Another 149 Rebuild
 

I bought my 149 in Sep. 2011 and it has worked intermittently since then. Burned up a couple solenoids and ignition switches. It has just sat for the last four years, not running. I have decided it is time to get it running and looking good so I am diving in all the way. Reading on this site is seems there are a few common things that are highly likely in need of replacement: pump relief valves, cork gasket, tie rod ends, axle pivot pin, steering cam follower and installing a "super steer" bearing kit (which I haven't figured out exactly what that is yet). I have built a new wiring harness and now the tractor is completely torn down. I plan to take the engine to a machine shop to have them go through it. I would like to focus on the pump and transmission now to ensure they are in good order. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. This tractor does have it's share of battle wounds as you can see by the spindle picture. BTW - this is my first tractor task. I am a shade tree mechanic, not totally unfamiliar with tools but not an expert in anything (yet). Thanks

Good luck and looking forward to your updates!

Good luck with your 149. I went thru my 149 a few years back and repainted it. Here’s the thread where I documented the transformation.

https://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/...ad.php?t=18919

I love it! Making me question sticking with yellow and white. That looks great. I will go through all the pages and glean out everything I can. Thank you for the post.

Thanks! If you have any questions feel free to ask. I’ll help if I can.

Hey, CoCadet,

A 149 is a great tractor to restore. You've already identified many of the repairs commonly required. I'll add drive shaft rehab (drive pin, rag joint, fan), remove and rebuild the steering gear box, replace bushings in the steering knuckles, squeeze the front axle channel back to size, repair the trunnion, replacing springs.

You mentioned the cork gasket, but if you have the hydro out you might want to replace seals on the hydro. Not a task for the faint of heart, though, as it entails disassembly of the hydro itself. Not difficult, but you need to follow the instructions in the service manual EXACTLY and keep a pristine work area.

Rear axle bearings and seals are easy to replace, new brake pads. I usually replace tires, but that can get pretty expensive depending on what you select.

If you don't have a rear 3 pt lift, you might add that. Headlights--I usually add them. Rebuild the PTO, replacing the bearing. If you are mowing, then you usually need new idler pulleys. Muffler is another common need.

Lots of threads on here with details. And answers are just a question away.

Perfect, that is what I need - a list of things to check out. The list is getting a little overwhelming as I don't even know what some of these things are.

Axle pivot pin
Axle pivot point bushings
brake pads
cork gasket
drive pin
fan
hydro seals
pto bearings
pump relief valves
rag joint
Steering "super steer" bearing kit
Steering box tighten up - cam follower
steering knuckle bushings
Tie rod ends
tires
trunnion repair
trunnion spring replacement

I think I should attack this one piece at a time. I may take the engine to a machine shop to go through it, so I think I should focus on the pump. It is out, and I am cleaning it up. It was really filthy in a coat of wet debris, so it must be leaking. I am guessing the initial focus should be the pump relief valves. Can these be successfully rebuilt? What is the best approach? Thanks.

That's a good list. Being 40 years old, many of those points will need attention.

Pump relief valves can be rebuilt. There is a guy on ebay who does it for reasonable cost. You have manual valves--that is, the little buttons on top need to be pushed down to allow you to move the tractor when the engine is not running. Auto valves are available that do not require the button to be pushed down--they don't have the button. New valves are $$ but sometimes the expedient solution.

There are several documents in the technical library you should look at, specifically about the hydro--how it works, hydro lurch, trunnion repairs, etc. Download the service manual if you don't already have it. There is a very good section on the hydro.

There is no axle pivot bushing, just a pin. (well there are a couple sleeves welded to the support channel, that the pin rides in, but I wouldn't call them bushings. Anyway, they are not replaceable, at least not easily.)

A shop will charge you $800-$1000 or more to rebuild your engine. If you tear it down, take the block to a shop to have it bored ($200) and buy a kit ($115) to rebuild it, you'll save the difference. And you can repaint it in the process. Just a thought. If it's not smoking badly or blowing oil, and runs OK, you might postpone that until a future date. Just remove the head, clean it up, new head gasket and call it good.

Depending on how much you want to invest in the tractor you may decide to limit the scope. You can easily spend $3000-$4000 if you do everything including new tires and an engine rebuild. Your tractor will be worth less than $1000 when you are done, so consider that.

Nice to see another restore, keep us posted on your progress!

Definitely good advice! I will try to find some balance too. No need to go overboard. The goal is to get a reliable tractor, that looks freshened up and ready for work.

I will keep posting pics as I go, and learn, because the other threads have been so helpful to me - all the advice I get will probably be helpful to others too.

