149 update

[rfrank]

Been awhile since Ive posted, been working on the 149 I got for free. (danger danger) after spend about 400.00 on normal wear items, belts, pins, half a pto and the rebuild kit. New trunion springs, welding up the trunion and making it sqaure and smooth sliding against the cam. I finally get an idea of how this 149 is going to work.

I still have a hydro slow down when going up an incline at full throttle. I have to nudge forward the hydro to keep a steady speed. Have done all the adjustments with neutral creep and all that. Notice it more when the hydro is good and warm after an hour or so of mowing. Still not used to a hand operating lever, but am getting used to it. Will be putting in a different used hydro later this year to see if that makes a difference.

The mower deck doesnt have any left to right adjustment for level, so I had to weld up a hanger bracket to get it level. Mowes OK although I have to admit my old mtd seems to cut it better still. Seems as though the old 42in deck just doesnt quite lift the grass enough to get an even cut.

The rototiller works nice wish I had another extension to make it 42inches wide.

The shredder 59m works great although it really is loud and it works the 14hp kohler harder than id like.

Welded up the drive hub and took some of the wallow out, but the driveshaft has some wallow so its something I ll probably adapt a double flex disc type of set up in the future.

Still need to work on the steering geer, but thats too be expected for a tractor of this vintage. It seems like there is always something to do with this tractor. I know its much better than anything I can buy for under about 2500 so thats motivation to repair, replace 30+ years of use, neglect and abuse. Nothing runs from a cub better than a deere. Be safe all.

[Diz Jr.]

rfrank,
Sounds like you have been really busy! I did the same thing to my 149 last year. Once you get all the things fixed its great. I am working on the 169 here lately. Like you said just things that were let go. Trying to get it back in better shape. I have had 3 hydros now and none of them pull hills the same. The 149 does the best, hardly ever have to touch the leaver. the 169 is next. The 1450 I had would stop in its tracks at the slightest grade. You just had to move the leaver more to keep it moving. But you could still latch onto the trailer and drag it anywhere you wanted to go. Just had to move the leaver more.

[Yosemite Sam]

Yeah, when you get one like that they will ten and twenty you to death until you get everything back in shape, but if you think about it, you are doing twenty years worth of regular maintenance things all at the same time.

OR you can go spend $2000.00+ and get yourself a new pos that will last 4 or 5 years, if you're lucky.

Spend 2K on an old Cub and you'll have a machine that will outlast... well your kids will be using it long after you're gone.

Now, pull that column out spend thirty bucks and a couple of hours on it and you'll be one step closer to leaving a really nice little tractor to your kids!

[RPalmer]

rfrank,
That's quite a list. And you probably remembered more after posting.:biggrin2.gif: I think you have one great tractor on you hands. Keep a plugging away.

[R Bedell]

rfrank:

I still have a hydro slow down when going up an incline at full throttle. I have to nudge forward the hydro to keep a steady speed. Have done all the adjustments with neutral creep and all that. Notice it more when the hydro is good and warm after an hour or so of mowing. Still not used to a hand operating lever, but am getting used to it. Will be putting in a different used hydro later this year to see if that makes a difference.

The Hydrostatic Transmission is a type of drive (a pump & fluid), just as a Gear Drive is a type of drive. The Hydrostatic Transmission is just that, a transmission and NOT cruise or speed control.

All my Hydro's loose speed going up a hill, just like a gear drive. This is NORMAL.

[rfrank]

yes your absolutely correct, sometimes we expect a hydro to run like a gear driven trans. Running the engine at normal rpms helps. I expect some decline in speed. Like any hydro a little more pedal or in this case lever going up hills.

Im hearing a bit of hydro chatter. After talking to some hyraulic hydro-tranny experts(really) they have assured me that my hydro will last another 40 years with normal maintenance. However there is some hydro "chatter as he calls it and that has to do with slipper wear and as they called it slip stick. Im fortunate enough to have a brother who has a degree in hydraulics and has worked with hydraulics in the automotive field( convertible actuating systems Lift mechanisms and now military hydro static applications which is way beyond my comprehension).

He has expressed the fact that when "tweaking" a hydro for the perfect balance it is not an easy task, when you change one variable it affects another.

Hes been working on neutral issues with hydros with a certain government vehicle for six months. Imagine having a hydro that has to maintain speed measure torque and adjust accordingly to inclines, declins weight and speed. all this with apparent seemlessness. I have a spare hydro and the thought of just seeing what if any difference there is. I think that can wait. I need to work onthe steering first.

question on steering effort? will a spindle upgrade help with this. Im not a small man and am strong like bull. but the wife isnt(whew) and she would like to mow the lawn for me occasionally, however she does note it takes a bit more to steer than our other lawn tractors. Weight alone explains most of it and it steers way better than my brother and fathers green and yellow 212.

[RPalmer]

R Bedell
All my Hydro's loose speed going up a hill, just like a gear drive. This is NORMAL.

I was under the false impression that as I went up hill and the tractor started to slow the governor would come into play and keep me chugging as I was.

[Yosemite Sam]

You are correct about the governor picking your engine rpms up when going up-hill, but your hydro is basically a hydraulic pump that turns a hydraulic motor. The extra force will cause it to slow down, just as a (hydraulic) front end loader will not lift a full bucket as fast as it will an empty one.

Maybe better explained by saying: Setting on flat ground with no added weight, or trying to pull a pulling sled. Even though you have the same engine rpm, you would really need to cram the lever forward to get the tractor and sled to move, whereas with no load… you already know how that works.

lol, the whole thing really is kind of deceiving, if you want a constant ground speed use your gear drive. The thing that bugs us hydro freaks with the gear drive is, you only have three ground speed choices.

[rfrank]

As it was explained to me and Ill do my best to explain it so bear with me. Cub hydro should be driven at recommended rpm to keep pump pressure constant there is some so to speak slip or slowing down of the hydro under a load. The engine is spinning a pump which in turn is turning a fluid motor. In our cars the fluid coupling is usually a torque converter. When incurring a load it gets to a point the pressure change causes a downshift to a lower gear driven by fluid in our cars. The cub hydro doesnt have gears to kick down too. The cub has a swash plate that tilts 15 degrees one way and 7 the other way. So for us to get constant speed there comes a point that you have to give it more angle to allow more fluid to be delivered to the hydro motor increasing torque. The springs and cam plate do a good job, but are limited to laws of physics. Other hydros use other means to try and offset the load. The sun hydro is a simple design, effective, maybe not terribly efficient but anytime you transfer energy thru another medium you loose energy. The tractor shouldnt come to a complete stop on most grades, Thats either out of adjustment or the pump is sufficiently worn that it cant apply enough force to turn the hydro motor.

Heres a good example. Spray a stream of water at a fan blade, it turns fairly easy, now spray that same water stream at the same fan with a head wind slowing the fan down(load), what do you do, either you spray the water towards the outside of the fan which applies more torque, or you increase the stream of water. Thats what we have to do with our hydros. Now if the wind picks up you get to a point where no matter how much water you spray it cant overcome the load of the wind. so something has to give, slippage. I hope this helps.

[rfrank]

Wild Bill, Thanks for the input on the steering. I guess like anything else I was just a bit intimidated by the steering as its foreign to me. LOL thanks again.