First post...my 2172 with narrow frame grille shell.
 

I got a great deal on a good mechanically 2182 but it had the usual broken plastic parts. I had a few odd grills laying around, a 122 style, a 125 style and a 129 style grilles. The 122 and 125 grilles would work with little modification and clear the PTO, the 129 was a couple inches higher if I remember and would need more modification to fit.
I just made a couple of brackets to fit the frame, modified the coil mount a little to clear, and bent a hood to fit it.
Been using it since last Fall this way, I'll probably get it stripped & painted later this Fall or Winter depending on priorities.
I have since come up with an 1811 with the hood and grille & sidepieces missing. Already mocked up the 122 grille on it.

:Welcome2: Cool mods! :ThumbsUp:

Got my 1811 as a parts machine at an estate auction for very low money, and all it needed was gas and a battery. Runs smooth with no smoke and even the deck is quiet. Might retire it from mowing and put it to FEL duty.

Thanks for the welcome Allen! I have a 100 myself. very reliable workhorse

Anytime, I've been enjoying your work over at MTF. Let's see some pics of your 100. :beerchug:

We need pics of your FEL!

What's a MTF?

Lets see some pics of your other cubs!

:WWP:

WEll, her are some more photos. The 100 has a Kwik-Way FEL and included a PO fabbed fork I use more than the bucket. It also has creeper and implement lift. Pretty good for $1000 off CL, got a clean identical loader for a Massey garden tractor a couple weeks ago for $300, just need to fab cub mounts if I decide to go that way with it..then I will have an extra loader..probably just sell the worst parts & keep the best. My 100's loader developed a couple small leaks. The new on is dry.
Came up with the IH trailer at a consignment auction with no tires on the rims and surface rust. Haven't put the decals on yet, but have them.
What do you do when the 1440 cub you bought for $75 turns out to have a fine 16hp vanguard when the locked up and spinning PTO clutch hitting sheetmetal has everyone thinking the engine is blown?
Why, you shorten the frame and stick it into the Cushman electric cart you bought for $20 and then sold the junk batteries for a $10 profit.
Only golf cart around you can put a 3 point on.

Great pics, thanks for sharing them! :beerchug:

Duke, MTF is the My Tractor Forum site. :biggrin2:

AWESOME FEL pics! I've got the same FEL on my sons 125. IT used to be on a 100 but Allen sloved that problem for me.:biggrin2:

Only forum I know is OCC!

Great to see you over here BC. Not used to seeing your name without the Attorney in front of it. Over on MTF, im Mowinman2, but im still David in NC. Nice 100 with the loader btw. One day, Ill come across another great deal on a FEL and Duke wont get before I do.

Well, I didn't feel like posting with Attorney in my ID since that has more than a hint of lawyer to it and that incident was back in 2000 on Ebay. I tried posting as ABC but when I tried to register it, it came back as a spammer.
Barnabas Collins was as close as I could get, though I'm no more a 400yo vampire than I am an Attorney.

Either way, glad to have you here! :Welcome2:

That will teach you to pass on a FEL! I think Todd has learned that leason as well!:biggrin2:

Nice pics and mods thanks for sharing!!

Barnabas Collins
Nice Cubs :ThumbsUp:
Love the narrow frame grill on the 2172 :beerchug:

Me too! :beerchug:

First of all, welcome. Second I would like to see some of the build on that cart.
I have a gas powered one that looks just like that.:beerchug:

I'd love to see a close up of the brackets you made to put the grill in with, I'm in the same boat, I have a 1782 with just about all the plastic front end cracked. and how did you modifiy the hood? and more pictures of the cub golfcart as well. I have a broken cart, your setup up looks like just the ticket! thanks.

They look great! I'm hoping to get started on my FEL this winter.

custom
 

Why didn't I think of that ?

Cadet Farmer

Ok, here are some pictures I just took. You know how things always look better in photos? And you guys probably think I labored for days over this. After I show what I did you will all be a little disappointed with my work.

