Help with model 124 removal of clutch shaft rear pin.
 

I have been looking to split my 124 to repair my shifter and wonder how do I get access to the rear spiral pin. I have the creeper gear. Been scratching my head and thinking that from underneath is the only way. How would I get the tractor up enough for this old man to get to it, if that is the only way?

Thanks in advance,

John

go from underneath and use a punch and hammer, and PB blaster spray

Thanks. I guess I'll have to devise a way to get the tractor up instead of me trying to go down. I have a really bad shoulder (that will be replaced soon) and it limits me working on the ground like I did in my younger days. Come to think of it, I do have access to a large rough terrain fork lift!

I can sympathize on the age related aches and pains being a limiting factor but drive shaft spirol pins have to be punched out and for the most part from underneath on the narrow frames. I usually use a set of car ramps to get it up so I can have room to work. Most times I jack up the front and put the ramps in backward so the slope is forward. You do need to have the front secure as you will be pounding while you are under there so be sure the front is secure and will not come down on you.

I just got it lifted up on it's side using a high-lift jack and a chain over a big limb and held tight by my Land Cruiser. It is right on the tipping edge but I have it really secured. Now my next job will be trying to find the right punch. The pin is mushroomed on one side but good on the other. Even still has the paint on that end.

Would love some pictures if possible! Heck, you should have strung the tractor like a shot deere over that limb, leaving the rear wheels in contact with the ground {drain fuel and oil first}. Sounds like you got everything under control! Grab up a milk crate and swing away!

Hope the repairs go smoothly, good luck and safety is no accident!

:American Flag 1:

Ask and you shall receive. Looks like it is leaning against tree but it is not.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ps8e51eb78.jpg

Covered in case it rains. Now I need to find a 1/4 pin punch.

I can see the pin through the slot where the lifter works the up and down for the mower and 3 point hitch.

Real shade tree mechanicing going on.

Don't let anyone from OCC read this reply!!!

I have had problems removing the rear roll pin from both my 100 and my 124. I drilled a 7/16" hole in the tunnel directly above the roll pin. Then I took a bottle jack and supported the back of the drive shaft from underneath. Used a pin punch from above and the roll pins can right out.

I know a lot of people think that mods like this are verbotten, but I saw a need and modified my tractors accordingly. This method keeps you above the tractor, is safe, and is easy. Plus, it can be welded back up in the future. Both my cubs are working cubs. They look OK, but are definitely workers. I don't worry too much about making mods that help me repair or maintain the tractors. Good luck with your cub!

Also lifting the Land Cruiser up in the back. That little mower is heavy. Good thing I took off the wheel weights.

Here is the deck that was on it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ps76c0d84a.jpg

I will be blocking the thing up before I work on it. But I think I can get the pin out without being under it.

Cutting an access panel under the seat to get to the shifter plate and welding it back would have been a lot easier that all this. Could have ground the wields flush and painted and no one would have been the wiser.

I agree with that!

By the way, nice mower deck. Are all the spindles free and with no wobble?

Spindles free and tight.
Previous owner was very meticulous when it came to changing fluids and greasing all the zerks. Came with all info about filters and fluids. Original owners manual and Blue Ribbon Service manual. Lots of extra belts and 5 qts of 30 weight.

I am not sure about your 124 , but on my 126 there is a hole on the side of the tunnel cover that you can see the spirol pin , but that is only when you have a creeper gear. It is on the right side as you sit on the tractor.

I took my punch and put it in the ratchet end of a long 3/8 drive extension and drove it out. You may want to use a junky extension because you have to hit it pretty hard to get the pin out and you may round over the socket end.

Mine doesn't have an access hole but I can see the pin through the attachment lifting cutout.

Maybe that is what it was , i can't remember , been awhile.

I would have pulled the top of one of those catch basins in the road and have someone park the tractor over it once I was in there.Then did it that way :biggrin2:

I have grown tired of hitting my hands with hammers, so some time ago I made some "extensions" for my spiral pin punches. 10" long 3/4" bolt with a hole drilled up through the center about 1 1/2" deep.

It gets you out far enough from the frame that you can really get a good "smack" on it with a big hammer.

It really saves a lot of time and pain.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned that "spiral pin punches" normally make the job go much easier (about $20.00 for a set, at sears).

Also be sure to wedge a block of wood or something between the coupler or shaft and the under-side of the tunnel, to help prevent breaking anything in the creeper.

It has also been my experience that even if you start off with a really good looking end on a spiral pin, after a couple of good licks with a hammer and punch, it will end up looking worse than the other end that was already mushroomed over. I almost always save a headache and grind the "bad" end off flush with the coupler before I ever get the punch and hammer out of the drawer.

