1973 Model 149 Resto/Mod
 

Earlier this year bought my first IH Cub Cadet a 1973 Model 149. Not knowing much about these tractors other than they were made by IH and being disappointed with newr tractors I knew I wanted one. I quickly narrowed it down to a model 149. After a few weeks searching Craigslist I found one about 3 ½ hours north of where I live. It came with a QA42A snow thrower, 38” mower deck, landscape rake, roto tiller and plow blade. Not knowing how frequently they become available in my area I quickly negotiated a deal and drove up to see it. Overall everything appeared to be in good shape for an almost 40 year old tractor so I bought it. Changed out all the fluids and ran it all summer knowing there were some wear and tear items I wanted to get to over the winter. Since we haven’t had any snow yet I figured I would dive in and get started but quickly found myself digging deeper than I planned to go. Not sure how far I will take it but figured I would post my progress and questions as I go.

My goal is to make a like new working lawn/garden tractor. It will not be a show piece and will not be perfect. I don’t plan to rebuild the engine or other major mechanical items that appear to be ok.

So far I have the engine out and front of the tractor off. All small parts, screws, bolts and washers are in zip lock bags and labeled.

I plan to have the frame and rear fenders powder coated and I will powder coat all smaller pieces that can fit in an oven. Probably will not powder coat the rear end this year if at all. Trying to keep the colors as close to original as possible and think I have a close match on both the yellow and white. Waiting on paint chips to see how good the matches are.

Plan to order parts in the next week or two once everything has been removed and I figure what I need as a minimum.

As I attempt to give this old tractor a lease on another 40 years of life I am open to suggestions or advice.

Thanks for looking and the anticipated help and patience

Gee that looks pretty good as it is,looks like a good power wash should clean it up.

gillis51,
Your right into it! Similar to how I started on a 147 in early July. But mine was in much worse shape.
Looks to be a real nice 149 that you have there. Please post some shots of the implements too.
Regards,
Chris

Nice pics! Looking forward to your updates. :ThumbsUp:

re 149
 

I also just finished a simular adventure with my 1972 129 now 128. The powdercoat color I found was "Tractor2" I do not remember the brand name though. (It was one of the big companies,DuPont maybe) Your powdercoater probably has a few catalogs like mine did, and should be able to match by that name. It was about a perfect match. I did not try to match the white because I like the pure bright white color better on the Cub. (I know not origional but I am not one to make something just like it was, I like to build it how I like it) That tractor when you are done will probably go another 35 to 40 years and be rebuilt again!!

Your 149 looks in really nice shape as it is!:beerchug:

I agree but if you plan on going further with it I can't wait for more pics!

Since my last post I have finally picked powder colors I am happy with. Although they are not exact matches to existing they are close enough for me. Also since my last post I bought and plumbed an older 2 stage 80 gallon 5 hp IR compressor to get my media blasting done more efficiently. I hope to find some time to blast and coat some of the smaller parts this weekend.

That's awesome! Looking forward to your progress.

My powder showed up today so I coated my gas tank. Very happy with the color but while cooking the tank all the lead joints started to melt and it made a mess of the tank. I thought lead melted at 600 degrees. My oven and part never went over 400 what happened?

This doesn't sound like a good start to your powder coating process, of which I know less than nothing about. Solder may melt at lower than 600??? Can you save the tank?
Regards,
Chris

60/40 solder melts near 365 degrees F. Sorry!! :RedFace2:

I walked away when I saw what happened. Will probably strip the powder, split the tank, clean everything, mig weld then re-powder. On the bright side I really like the color.

its getting there

Sorry for the set back but at least you like the color! Cant wait to see it done!

It may be a good idea to Kream the inside of the tank after you get done welding and powder coating just to make sure it doesn't leak and it should help it last longer.

In better light the color is missing some of the green hue of the orignal IH white. It looks more like a beige/cream than the original color. Still I think it looks clean and once the whole thing is coated it should look nice.

At best I a hobbiest when it comes to powder coating so the finished product is not going to be perfect.

Lots of other projects going on right now so the tractor will be getting the least amount of attention for the next few months.

The gas tank looks nice!

Thanks, wish it didn't melt though.

A small set back everything else should powdercoat better for ya.

Maybe I missed the training on powder coating are you able to do this yourself at home?
What equip. is needed?
Regards,
Chris

Solder
 

Solder's melting point is all over the map depending on the specific alloy. PROBABLY it's 60/40 tin lead with acid core flux. This melts in the ~375 F range, which is probably why it reflowed.