I was going to look for some thick metal to cut down for brackets, but I had 2 odd 1/4" thick round circles in my pile from who knows where. The grill fit fine just riding on top of the front frame crosspiece, so I just cut off the bottom of the battery holder frame and put the 2 circles on the front frame corners where the grille support used to bolt and bolted the circles on with their two bolts. Then I marked where the narrow frame grille sat and marked its 4 holes, then drilled each side for the 4 mounting holes, and welded the battery holder frame to the circles. It was embarassingly easy. Of course if it isn't a super with a radiator, the battery will be mounted elsewhere and it's easier yet.
I didn't have to cut where the battery mounts, but the 125 grille leans back into the battery space and I had to use one of those odd narrower batterys..which I had laying around after parting out a cub loboy awhile back.
Now that I had the grille mounted solid, I just trimmed the damaged side panels to the same angle as the grille slopes and still leave the seal to the radiator shroud alone.
All I needed was a hood, and I just took posterboard and used it for a pattern after i got it trimmed. I used WAY too heavy of metal for the hood, and the thing was fine until I tried to bolt it on, and realized it was too narrow after bending it around the grille shell...so I had to unbend it and rebend it further out which sort of messed it up. Nothing bondo and white paint wouldn't fix, but it just has to lay there and replace a piece of plastic. A much lighter and easier to bend guage would have worked out better. I'm putting a 122 grille on a 1811 later on that I already mocked up. Going to rebend the original hood on that one and cut it off in front. That style hood makes multiple curved bulges as it clears the underhood tank, making it harder to fab from sheetmetal than the cyclops style... my .02 anyway.
The black grille insert is some odd piece of scrap I bought at an auction..round holes in 1/4" thick steel! I call it my 55mph grille. I figured I had enough for 3 cub grilles, I cut this one out with sawzall blades and I'm still saving the rest...somewhere. The headlight door was also fabbed and I never hooked the bulbs up yet.
You don't want to see the Cart I fabbed from a Cub 1440 frame shortened 12" do you? It wasn't any show piece and I never got the shift linkage working right. Sold it a couple weeks ago..since the post. Do have a ton of photos though.

Nice work, ABC! :beerchug:

That Narrow frame grill mod is awesome! I love the looks! Also love the other stuff you do, that cart is pretty cool! Thanks for sharing!:D

It looks really good, after I saw your first pictures on the new grill I started play around with differant set up, I found a 682 grill is a direct bolt on, so as of right now my 1782 has a 682 grill, still playing with the hood and side covers, thanks for posting the pics and getting me motivated, LOL!!!!!!

Wish I could find a 682 or 782 grille & hood & sides, I have a good 1811 with no front end. Plus, I like that style very much. I don't think any of them were set up for radiators, so I'd have to modify the sides for ventilation on my 2172.
I have also modified my 1782 though this time I moved the grille forward a couple of inches so a regular big battery would fit (the diesel you know). Just made a hood to fit for it the other day out of thinner metal than the 2172. I Folded the last 1/4" on the long sides for strength. Came out better than the other, no filler will be needed on it. I need to finish trimming the rear after I get my side panels cut.
Bought the paint the other day as well for the future, but the weather isn't cooperating.

I believe I'll swap the better deck from the gas onto the diesel cub and sell the gas one later in the Spring. No one guy needs so many good big tractors, and I sure could use the room. Actually at least 3 will go down the road.

Nice job, ABC! Good to see you posting again!

I'm around, but I haven't been doing much Cub work lately. Went to an auction today with a nice 1641 but when they started it, it was only running on 1 cylinder! That took it from reselling to parts tractor, but the other bidders didn't seem to notice or wonder why he also had a newer but less heavy duty White MTD.
Spent $18 and then realized they overcharged me $5 when I got home. Just bought 3 wrenches (great deal at $5..great at $10 too..OLD Bonney 1/2" ratchet, Bonney 3/8-7/16 ratcheting box end, and a very thin long handled USA 1/2" & 9/16" wrench that sold for $5 in very nice shape, but somehow got added up as $10 with my $8 prancing horse TV light I bought just because it was neat)
So not much to actually post about.

Welcome, again ABC! I been taking a break on the cub work myself. Nice to see my MTF buddys here.

Finished the diesel except for paint today. Cut down side panels from a 1864 I parted, then cut and folded the hood to fit them and trimmed the back of the hood. Drilled holes for a 122 hood ornament, primed it and bolted it together.
I'm going to chop up 2 ratty 42" blades to make a 54" and stretch the subframe to fit this if the weather would cooperate.

Top notch job, ABC! I always enjoy your work and pics.

That is great looking. Nice fab work. :beerchug:
Leave it up to Cub guys to figure out how to work around broken plastic. :biggrin2:

:bigeyes::bigeyes:

Cant wait to see the paint on this one! Great fab work!

Same here! Looking forward to your blade too!

I have to agree this is the best forum out there for cub cadets. I have been scanning a few and this will be my home.

The real World keeps interfering with my plans. This week is going to be warmer, but I bought a whole heard of projects from a golf course auction last week (toros, cushman and jacobsen..not a cub in the bunch) and eveluating them has priority, plus I need to do some blade work NOW and will have to use my other 42" to move some dirt. The yard is overflowing so it might be a week or 2 before I get back on this. The oil pressure sender did take off pouring out oil and I got a generic one from NAPA that worked fine. It's always something.

Time to kick the rear world in the knee and get some cub time in! We understand it happens to all of us. Things will clear up for you adn you'll get some more wrenching time in soon.

I REALLY like that new,,,,,,,,er,,,,,,,old,,,,,,er,,,,custom, yeah thats it, that custom tractor.