My 1450 project officially started today
 

Hey guys, my name is mark here. I've been lurking around the site on and off for a while and last summer I had been talking with a guy about buying a pair of 1450s. One was a roller/possible runner and the other had been picked over pretty good but he was selling them reasonably. The guy lived a ways out from me so it just never came to be and I lost touch with him. This was last year, and I have been bummed out all winter that I did not get them. 1000 series don't seem to pop up for sale here often.


Fast forward to this spring and I have been putting aside a little money here and there and scouring around looking for an IH built cub again. I find an ad for cubs and parts and contact them to see what they have. The guy was not sure of much about which exact models he had, but some 100 series and some 1000 series. Got his info and went there this morning. There were like 10 cubs there and parts of lord knows how many. I had finally found the local IH cub cadet honey hole, about a half hour's drive from home.

http://i52.tinypic.com/2aexfl1.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/25tudrm.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/audo8z.jpg

http://i55.tinypic.com/15pizo3.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/xgdw8h.jpg

And so there they were sitting. 2 nearly complete 1450s, minus the side panels and some odds and ends of course. One has plants growing out of the seat. Both clearly had been sitting here for some time. However, they both have decks, engines, generators, etc.

So here I am with a guy who works at this mower shop and he has his boss who owns the cubs on speaker phone while the three of us are negotiating what it is going to take for me to come out of there with these 1450s. They were in such similar and mostly complete shape I could not choose between them, which was my original thought, take the best one. So I bought them both. The guy was willing to work with me a little on the price so I feel good about my buy. I figure there is one running tractor between the two 1450s I bought, if I am lucky I may get them both running and cutting and sell one to recoup some of my money.

These boys had some decent project IH cubs sitting out there though, if anyone is local to Northwest Indiana and wants to go have a peek let me know and I will PM you the shop's address. They had a really nice looking quiet line that I did not get a pic of.

There was another guy with a questionable condition 582 a bit further away from me but he said the deck was rotten and was not confident it ran. I don't have a problem with buying one that has not ran, but the price has to be right. I got 2 1450's in the same condition for 50 bucks more than he wanted for that 582. :beerchug:

At least one of the 1450s will be dropped here tomorrow afternoon, hoping both but these things are heavier than I thought when they are all there. My friend is hauling them and I don't want to kill his trailer. Anyways I just wanted to say hi and thank you guys for your contributions here, finding this forum and looking at your tractors is what started this whole journey of mine.

I look forward to updating this thread with more pics, thoughts and stories about my 1450 project as time allows.

Congrats on your 1450! That fella sure has a lot of Cub Cadets! :ThumbsUp:

Nice score on the 1450s! :ThumbsUp:


Looks like that guy does have quite a bit of Cubs!:biggrin2:

Woo Hoo!! Great Score! Youre gonna love it when you get one runnin! I bet you keep them both! oh yeah, btw, WELCOME:beerchug:

thanks guys I feel like a kid waiting for santa claus to come right now. It was tough to hold out and get these two but I am so glad I did. There was a 1250 for sale that was really tempting me but it too was pretty far away. My buddies were asking around about mowers and I have been offered just about everything but an IH cub locally.

I've got an early 90's MTD I have been cutting the yard with the past few seasons. The goal is to get one of these cubs running and cutting ASAP and sell that MTD if someone is willing to own it or scrap the thing.

I get a big kick out of replacing a 90s tractor with a 70s. :)

ME too! :biggrin2: They really are a better machine! No contest!

Congrats Mark! He has a nice looking 70 or 100 there as well and that front blade.

Nice score!

yeah sorry some of the pics are not the greatest, they are just from my phone. His back lot was like vintage yard tractor overload, everywhere I looked there was something I wanted to take home.

I was laughing to myself because just the other day I noticed most of the guys here have multiple tractors. Now I see how that happens. I saw what I wanted for sale and it did not take much to talk me into taking two of them!

Sure wish I could find a place like that down here in GA. Nice score and a great parts patch. I am also bringing a 1450 back to life and a parts yard like that would do wonders for me.

all I can say is just keep your eyes peeled. My search was looking pretty grim and I had contacted this guy's with the 1450s ad a while back, and moved on when he could not pin down what models he had. I decided to take a drive and it paid off. It took me just under a year of searching on and off to find something I wanted, but I was looking particularly for a QL. There is a really nice one for sale on CL right now, but I was not looking to part with that kind of money.
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/grd/2309218370.html

I was thrilled to find two of them elsewhere, I was honestly considering buying that setup above. I'd rather spend less and work more, I have more time than money.

