I picked up a broken 125
 

Last night I bought a 125 which according to the seller had a "spun connecting rod bearing." He said that he had just had the engine overhauled (for the same problem I think, but it wasn't clear) and six hours later the engine broke again. He said that "she made him mad." It is a K301. Any thoughts about the feasibility of fixing this? I've never opened up an engine before.

The tractor came with ag tires (old but they are still in usable condition), chains, an extra set of rear wheels with turf tires, a set of wheel weights, and a snow blade. Grand total: $150.

Can anyone ID the wheel weights? They were really tight when I tried to put one into a wheel.

The bottom seat cushion is not pictured, it is in my garage. The seat says "Bucyrus Erie" which is the name of a company that used to make giant coal stripping machines.

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Congrats on the 125 and attachments! The wheel weights look after market. There might be a part number or such on them that you could search.:bigthink:

Thanks. The weights don't have any markings besides "Niagara Erie, PA" which is on the round cap visible on the left weight. I think that just refers to the plastics shop that made the cap. There are a lot of plastics shops in Erie. The weights are plastic on the outside and something heavy on the inside. I guess I just need to get some long bolts and I will be set.

Kohler engines do not have rod bearings so to speak. My best guess is he put the rod in backwards, or put the rod cap on backwards.

Congrats on the 125 pickup!:beerchug:

At the risk of being offensive, I am going to say this.

By the looks of the oil/grease around that Starter/Generator mount, that engine wasn't just overhauled. If it was, I don't think the mechanic did that good of a job. Even if the machine had set idle for quite some time, to have that much dirt around it indicates to me that there was either a catastrophic engine failure, or there was about to be one. By your pictures, it certainly looks like the thing hasn't been apart.

Either way...
 

It's not a bad deal for $150!

Part it out and make some $$$ or fix it and spend lots of $$$$ :biggrin2:

Cum se Cum sah (Little Good, Little Bad)
 

Petrus: There are many things about this tractor that I like; for instance, the fact that it is a 125 which I think is one very tough tractor (and which some people feel represents the apex [highest point] of Cub Cadet development), the steering wheel looks fantastic (I wish I had one like that, so neat!), the shift lever also appears to be in very good condition (better than the one on my 149!), in short, everything (or most everything) is there for a very good price.

The things I see which concern me are, (1) the +/- 60 Amp gauge instead of the stock +/- 15 (or +/- 30, I can't remember) --it definitely isn't original, but you shouldn't have an issue replacing it with an IH version; (2) what the owner reports about the engine.

Despite the fact that it doesn't look like it has been recently rebuilt, I would not discount the owner's story --what else do you have to go on? I also take note of the fact that the tractor is obviously not running, everything operational has been disconnected and is "laying there" including the starter generator.

I would approach the whole project as an "unknown" and proceed accordingly. Take everything apart, examine, and reassemble. If there is something wrong in the engine, check and verify. Follow the manual. Disassemble, measure everything, reassemble per service manual, fix everything you find along the way.

Be assured: The tractor is worth effort. A Model 125, properly done, would be the envy of many.

Good Luck. :)

However, if you get to looking at it, and it is not something you want to get into, I imagine there are those who wouldn't mind taking it off your hands --for a profit!

I agree- looks like it was "rode hard and put away wet" IE someone was using it, blew it up, then parked it. It's not a total loss however; my dad has overhauled his 125 at least 3 times to my knowledge in the last 30 years and it keeps going. IMO I'd put a bit of $$ into it and get it going again.

As far as the wheel weights go, they are filled with some sort of round bearing/BB material that like to go everywhere if you get too close to something and tear a hole into them.

OTOH, below the grime seems to be a pretty decent tractor.

A power washing and some rubbing compound would bring back the yellow shine (and likely the desire to fix it). It doesn't have to make $ sense to be worth doing....

John

its a good deal if you paid $150. the blade itself is worth $75-100. I agree that, with what i can see of the engine,i would tear it down completely and rebuild it. it looks suspect.

Nice score on your 125 and implements!

No matter what, you got a really good deal on all of that. He basically sold it to you for scrap, and it is worth more than that. Before rebuilding that engine and worrying about it, check the obvious--see if the drive shaft is hooked up and if the pin in it is still good or sheared off and try turning the engine over by hand. That grime behind the S/G could just be from spilt oil during an oil change and collected debris afterwards for a while.

