Cub 149 Twin Kohler M18 Project

[07dlkroll]

Hi All, new here and have been stalking posts for months getting ideas while retrofitting a 149 to house a Kohler M18 and thought i'd share the product. The tractor was my dads, and had been sitting behind his shop for 15 years when we decided to pull it out of the cold. Although the 149 is an awesome tractor as is, this was a cool project and a good way to spend the weekends in the summer with my dad. We started with the stock frame, but to align the drive shaft the frame needed lowered about 2" in the front. So we cut the frame off at the bend and welded it lower to align the drive shaft. We added some 1/2 inch steel stringers on the outside to make up for the loss in structural integrity on the frame. The 1/2 in steel is out about an inch off the original frame to allow the implements to mount on the the original studs on the side. We also decided to add a secondary hydraulic valve and convert the plow to 4 way. Because the M18 had an electric clutch, we used the existing holes in the tower for the secondary hydraulic control lever. It's a little different then i've seen on other threads but i like the way it turned out. The secondary lever is just outside, lower and in front of the primary which makes it easy to differentiate. We mounted the second control valve pulled off a 1450 to the steering column and ran the hydraulic lines in series. Hours of grinding, a fresh paint job and some 15 year old stickers and i'm happy with the outcome. I wish i would have taken more pictures during the process, maybe on the next project.. Again, new here and love the forum..