Turned out to be a good day for the cub project today. As luck would have it a friend of mine was off work and able to trailer one of the 1450's home during the day, and our other friend brought me the other on his way home. I was able to get them both home!

I went back to the shop with my buddy during the day and we helped the guy there dig the pair of cubs out. He had a case tractor with a bucket that made pretty easy work of it.
http://i52.tinypic.com/b7dlhh.jpg

We loaded one of them on the trailer, and then took the deck off the other and took it along with us so my other friend could fit the other cub in the back of his truck.

The guy at the shop asked if I minded if he were to keep the old dead battery that was in one for a core. I said no problem, I dont need it. When I got the tractors home someone had cut the battery cables to remove the battery. Not exactly thrilled with that but not much I can do about it now. :bash2: I replaced the ground cable and spliced in a new + lead already.

All that matters to me is that the pair of 1450s are now safe with me and away from the cub grave yard. I did not have a lot of time or sunlight today to look them over but I did take some notes, check a few things and took a couple more pics.
http://i55.tinypic.com/5z1q36.jpg

http://i55.tinypic.com/ei4n4y.jpg

My 1450s serial info:

tractor 1:
2050660u586721
kohler engine serial: 7420012
Deck 50A

tractor 2:
2050660u638605
kohler engine serial: 9278949
deck 44A

Both decks are pretty rough. I am leaning towards tractor 2 being the first to fix up as it seems to be all there and in better shape cosmetically. it also has keys which always helps..

Both tractors have seized controls, bad gas, little to no oil and both need new front tires. One clearly needs a shaft seal as I can see from oil build up, I am assuming they both do as they have no oil in them. One has a newer IH steering wheel which is pretty cool looking, it also seems to have much less play in the steering than the other tractor. I'll try to remember to get a pic of that, I am sure you guys will know what the wheel is from.

Between buying these two tractors, driving around doing the leg work and paying my two buddies a little something to bring them home the cub fund is back to nickels and dimes. At this point I need to further evaluate what I am working with and what I need most to get one of these up and running.

I got to spend more time with tractor 1 today since I got it earlier. I put a screwdriver in the coupling for the driveshaft for leverage and it spun the engine right over. So that engine has potential.

One other cool thing about this pair of cubs is one was originally sold in a town called Lowell, IN about 10 miles from here and the other was sold in Valparaiso, IN maybe 15 or so miles from me. Glad they are staying local and have avoided the scrap piles this long. I can't wait to play with them some more. I think my friend put it nicely "these are really cool, like giant old tonka trucks"
:beerchug:

Great pics and that loader made it to easy for you.:biggrin2: That sucks about the battery cables.:angry: Looks like your off to a great start! Looking forward to your updates!

I think you did very well.
Have you thought about getting more?

nice-address
 

I'm not too far away maybe. drop me the address, I sure would like to see his boneyard. I don't think I could get another cub right now but would liek to take a peak..working on my own 1450....and finally got it to run tonight after a few things...excited.
nice pics

1450 project
 

When I picked up my 1650 from central Illinois a year and a half ago, the only things that moved on it were the tires and the steering!! But I was able to roll it onto the back of my son's S-10 Chevy and haul it home The starter was stuck in the engaged position, the engine was stuck, all the controls were stuck, and my wife almost stuck me in the doghouse.

Repeat after me...PB Blaster. Say it LOUD and apply it LIBERALLY! Honestly, my 1650 had "set in the shed behind my dad's house for 8 or 9 years." That is what I was told when I picked it up. It arrived at my house Sat. evening around 10. Wed afternoon it was turning over on it's own. Fri. it ran for me for the first time. When I showed my wife, the dog was sad for I was allowed back in the house to sleep. True story.

Honestly, just get a couple cans of PB Blaster and spray, respray and respray and then GENTLY try to move the controls. Be PATIENT and if your lucky YOU won't cause your repair bill to skyrocket. Good luck and take your time.

Also pull the spark plug and spray plenty of WD_40 in the hole. Your tractors have been setting a while and ALL the upper cylinder lubrication is MIA. Just remember to spin the engine over by hand 10 or 12 revolutions to lube up the piston/cylinder walls and then when it's free, spin the engine over with the starter with the plug out to blow out the excess before starting it up.

Congrats on your find, enjoy your addiction, and welcome to our crazy world!

FFGino. Happy Cubbing!

yeah when I found the two my first thought was "how will we get these out of here" because they were all the way at the back of his lot up against a fence with cubs, snowblowers, other tractors and tons of junk heaped around them.