I'd not TIG the joints... one of the good things about solder is that with capillary action it's actually pulled into the small openings between two surfaces, which is what makes it so suitable for sealing gas tanks. TIG/MIG is not going to do that. I would use a harder solder (95/5 tin/lead -- plumber type) which has a significantly higher reflow temp, and use a real thermometer to measure the oven temp. The dials on ovens are notoriously inaccurate (unless you're using a Blue-M lab type oven) and could well be +/-50-75 F. They're also built with some level of hysteresis , so when they're heating the temp rises above the set point before it shuts off, and sinks BELOW the set point in the cooling phase, before it turns back on in order to keep from toggling the power on and off constantly, while trying to maintain say, a +/- 1F tolerance.

This is good training for when you'll snap a bolt off in the block or other cast iron housing. You'll become acquainted with lots of words you haven't used in polite company in quite some time! :-)

John

PS: Tank looks good!

A powder coating shop told me once when dealing with solder you can bake the parts a few minutes at a time and pull them out to cool and put them back in but there is possability of chipping in the future.

John,
Thanks for the advice, I'll try a harder or silver solder.

Part temp was 400 +/- at a few locations on the tank. Checked with a infra red thermometer.

Finally back at it
 

Its been some time since Ive posted to this thread, my cub project is still alive and moving forward just ever so slowly. As soon as I got everything a part last year I was hit with some work I couldnt refuse then I had to finish my pool. Little to say the Cub as well as my other IH projects sort of took a back seat. By sort of I was able to find a 69 800A Aristocrat which unfortunatly is still sitting in the same place it was off loaded but I have been able to start collecting parts for the resto/mod.

Anyway my plan is to finish my Cub by October 2012. So far I have lots of small parts powder coated, steering rebuilt, lots of new parts, frame, fenders and hood as well as lots of medium size parts are sand blasted and awaiting powder coating.

I tore the rear end as far aprt as I paln to go. The carrier will be cleaned and rattle can painted. The axle tubes were removed and will be poweder coated though.

Question. What is the red coating that looks like heavy paint inside the axle housing and the axle tubes do. When I cook the parts will the heat damage this red coating.

For now some pictures. Hopefully will be adding some more this weekend.

Thanks for the update and pics.

Thanks for getting back into it. Sure is something how life throws us a curve every now and again.
I think the red you're refuring to is a primer, at least the undercoat on the outside is. When I wire wheeled the rear of my 100 it was red primer, maybe the inside is a sealer of some sort. I thought I read something somewhere, that it's a rust inhibiter of sorts because the rears sat around awhile before being painted and they didn't want them rusting.
Could have just dremp that also:biggrin2:but I'm pretty sure that was it. I wouldn't think your going to hurt it any, but don't take my word for it, wait for one of the pro's to chime in.
But good luck, will be watching your progress.

Slowest Resto
 

After some confusion at the powder coated I got all my large parts back today and I think they look great. Ill post some pictures later tonight.

They primed everything with a zinc rich exterior grade powder then coated. Both colors are from prismatic powders. Yellow is pss 1836 and white is pss 2094. These were real close to original colors on my tractor that where hidden from sun.

Will play a little tonight and plan to get the bulk of the tractor back together this weekend. But given my past year I can only imagine what obstacle will prevent me from doing what I want.

I'm looking forward to your pics. I'm very interested in how the white turned out. My powder coater got the white way wrong.:bash2:

Plan some time to prep your parts for assembly after powder coat.

Some basic pictures

Looks good!

What Mike said!

Great!
 

That's going to be GREAT!

How'd you get those tires on without zinging the new powder coat?

John

I agree those do look great!

John the powder coat is a lot harder then paint. So no big risk to damaging them at a good tire shop.

I put the tires in the oven at 125 just to get them pliable and expand them. Placed the rims in the freezer to make them shrink. Plenty of soapy water. One side went on by hand the other a large flat screwdriver to make the final push.

A little progress photo. Need to connect all controls and hydraulics. Slow and steady

Looks great! Love the V61's:beerchug:

I rotated your image for ya.

The v61's do look good thanks. Need to get new rear sneakers this spring and powder coat the rear rims. Just want to get this back together before the snow falls. So far we've been lucky its been another mild winter in New England. Temps have been in the 40's and no snow.

Hope we get a big storm the day after the 149 is running.

Looks great! It's coming together nicely!

Getting there. Need to connect controls and electrical. Decalls, Then a tune up and adjust.