Cub Cadet 123
 

Good morning all!
I'm new here and am probably going to end up with about a million questions. I bought a 123 this year partly for fun but mainly for snowblowing a long driveway here in Maine. The original owner had good intentions but made a few mistakes. It has a newer K301 on it with many new parts (carb) etc. It runs well but requires a little bit of choke at all times to remain smooth running. Also, it's hard to restart after running for a while; requires playing with the choke. He had been using Cub Cadet oil in it which I should've inspected harder as I later discovered that it was 2 cycle oil. I overpaid for sure. It doesn't smoke though and I changed the oil twice and am thinking of going synthetic 30W on the next change. I'll take any and all advice from anyone on this machine.

Welcome to OCC! 123 is a really a nice tractor, one of my favorites.
I would suggest cleaning the entire fuel system, then set to factory settings on the carb and fire it up. Fine tune the top and idle screws after that.
123 is the last all metal cub and will serve you well.
Edit: I run 10w30 in the winter and straight 30w in the summer. Many guys run the 10w30 year round

Thanks for the advice! I was worried that if I switched to 10W-30, it might smoke on startup. My guess is though that when it's sub-freezing weather, it won't start well at all. I'm glad the 123 is one of someone's favorites. I really like the general weight/build of everything about it. I have a ton to learn about caring for it though. It could use some decals but I don't even know how to attempt the dashboard decal. Do you feel that it's okay to run it at about 3/4 throttle unless doing heavy work? I'd kind of like it to have an easy life. The motor has a 1988 code but I have no idea when it was actually put into service running for who knows how long with 2-cycle oil in the crankcase.

I only work one or two of my tractors. The rest including the 123 are half to one quarter throttle all the time. Just out driving the around.
I would change the rear end fluid and filter before winter. Tractors the are on snow duty for me get IH Hytran in the rear end. Make sure you don't have leaks first cause they don't give that Hytran away. :biggrin2:

Thanks Terry!
This machine doesn't leak a drop of anything but the original owner told me that he never changed the hydro fluid. Two or three times a year he'd put it on a grade and change the filter losing as little fluid as possible and refill. I've heard more than once that this is acceptable but I don't care for the idea a lot. The fluid looks perfectly clean but it must break down somehow. That said, everything does operate smoothly and continuously on any surface.
Joe

I would change it. Good time to inspect everything and get the gunk out of the bottom of the tranny.

Here's a pic of it. Hope I did this right.

Wait, that's the tractor the day it was brand new...right? Pretty clear photo for 1967. :biggrin2:

Haha!
Thanks for making me feel like maybe I didn't overpay for it. It needs a few decals which are probably awful to replace. It looks great for sure. $1500 with a blower that could use painting. It was the highest priced I could find.

Looks like a good seat! Nice tractor, doesn't matter what you paid if you are happy.:beerchug:

I am pretty happy about it. My wife, not so much. She thought I bought it to really use it, not just for snowblowing (which I bought a new snowblower for as well). I have an 80's mtd cub that cuts my .5 acre lawn. The 123 is mostly for fun and hopefully for awesome moving of snow. Somehow I doubt this machine will move snow that well or even start in the Maine winters!

Looks good Joe!:beerchug:

Tractors can be had for less money, but you bought a really nice one!

Look at this way, all you could buy for $1500 today is a throwaway mower that will be junk in 10 years. You will be able to hand that down to kids or grandkids!!




Randy

:Welcome2: you picked a good all around tractor.:ThumbsUp:

Nice tractor!! The 123's are great machines... As Terry said, It's the last all metal Cub Cadet made!:beerchug::beerchug:

Tuned up, serviced and running correctly that thing should start no problem even in freezing weather... And it will move a ton of snow if needed!

Heck, I'd get it right and mow with it too!!:biggrin2::biggrin2:

That snowblower you got with it would be called a snow thrower, as it is a single stage. :beerchug:
If the previous owner was smart enough to use 2 smoke oil instead of motor oil, he prolly never adjusted the main jet in the carb.
Just for the heck of it, try turning the main jet 1/2 turn CCW. and see how it operates
( The main jet is the only one on top of the carb, right alongside the shaft/linkage that operates the throttle)
Let us know how it operates, it might surprise you.

Another view.

Oil
 

Does anyone think it might smoke if I switch from 30 to 10W-30? How do we feel about conventional vs synthetic? Thanks!

That tractor was designed for conventional SAE 30.. I wouldn't change from what it was designed for and what has worked for 50 years.. just my opinion.. i'm sure there are other opinions!:biggrin2::biggrin2:

I use 30w Kohler oil in some and like it. Some have 30w rotella. It's low ash.
I only use synthetic in my 2182(Kubota powered).

I would stick with sae 30 in the summer and 10w30 in the winter, that's what's recommend. Don't run synthetic.

So I really don't want to bore you guys on here. If I have a new question, I'm not sure if I should post it to my existing thread or start a new one. I'm sure someone can advise me here. I took my 123 for ride today, just for fun. It fired right up at idle. First time I've run it in a while. I think I should be happy about that. When I shut it down, I heard th sounds of fluids (oil) running down in the engine to the pan and thought about splash lubrication. In the 80's when I put myself through college cutting lawns with a Toro with a B&S with splash lube, my dad would always say to be very careful about going in the same direction while on a grade for too long. I'd see the competition get dropped off at other lawns near mine with lawnboys and just go crazy running with those things. Then I got a newer self propelled Toro with a Tecumseh engine. They and B&S always seemed to compete to supply motors to the lawmower companies. The Tecumseh was pump lubricated which I learned early on about as the fill cap would unscrew itself occasionally covering everyone nearby with a gentle shower of oil. So I'm thinking splash is really quite good isn't it? Is there a reason why less than full on the dipstick is better than full? Thanks everyone!!

Hello! Congrats on a very nice looking model 123! I agree, as long as your happy with what you paid for it, then that's all that matters! A lot of good members spend that kind of money into fixing up a banged-out IH Cub Cadet on top of paying $200 for the carcass! I like the fact that your 123 has a very nice seat too! I have the model 125, which is almost identical to your garden tractor!

I run only Cub Cadet or Kohler brand engine oils in my collection. Hytran Ultra for the transmission, along with a cub cadet filter. Being a single cylinder splash lube engine, I always keep my engine oil level slightly above the full mark on the engine oil dip stick. Given the bad rep on some of the 82 Series twin cylinder engines, I'd take this 123 over that headache any day, lol! I don't recall any past experience with any of my collection related to the oil drainage sound I'm trying to interpret from your last post above.

However, I know that your 123 will start just as easy as a new car in the dead of winter if the tractor is correctly in time, and has the carburetor correctly adjusted, along with a good starting circuit!

Thanks for the pictures!!