I am working on my hydro pump. Got the gunk off and now I am focused on getting it nice and clean. I want to get the relief valves rebuilt since I understand that is a very common problem. They are in there really tight. Any suggestions on how to get them out? I don't want to damage the pump, so I'm not sure what I can get away with doing.
Has anyone taken advantage of this service on ebay?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/REBUILD-SER...Lil:rk:13:pf:0

Thanks,

To remove the relief valves use a socket or a box end wrench, if they are really tight use a hammer and TAP the end of the wrench they should break loose.
That E-bay seller is the service I used to rebuild 4 of my valves, I was well pleased with the service.

I would get it running again and check if they are leaking. No need to spend the money if they are ok.

I got the engine started today, first time in 4 1/2 years. - Link to video removed since it didn't work. Sorry.

Yer link don't work for us non believers in spaced out bookie thingy :bigthink:

Hmmm, I don't know why but maybe you have to have an account with them? I will remove it to eliminate the confusion. Thanks. Regardless, I was pretty happy to get the engine running.

I am finding plenty of pieces that need to be replaced, I am assuming these are pretty normal wear items.

I dug into the steering column today. I don't know what they normally look like, but this was really stiff. All of the ball bearings were there, but they come out of the race pretty easy. The cam follower has a couple of spots that are a bit flat. This looks like a great buy to clean things up a bit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-1...-/322240084280. Any recommendations on this segment of the rebuild?

Looks like a good deal. Probably need to get a new seal for the box, clean it all up and reassemble with lots of grease.

- Glad you said that, the seal was totally shot and forgot to add it to my "purchase" list.

I am doing spray can primer (for convenience), and will use Van Sickle enamel tractor paint for top coat. Hope that will work out. :bigthink:

Anyone found a good way to clean the inside of a wheel that I guess had some sort of stop leak put in? I am currently soaking it in a bucket of soapy water. It seems to be softening it up some, but maybe someone discovered a method that really gets it cleaned up that they could share. Thanks.

Maybe a heat gun or torch and scraper?

I'll give that a shot tomorrow and see what happens. That gunk feels sort of like tar and does not smell very good either. It is making me think maybe I should run inner tubes when I put the new tires on? Thanks.

-- Turns out soaking it overnight did the trick. Guess that stuff is water soluble. It cleaned up quite nicely with a little elbow grease.

Sometimes it is the little details that provide satisfaction.

The wheels turned out nice, what kind of bearings are you putting on them?

Thanks darkminion_17, I bought these bearings to use: "These are not just another wheel bearing. These are a machined precision ground wheel bearing. Making them far superior to any other wheel bearing on the market today and the reason why all the top pullers and racers are using them." https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Cub-Cadet...frcectupt=true

I put tubes in mine. Seemed like it could protect the rim if ever loaded.
Also a bit easier to get the bead to seat.

Nice work!

I think I am going to proceed with that plan, and still look for some smaller wheels too. I just ran across a guy a couple hours away from me that appears to have a LOT of cub cadets. Based on the pictures he sent he has a lot of amazing stuff and I guess some parts he's open to selling.

IHCubCadet147 -Thanks for the kind comment. Got a lot to do yet. If it looks anywhere near as nice as your 149 is looking I will be delighted.

I needed the set screws for the PTO and was having a little trouble finding them at my local neighborhood hardware store - but they told me where to go look. Low and behold this place had all 8 that I wanted and the price was a whopping $1 WITH tax.

Good to see your progress. :beerchug:

Thanks twoton - slow but sure. :Thanks:

Getting a little painting done (just spray cans so far). Tires arrived today.

Is #6, the "Retainer, Bearing Snap Ring" something that comes off when you take the PTO off or just if you remove the #2 "Bearing/w Snap Ring"? I removed the PTO and there was no snap ring. Thanks in advance for the advice.

If i recall correctly, the snap ring you circled is inside the clutch pulley casting. The bearing is pressed against the snap ring by the set screws.

Steeler colors!! Who couldn't love that PTO clutch?

There you go Ironman. You got one painted up that way let’s see it!

Your going along as a great pace, the snap ring should be changed as they do fail and it ruins your honey bee paint job. I would have got new PTO fingers though...

Thanks, but this is ColoradoCadet's thread.

Thanks everyone, good details. I appreciate the advice. I will look at getting new fingers and a snap ring. I thought the fingers looked solid, but I've never seen new ones so I don't know what good ones even look like. :biggrin2:

Assuming this is the snap ring you are referring to, if it looks good let it be. The fingers you would be able to tell if they are chewed up. From your picture they look ok.