I am sure that there are a number of people here who have removed way more pins than I ever will, and they may have different/better ideas about how to do it, but I'm really getting too old and broken-down to be fighting with something like a simple spiral pin and this is (to date) the easiest way I have found to get them out.

Good idea Sam!:beer2:

To eliminate being referred to as old big and blue knuckles I have held the punch with vise grips. Now I am referred to as old bent vise grips. Those spirol pins work well but at times I wish I had the engineer that developed them nearby so we could have a real adult conversation.

Get in line!

OK, Got to it today. Took it apart, installed the replacement shifter and here it is ready to go back together:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ps11d5c1ed.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psf5b9569b.jpg

A little fussing and almost back together and discover that the new/old shifter is correct in all the way instead of the shape of shifter handle... would not work!

But due to something I learned while doing this, namely, you do not have to split the tractor to get to the shifter like I was told in an earlier post. I took the shifter off and a little cut and wielding of the old and new shifter shafts, all is sweet.

Together again! Running great. Will do some paint work and then put it to work.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ps762618fd.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psf3d26993.jpg

Nice work and safe too. I'm learning a pressure washer is an old cubs best friend. Btw I love the old mid back seat, looks nice

Glad you got your cub back together!

I'm going to sand blast the wheels today and get some paint on them as well as touch up the paint where needed.

What is really confusing is that the workshop manual tells me that the tractor has to be split to get to the shifter, where in fact if you remove the fenders and thus get access to the sheet metal that makes up the seat base (three bolts on a side) you have access to the shifter plate and it's bolts. I split the tractor without removing the seat and fenders but removed them to make putting it back together. Low and behold, the shifter plate and bolts were right there in front of me when I got the back half installed. I know I can remove the shifter with the tractor together because I had to remove it to fix the height and form of the new/old shifter I installed.

Strange.

Others with a 124 might check this out if they have to remove their shifter.

Question! Does the breather right next to the creeper gear lever have some kind of top on it? Mine was clogged up with gunk and after I cleaned it it seemed that water or anything else could just go straight down it. Seems it should have a cap or something on it to prevent it.

Yes there is a cap that goes on the top of the breather. It is an odd sort of thing that looks like a cap that is sort of crimped on but still can be moved a little. You have to keep the dirt out but at the same time allow any pressure to be relieved.

Your creeper gear breather should look like this.
(Photo from Cub Cadet Classics website)

Finished it today. Ready to work!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psd2f7273b.jpg

Nice! POTW worthy! Please submit it for POTW!

Lets see.... Two days : Took tractor apart and repaired shifter, put back together. Repainted all the white and most of the yellow. Made a custom grill.

Tomorrow I will replace the mower deck belt, sharpen the blades and remount to mower.

Being retired I need projects like this to keep me busy.

I will give the 1650 that was given to me a couple of years ago a close look and maybe do the same to it. It is all there including the side panels.

This 124 will be going to my summer place on the water to do the mowing chores. I will first drive it to my neighbor from whom I bought it from. He had it sitting in the woods behind his house. He got it from his dad (who bought it new) and used it until the shifter broke sever years ago. You could still shift it if you held the shifter to kept it from rotating. I think he will be quite surprised as my son is. My son was questioning my messing with a 44 year old piece of junk (his words). Now he says it don't look that "old" after all. Kids these days don't appreciate things from "back in the day" or the quality that was put into them.

Your cub looks great! Excellent job!

Take your son to one of the big box stores and have him lift the rear wheels of one of their POS machines off the ground... Then take him home and have him lift the back of 124 off the ground.

I believe he will have immediate respect for the "44 year old piece of junk".

You're darn right about that Mark! These IH Cub Cadets are made very, very well. Over built is a better description!

Old And In The Way: Great job repairing the garden tractor! Glad to see we're back in business!

Have a good day gang!
:biggrin2:

I really enjoyed this thread,good info and interesting reading fellas.

Just my 2 cents but that "Piece of junk" will be running long after the crap from Lowes, Home Cheapo and MTD have been melted down for scrap and sent to China to make new crap. Nice work Buddy! :beerchug:

Very nice work.:beerchug:
On to the next project.

very nice 124!

LMAO! Isn't it odd that things that are true, are the funniest.

Nice 124-this has been very informative since a 124 is waiting in the wings for my next cub project.

Junk?
 

I have had my cub cadet 104 for 17 years, since I was 10. I dont know of many things that people can keep for that long with only changing the oil and filling with gas occasionally. This is why I hope people think they are old junk so I can take it off of their hands for a reasonably cheap price.


Nice 124, that is one that is on my list to acquire also.