Not yet but I am out of money at the moment, give me time. :)

PM sent with the info and congrats on getting your 1450 up and going, that has to be a good feeling! Do you know of a way to check the fluid for the hydraulic setup? I am almost afraid to see what the fluid in mine will be like.

Thank you for the tips and greetings, 2 big cans of PB blast are first things on the list for sure. I'm no stranger to some wrenching but these are definitely a new animal to me. I've got to search around for an owners manual and some service info, pretty much all I know about these is from the bits and pieces I have read from the guy's posts here.

Glad you got your cub Cadets home! Can't wait for your updates! :ThumbsUp:

Check out our sponsor binder books! They are top quaility manuals for the price and will make sure you have the right stuff from the start. :ThumbsUp: And welcome to the greatest Cub site ever!

1450's
 

I was bored this morning so here you go,
Here is some information for you from our libraries:

Print these out and make your own manuals

Hydro filter cross reference list:
http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12

FAQ:
http://cubfaq.com/questions.html

http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7

Ignition:
http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=26

How to time your engine:
http://mgonitzke.net16.net/tools/static_timing.pdf

1450 Service Manual:
http://ccmanuals.info/pdf/1x8-9%20&%...e%20Manual.pdf

Engine Service Manual:
http://www.kohlerengines.com/onlinec...df/tp_2379.pdf

Owners Manual:
http://ccmanuals.info/pdf/QL%20Operators%20Manual.pdf

Engine Cradle Mod, A must do:
http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=4630

Charging System:
http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=368

Wiring diagrams:
http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=22

That's sweet! If your that bored maybe you need another red one!

LOL, dang right I would love another Red one.. Say a 982??!!! lol.. It's due to all the water standing in my yard that I am bored... Sighs... Dang weather.. I'll never get my garden disc'd up.. :bash2:

I did not think to examine the spindles, however you are correct, tractor 1 appears to have a dual rear disc brake setup where tractor two does not. What is the deal with that? I saw the brakes yesterday and just assumed they were both rear disc, now I will have to factor that in to which one to fix first.

Tractor 1 also has a bracket on the rear end up top that has a notch on each side, I assume for some kind of implement attachment point. One other difference between tractor 1 and 2, tractor 1 has a little lever on the center cover between your legs that pushes some valves on the rear end for towing depending on how you flip the lever. Tractor two has a plain cover with no holes in it and no such lever. Tractor two also seemed to not be in neutral although the stick on the dash was where it should be for neutral, it was making some gear like noises when being moved.

That is a great story about him picking up a cub by the steering wheel. I made sure not to hand over all of the cash until both were on my side of this guy's fence without any damage though, I was a little wary of him damaging something. Also, my friend who helped hopped up on the hood of one of the cubs while we were moving them and I initially cringed, but it did not phase the cub one bit.



AWESOME post thank you so much for this info! I started searching around last night and ended up falling asleep here at my desk, I guess all the fresh air and excitement got to me. I will probably pick up printed manuals at some point but right now this info is exactly what I need to get underway! Thank you so much, if you are ever in NW Indiana and in need of a cold beverage do not hesitate to contact me!

Hope this helps some:

Some of the Quitelines had external brakes and some had an internal brake. You happen to have one of each. There are pro's and con's for each but not many. The fact your 1450 is a hydro, you will use the brakes very little if any at all. The only time I use mine is for a parking brake when I haul it, or if it is sitting on a bit of an incline.

The bracket is probably correct for an implement attachment but would need to see a pic to be sure.
The tractor that has a lever on the tunnel cover means you have to use that in order to move the tractor around. It has manual hydro release valves. The tractor without the lever has automatic released valves. After about 10 or 15 minutes of sitting you can push that tractor around. When you remove the tunnel covers you will see the difference in the valves. Manuals have a small nipple that is pushed down to bypass the valves. The automatic's have flat topped valves.

thank you again for your shared knowledge, I appreciate your input. I know a lot of this has been asked before, I'm a long time member of some automotive forums and I know the redundant new guy questions get old after a while. I try not to ask questions unless I can't find answers on my own.

From the Kohler PDF you posted I was able to look up my serials and put a date to the engines I have.

7420012 is a 1976

and

9278949 is a 1978

I was hoping the first two numbers were the production year and I had a 1992 replacement on hand but I figured that was asking too much. :)

I am guessing these are original to their respective tractors though, the dates seem to be in line with 1450 production dates. I've had my head buried in manuals all day, this is great.

thanks again OCC forums!

my 1450 project
 

if my information is correct, your 1978 tractor should have the steering wheel of the 82 series. your1976 1450 which has 3/4 front spindles should have the steering wheel like the 1 8/9 series.

