

Looks like it's still running the magnito ingition.

Great story. Glad it's back in your family!

Someone bought my late Grandpa's Farmall Cub a few years back and unfortunately, I had no idea Grandma was selling it! I wish I could find the current owner and try to get it back.

Thanks for the pics!

That's really cool. Small world, too....I just had dinner at the Manhattan Family Restaurant this evening.

thats a great and very clean looking O nice pull start and 3 digit

Very nice!! Awesome to hear the O is back in the family.

Best story of the day. Very cool ! :beerchug:

great story, you and the O must be happy.

Great story man, thats a really nice Original.

That is awesome. Looks like something my dad would own. Old and still looks great. His 400 jd he sold about 5 years back had awesome paint on it after being used daily since New.

Really nice story. Great looking O. Congratulations.

Best story of July 2011 maybe.

brjr51, I think you better go see you're aunt and give her the biggest and longest hug you could ever give her! And then, do it again!!!

What a happy story...congrats!!!!

:biggrin2:

That is a pretty neat story. Anymore I be sure to check the original post dates cause there are alot of old threads from years ago brought to the forefront lately..............

Wow, hard to believe its been almost two years. After getting the old girl home, she got a good scrubbing, fluids change, tuneup, carb rebuild, steering box rebuild, and went through the clutch/driveshaft with all new bushings and bearings. The Cub is now on light duty around here, pulling a lawn sweeper and yard cart work. As a bonus, my first grandson was born last month so I'll make sure the fifth generation gets to use her.

Bob

It's all Cubcadet's fault. He's mining the archives. I guess it's a way of reminiscing...I like it! I wouldn't otherwise see these gems.

Yes I had missed this too. I also like to see these old threads.
And that is a great story on the O coming back to the family!
Have fun with it and take the grand child for their first ride!
Regards,
Chris

my fault:biggrin2:i just saw it and though it was cool