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jzidle 07-07-2017 10:53 AM

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.

Terry C 07-07-2017 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzidle (Post 426746)
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

jzidle 07-07-2017 12:46 PM

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.

Terry C 07-07-2017 01:39 PM

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:

jzidle 07-07-2017 01:43 PM

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

Terry C 07-07-2017 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzidle (Post 426762)
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.

jzidle 07-07-2017 02:53 PM

1 Attachment(s)
Here's a pic of it. Hope I did this right.

sorner 07-07-2017 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzidle (Post 426767)
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:

jzidle 07-07-2017 03:53 PM

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.

Terry C 07-07-2017 04:02 PM

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


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