That makes it even better if it is stock, it's in great shape other than the suicide knob I plan on removing.
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From here out I will try to refer to these by their year to make things less confusing. I pushed the 1978 over to the garage doorway and took the tunnel cover off. This one turns over by hand at the drive shaft, significantly easier than the 1976. Pulled the spark plug, shot a good bit of WD-40 in the cylinder. Pulled the dipstick a few minutes later and could faintly smell WD40 on it, not exactly what I was looking to find but not totally unexpected considering the amount of oil soot near the exhaust on this thing. If she runs, she is gonna smoke.
http://i53.tinypic.com/2ibdgkg.jpg

I pulled the air filter housing off and found what is wrong with my choke linkage, the flap is stuck at the carb and a little stiff in the linkage near the engine. That is an easy fix. I can only imagine what is going on in the float bowls of these carbs right now though. I think I got too excited about the fact that the '78 had keys. I put a battery in it and turned said keys, nothing. I thought the battery was dead so I put it on the charger. Then it dawned on me there are no fuses in the thing. I imagined that was part of the problem so I read the manual some more and found the PTO has a safety circuit. I am hoping it will crank over with the starter if I put a PTO fuse in it tomorrow. A man can hope. I found it interesting there appears to only be one wire going to each fuse holder too, will look into that when there is more daylight as well. I put the 78 in the garage and called it a day, I am sleepy.

http://i55.tinypic.com/erafzr.jpg

Don't mind that MTD in there with the blue stripe on the hood in the mix. It tries to be a real tractor.

quick lunch break update. put a fuse in the PTO circuit but the '78 is still playing dead electrically. I am thinking the ignition switch is bad at this point. I will pull out my multimeter later and see what I can find out.

I'm getting power up to the starter solenoid on one of the larger terminals. There is no power coming to the solenoid's small terminal when the ignition switch is in the crank position. Also nothing is happening when I jump the solenoid terminals together. I was hoping that old trick would crank her over.

pulled the ignition switch. the terminals on it were very rusted so I took some sandpaper and cleaned them up. put it back, turned the key and was happy to see the hour meter start spinning. The first sign of life from the 1978.

I am now getting 3.5V at the small terminal on the solenoid when the key is in the crank position. Seems like a step in the right direction.

Definite progress for sure. That always makes you smile. :biggrin2:

Tracked my no crank issue down to bad grounds. Ran a car booster cable from the - post of the battery up to the where the ground cable terminates to the chassis near the engine. Turned the key and the starter leaped into action, although it was moaning and groaning about it a little. Had to persuade the starter to engage the flywheel with a screwdriver but it spun the engine right over. I spun the engine over on and off with the starter for a few minutes just to get it used to spinning again.

I'm going to pull that ground strap and clean it, as that seems to be where the ground was losing touch. should be good on wiring from there other than the lights and wiring in some new fuse holders, I am just using jumpers for testing purposes right now. Had to sort the wiring for the fuses out, each one had a wire unplugged.


Somewhere in there I put the PTO switch from the '76 in the '78. The contacts on the one from the '76 looked brand new and the action of the switch itself is perfect. The 78's had seen better days and the part of the switch you lift up to engage the PTO was rusted in place preventing you from turning the PTO switch on.

Next step is to see if we can make it produce some spark at the spark plug.
I'm going to have some dinner and see what else I can get done on it this evening.

I was able to get the ground issue resolved on the '78 and it cranks over without a jumper for a ground now. It also makes spark like nobody's business!

I took the gas tank off earlier and drained all the old gas out of it by leaving it upside down for a few hours. The gas valve at the tank was off on the 78 when I got it. I took the float bowl off the carb and was surprised to find it looking really clean in there, with no varnished gas that I can see and the float moves freely. Put that back together and then got my choke free from it's bind. I put the gas tank back on with a new fuel line from tank to carb and called it a day. Tomorrow I will put a little fresh gas in it and see what it says.

I am pretty pleased with today's progress and my expectations of this '78 running soon are much greater than they were 24 hours ago when turning the key did absolutely nothing. It sure is fun to work on, and I am truly impressed with how some of the parts have held up over the decades. I was expecting to have to buy and install points, condenser, coil etc. but it all works.

made a little more progress this evening on the 1978 1450. I put some bib/coveralls on because the winds are gusting at about 40-50mph out of the south east (I was out there in a T shirt yesterday!) and pushed the 78 out of the shed.

Dumped about a half gallon of 89 octane in the gas tank and turned the gas valve on, then connected some booster cables to my trusty car. I don't have a battery capable of cranking this thing over on it's own yet. The lawn tractor battery I am using is old and will be replaced by the autozone deal I see some of you guys recommending.

