Hydrostat Adjustment
 

Whenever I depress the brake/clutch of the 149 all the way down, it wants to creep forward. So, how do I adjust this so that neutral really is neutral and there would be no creeping forward when the lever is in the neutral position. Also, the hydrostat on my 149 allows me to adjust between forward and reverse on the go, but on my 123 I have to depress the clutch before making the change--were they designed differently since the 123 is from 1967 and the 149 is from 1973? Thanks in advance for the consideration of my questions!!

Cub Cadet 123

149, take the tunnel cover off, there is a rod between the trunnion and the petal. I beleive it will have to be adjusted to be a bit longer. Once you take the tunnel cover off and spend a minute figuring how things work, you'll see what I mean. As for the 123, I think sonethings screwy there. You may want a helper to move the lever while you look from the bottom to see if something is catching in the trunnion assembly. The trunnion assembly is the same on both tractors, so you could use the 149 for a reference. Good luck!

No. He needs to download the service manual from the Tech Library and read up on the operational neutral adjust procedure.

Cub Cadet 123-

Basically, you need to remove the tunnel cover on the 149 and loosen the two bolts that hold the cam linkage bracket to the pump. The holes are slotted so the plate can be moved up and down. Move it all the way up, and tighten one of the bolts slightly so it can't move on its own. Put the tractor on jackstands so the rear wheels are in the air, and then start the tractor and put the lever in neutral. The wheels will probably be spinning. Using a hammer and brass rod, very carefully (stay far away from the cooling fan) tap the cam linkage bracket down until the wheels stop spinning. Shut off the tractor, tighten the bolts, and put the tunnel cover back on, and you're all set.

MattG- Would this be the same procedure for a 1450???

Yep. I think the procedure is essentially the same for every hydro CC.

I haven't taken a whole lot of time to try and figure out the cam and trunnions, last time I needed to fabricate a new bushing for the cam. Since I was there I figured I would see if I could make 'pedal down' = neutral.

Just like the time(s) before, when pushing the pedal down made the tractor stop I lost way too much reverse.

I'm thinking this is a design 'feature' to limit ground speed in reverse, I'm having none of it, I adjust the cams for full/ max speed and ignore the pedal when it comes to stopping.

So I'm curious, any one else loose ground speed in reverse when the pedal is adjusted to stop the tractor?

It is possible to have full range of forward and reverse speed while still having the pedal adjusted for proper neutral/stop. Follow Matt's recommendation for the cam linkage bracket adjustment, adjust the control rod, and possibly adjust the brake linkage rod.

I have followed this procedure from the service manual on my 1211, 682, and 127 and I have full ground speed in forward and reverse with neutral via the pedal dead nuts. It takes a little patience to get it adjusted right, but is very simple to do.

If you lose ground speed in reverse because the pedal is adjusted to neutral, then something else is not adjusted correctly...imho


Jeff (teet)

If you lost reverse, THEN you probably need to change the length of the linkage rod and then redo the operational neutral adjust. I'm just not sure whether to lengthen or shorten the rod:Huh:

I'm in this same boat now after trying to "tweak" my 127 some more.... Have you tried this yet cub 123? That way I can "cheat" off someone else and might not have to do as much work. :)

Follow MattG's instructions above. I just did this procedure to my 1450 yesterday and it worked great. Have some patience, it took 3 attempts to get it perfect.