hydro fan on my 147 good grief
 

now i know why people say that narrow frames suck for drive-shaft and hydro linkage repair. i had to replace my driveshaft coupler and hydro fan. i figured i would have to remove the driveshaft. i found there is little room to work with. i removed the hydro filter. it gave me more room but i probably lost several quarts of hytran. i got the driveshaft out and i put the new fan in the same spot where the old fan was. i reinstalled the driveshaft and i realized the fan was in a spot that would destroy the blades. i attempted to move the fan foward and i ended up breaking it in the process. this is a real pain. does that fan make that much of a difference or is it same to just put it back together they way it is. my main objective was to replace the coupler and i wanted to replace the fan because i felt it should be replaced, the blades were broken. however it could have been like that for a long, long time with no ill effects.


another issue i fixed, the bolts holding the transaxle into the tractor frame were 1/2 missing and the others were loose. it was one step from falling out of the tractor. that would have been ugly, i took care of it.

im getting really sick of the prevous owners nonsense. nothing on this machine was ever done right, nearly everything was neglected or half-repaired. the machine is in much better mechanical condition then when i got it, but i still keep finding things done wrong or not at all. it gets on my nerves.

im not saying that narrow frames are bad tractors, on the contrary, they very well built. i just am starting to understand why IH did what they did when they came out with the wide frames. much easier to maintain the drivetrain.

356:

We all have been down the road of acquiring our Cubs from some owner(s) that have cobbled things together. That is to be expected and is part of the restoration process.

YES....Wide frame Cubs are much easier to work on. I have two NF Cubs, a 100 and a 105 and they are light duty play tractors. My workhorses are my 1450 & 784.

Speaking for myself with regards to the cooling fan, the necessity will probably stem from where you geographically live. If you are the the Southern States where it is hot, then YES, it is necessary. Now if you live in the Northern States, you keep your Hydro Unit clean so the heat can dissipate, you probably will have no issues. The IH Engineers had to cover all the bases and load conditions when they decided to place that fan on the drive.

Well said Roland!

the 147 was the meanest of the narrow frames. i dont consider it to be weak, but probably medium duty. i ran a 782 once with a kt17 it certainly had more power

What I meant was, they have very little or light work assignments. Granted, they are a heavy duty garden tractors, it is just that I don't use them much for work tasks.

Now watch what you say about those NF's.....:BB&YS:

Cub Cadet eins zwei drei

I have found that when working on narrow frames, take off the grill casting, hood, and take out the engine. Flip it up on the rear tires, and a 6x6 under the rear trans cover. It will sit pretty stable there. Block the tires front back , both sides, for safety. Everything is accessible now. And, I don't know that this really applies to all, but my 107 had a metal fan on the shaft. It is stamped aluminum, and you can beat on it, and bend it back to its original shape. I oopsed on it a couple times beating out a roll pin.