When I came back to crank the engine I noticed the float bowl was dripping a little gas. Not much but I run a tight ship on my gas, no leaks are acceptable. I just had to open that float bowl yesterday didn't I? I will have to see about a new gasket for that. So anyways...

I've got a runner! With only a few cranks of the key and realizing I should probably help the old gal out and use the choke the 78 fired right up! It will even idle down as low as the lever will go without dying. It also smokes much less than I imagined it would, just a brief toot here or there. Not bad!

I made a little video of it running but I am not able to figure out how to put it on my computer from my phone just yet. I am sure there is a way, I'll figure it out. The engine seems to have a little miss to it, and that seems to line up with the time it puffs a little smoke. I'm betting it needs to have the carb gone through. Of course it also needs engine mounts and that cradle mod in a bad way. The motor was shaking and moving around like it was just sitting in there, it probably is. I've got a friend with a welding and fabrication shop that will help me with the cradle mod and patching up the mowing deck.

I idled it up and down a few times and tried out the PTO switch, PTO works. I'm stoked guys!

I need to get the hydraulic deck and drive controls free and moving next. They are both frozen up good right now. I wanted to take my running tractor for a spin but she won't go just yet :)

Oh by the way here is the picture of the "hooks" I mentioned on the back of the 1976 I have been meaning to show.

http://i54.tinypic.com/307rdw6.jpg

:American Flag 1::beer2:

Glad you got it running! Those hooks look to be homemade. :beerchug:

Glad you got it to run, just keep spraying down the controls with pb blaster, they will work loose, may take a while, but they will finally give in! The hooks on the back of your tractor appear to me to be for mounting a bagger attachment....that is my best guess. I can think of no other attachment that would fit on those hooks.

thanks fellas! It was exciting to see the tractor's engine come to life. I can't wait to get it on a solid set of motor mounts and remove that rusted out box surrounding the exhaust. It is just hanging there on the muffler rattling. I also want to swap in the voltage meter from the 76 and see if it works, the one in the 78 is not moving around. That is pretty low on the priority list but I do plan on everything working or as close as I can come to that.

I was thinking they had that bracket hooked up to a lawn sweeper or something but your guess is as good as mine. I don't see what would prevent whatever attached to it from coming right off.

Wasn't it a great feeling when it ran? :) I'm very happy for you! The miss is likely the carb being a bit rich. I'm sure you will get it running great! So good to hear of another one saved from the junk heap!

yeah it was a great moment for sure, it sounded pretty good too! It's a miserable excuse for a spring day here today, lots of rain so far. I went out to the garage earlier and sprayed the controls and linkages down again. Getting a little movement out of the drive controls now but it is still stuck near the rear end. The deck control is frozen right where the linkage enters the control valve. I hope that valve can be saved. Time will tell.

The gears in my head are turning today. :bigthink: I was thinking if I yank the engine out of the '76 I may get lucky and find a good mount or two. A couple look OK from what I can see with the engine in there. Then I can take the mount rails out of the '76 to use for the engine cradle mod and keep the '78 in one piece for the time being until I get the modified cradle back and some fresh mounts.

The '76 engine has been robbed of it's ignition parts prior to me getting it, and I think it has a rod knocking or something internally damaged based on how it feels when you turn it over. You need a 2 foot screwdriver to crank it over at the driveshaft. It will most likely get a rebuild over the summer and go into the '78 at some point.

I bought twice as many tractors as I intended so it did not leave me with much money to put into them right now. The new parts needed list is not too much though all things considered. I am about 2 weeks out from my next check that won't go straight to bills so I need to do as much as I can for free or close to it for the time being. I think I should have enough to keep me busy though. :)

New parts wanted list, in no order of priority.

engine mounts- local IH dealer, vendor here or possibly source or make some from automotive parts.
front tires- TSC
tail lights- TSC or local truck stop's electrical aisle
white and yellow cub paint TSC
battery - autozone
carb rebuild kit- local IH dealer or vendor here
modern fuse holder and blade fuses- may have on hand, autozone if not
plug and plug wire
trans filter and fluid- fluid and level in it looks great for now though
oil change
replacement seat- Have a friend with a pile of brand new JD yellow riding mower seats. Will re-drill and run one on my tractor, it will look better on the cub and he will probably give me two if I ask him for one.

Used parts wanted and new wishlist items I will get at some point:

side panels
decal set
snow blade
garden plow blade/ attachment system


Tools I need to pick up:

grease gun- Harbor freight special, cant find one I thought I had in garage.