982 question
 

I noticed that some of the 3 point/rear PTO's are painted black on some machines. My 982 is original and is red. Was that how CCC did them or was that an added option. I would also like to know what to do with my engine. It is the original Onan with 560 hours on the meter. I think the rods are the weak link in this engine and what else should I replace? The tractor runs great but I don't want to have it fail and get a replacement. I want to keep this one original. Thanks.

This is what I am unsure about....I am not sure if I will finish my sleeve hitch in black and white or just one colour....not sure? I will have to see how it looks once I get it home, it is hard to make a positive choice just by looking at pictures? You ever use your pto Oak? If so what you use it for? I was wondering why no one seems to use a rear mounted two stage snowblower on these tractors with the rear pto and 3pth? I would think if you lived in the Northern States and Canada it would be the cats ass - maybe need to put some weights on the front to keep things leveled out, but I think it would be great??

IIRC....The items on the back end were red under the IH ownership, and black under the CCC owership.

Hmmmm...Guess I am going to get some red paint then! How about the sleeve hitch, should it be red or white?

Roland is correct about the red and black 3-points. As far as the sleeve hitch color, you might have to clarify your question a little better. A sleeve hitch was never offered for the supers. Also, I've never heard of a rear mounted snowblower for a GT, and you can't just go out and buy one. The cat 0 pto turns at 2000 rpms while most other pto's turn at 540 rpms. There's really not a whole lot of 2000 rpm pto driven attachments out there and when you do find them, they cost big bucks. Hope this helps.

AJ

I forgot to address you rod issues. Yes they are definely the weak link on those engines and should be replaced with the new style before the old ones break and do some real damage. Other than rods, I think there might have been a conversion kit to eliminate the points. I'm not sure of the part number for the kit, or how much it cost, but I'm pretty sure it is/was out on the market.

AJ

Hey aj, have you replaced the rods in yours yet? If so how big of a job was it? Did you do it yourself or have a shop do the work for you ?

AJ, Where would be a good place to find the Onan parts and a good manual to work on the engine? I noticed that Cub Cadet doesn't offer much for the Onans anymore. I will look at the sponsers here. Thanks.

I ended up buying my rods, all gaskets, and a manual from ebay. I did the work myself and it really wasn't that hard. Basically pull the engine, remove the sheet metal, pull the heads, drop the oil pan and then you can get to the rod bolts to remove the piston and rod assembly as a whole. Installation is the reverse. I think the only parts you need are the rods, a oil pan gasket and the head gaskets. I know most people will tell you that you need to pull the cranks and have it checked for out of roundness, but I mic'ed everything and it looked good to me so I just reassembled it. Plus I only use my 982 for about 10 - 20 hrs a year, so I figured that even if something did fail, it would be for quite a while.

So how do you tell if the rods are going bad without visually looking at them at the time of engine tear down? In asking that I mean, can you tell if the engine is running by a certain sound or something if the rods are going bad? Or is it one of those things that just happen, no warning? Only reason I am asking is if you buy a tractor, how do you know if the rods have been replaced without tearing it down, if the previous owner didn't do the repairs already but doesn't know if the owner before that did it?? When did the replacement rods come out? Is there a serial number break that you know that specific tractor would have the new style rods or not??