It might be just a loose drive shaft or something like that.....I bought my 126 and the guy told me the engine was blown because he could see the top of the piston after removing the spark plug and it didn't move when he turned the engine by hand. I looked at it with him and told him the piston was offset from the spark plug and I cranked it over and told him that the engine wasn't blown, but actually had pretty good compression. Then I said, it's a good tractor--why don't you keep it and enjoy it a little. Lucky for me he said, "That's alright, you can buy it for $200 if you want." So I got it, IH wheel weights, IH windbreaker, snow plow, deck and a very solid running 126 for my money. Sometimes, it's just something overlooked by the PO who doesn't want to invest a little time or a little $$ to get a wonderful tractor out of it.

Well, I'm glad you have another cub in your fleet and that it will get some TLC that it needs!

Keep us posted,

Cub Cadet 123

Thanks for the advice everyone, it is most welcome. I will keep you updated. I will get to working on this one as soon as I get my 105 out of my garage which needs a new hydro cooling fan and a carb adjustment. Then that 105 will be sold to my neighbor which will leave me with the broken 125 and my running 125 with a K241 in it.

When you said "blown" I thought you meant "supercharged", actually saw one yesterday browsing around. It was a bad joke, but my daughters tell me all my jokes are bad.

I just bought a few sets of those wheel weights at Lowes. They were for MTD series 800 Garden tractors (with 23" tires). 50 lbs each. Probably a universal wheel weight and MTD put them in their own box. I don't recall that mine had any logo or stamp on them anywhere, but I haven't looked that close.

They had them on clearance for $25, so I had to pick up a few sets. It was kinda funny because they had June 2002 stamped on the boxes and I just purchased them a few months ago. They sat in the store for 11 years as far as I can tell.

Picture on my 100

I would do an autopsy and find out what you are dealing with. My experience has always been to look at the last repair first.

Worst case is that you need to do a total rebuild, as long as there are no extra holes in the block you have something to work with.

It's been a year since the OP had last updated this thread. Hope he's still doing well.

Ha! I didn't catch that. I wondered how there got to be so many replies so quickly.

I wouldn't discount the claim that its had work done on it just because its covered in grease and oil. I just had a bore and rebuild done on mine with all new gaskets and several new parts, and I got my motor back COVERED in grease and oil (and hammer marks, and scratches),(I had painstakingly cleaned and degreased the motor/tractor prior to bringing it to them for the rebuild). As the owner told me; "well, we're not a restoration shop". Unfortunately some small engine repair shops have no pride in the quality of their work and don't realize that the outside of the motor is a partial reflection of their work and the pride (or lack thereof) of workmanship that goes on the inside of the motor as well. Best of luck to you!

Been down that road and I can't agree more with ya!

Yea ive seen a few sets of those wheel weights hanging around on craigslist. Seem like they are junk to me. They are filled with shot for the weight but I havent heard to much on durability of the plastic. Personally I wouldnt want anything made by MTD or any aftermarket plastic parts on my tractor. I would much rather use the IH wheel weight sets that fit perfectly in the rims. You should be able to look online and find them, they are more expensive but well worth it in terms of asthetics and originallity. Looks like it will be a nice tractor when its all cleaned up. Good job finding that, and good luck with fixing it up.:GoodLuck:

Yes it has been a while and I am doing fine but I haven't gotten to the tractor yet. I have been slowly working on my 105. I did take the ags off of this 125 and put them on my good 125, and I used the wheel weights and snow blade last winter. I know the IH weights are better quality but I can't justify paying $120 for a set when I have these cheap weights that get the job done.

Hopefully in the spring I will tear into this engine and try to figure out what is wrong. I plan to update this thread at that time. I appreciate all of the comments regarding what I might need to do to get this fixed.

I got a tip from Chris (Sugarmaker) for a good machine shop when I met up with him at a tractor show this past summer. I am hoping that it is one of the better machine shops and not like what RLemke went through. Since Chris recommended it I have high hopes.

Those tire chains are so properly put on, it's not even funny!! Also that wiring is ....... Different!! But the whole tractor together looks to be complete and in pretty good shape and its a good find! Good luck!! Might want to relocate that generator though?!!?