Which would be the correct transmission for a 129?

[gretschwhtfalcon]

I've been using this partstree website to do some research and it shows 2 numbers for a 129 transmission: 717-3032 and 717-3033. Neither are available. So far, based on my internet searches for decks and now transmissions, it doesn't seem like some of these important items are all that easy to find. Is that the experience of most people here? I'd love to get my tractor going again, but neither do I care to invest many hours of searching that either turn up nothing or else parts that are in worse shape than mine. Any suggestions for specific sources that some of you have found useful would be appreciated.

[Alvy]

Mr. Falcon I think you need to put up a poll in one of your existing threads or start maybe one more and have the majority here decide for you whether or not to repair your tractor. I’m seeing multiple threads of you not being sure. Trust us, it’s a good investment to fix yours.

Don’t worry about the transmission it’s basically bullet proof and built better than almost anything you can get today. You’re in Pennsylvania, the absolute honey hole state of cubs and there’s about eleventy billion transmissions, engines, you name it for your cub. We are here to help, start with having the engine rebuilt or buy a rebuilt one from someone here, the time is now my good man.

Get 3 estimates and do your homework but try not to dwell on if you shouldn’t. Don’t get rid of something that’s served you well for so many years, fix it and it will serve you well for the rest of your life! There’s guys and a gal here that have what you need and then some, there’s sponsors on the top of the page that have more, trust me there’s no shortage of parts for your model

[zippy1]

What Mike said. You are in "cub central", and parts for your tractor should be plentiful.
I think, you are over thinking the whole 129 thing. Get the rebuilt engine, install it, then don't worry about the other things going bad. "IF" they do, and again, as Mike mentioned, we're here to help you fix your 129.
BUT, you have to commit, not this back and forth, thread after thread stuff. We wouldn't be here as a group, if these tractors weren't worth the time, and energy, and yes, money fixing, and keeping them operating. It is your choice, but as I said, YOU HAVE TO COMMIT, we can't make the decision for you.
Chit, or get off the pot...

[Inspector Gadget]

I've found myself in the cycle of indecision many, many times. I found this video helpful to recognize why I'm battling a hard, but not necessarily big, decision.

Watch this video and think about your choice. It's a TED talk about making hard decisions.
https://youtu.be/8GQZuzIdeQQ

Watch the video, do some thinking and decide your direction.

The analysis you're continuing to do is an endless pursuit to find one option to be clearly the better choice. That is never going to happen because the choices aren't comparable by science and numbers. The decision is much more about who you are. Watch the video and decide what person you are. It will make sense after watching the video.

At the end, you can decide are you a "new tractor with warranty guy" or are you and "old tractor with repairs guy" and what that means to you. We can't decide that for you because it's a choice that is unique to you and only you.

Stop the analysis right now and watch the video.

Good luck!

[john hall]

You really think you can buy a NEW transmission for a 45 year old lawnmower? You can't buy a NEW transmission for a 15 year old car. Maybe the reason you can't find any info out is because nobody ever has trouble with them. As long as you don't tow the durn thing behind your truck for a 1/4 mile or run it with all the fluid leaked out, it should be pretty much problem free. When you do hear of trouble with these it is generally the controls that are worn out. New pins, clevis, shim washers and you are back in business. A little welding on the trunnion and a new set of springs, all is well. Old houses, old cars, old lawnmowers--they all need help to "stay in the game". If you can't do the work yourself or afford to hire it done, you need to replace with new whatever. It really is that simple. This is why some people lease their cars and move houses every few years.

[R Bedell]

First, the only link you need to look up parts is the tab at the Top of the Page....Cub Cadet Parts and Service Look up.

Cub Cadet only had ONE transmission. The part you are referencing is the Hydro-static Drive Unit by Sundstrand. The 717-3032 is the typical (and standard) Hydro with a "non ported" pump. The 717-3033 is the optional Hydro "ported" pump unit.

[gretschwhtfalcon]

Originally Posted by zippy1

What Mike said. You are in "cub central", and parts for your tractor should be plentiful.
I think, you are over thinking the whole 129 thing. Get the rebuilt engine, install it, then don't worry about the other things going bad. "IF" they do, and again, as Mike mentioned, we're here to help you fix your 129.
BUT, you have to commit, not this back and forth, thread after thread stuff. We wouldn't be here as a group, if these tractors weren't worth the time, and energy, and yes, money fixing, and keeping them operating. It is your choice, but as I said, YOU HAVE TO COMMIT, we can't make the decision for you.
Chit, or get off the pot...

I truly do appreciate all these sentiments and encouragement and really hate to keep dragging all of you into this. I don't mean to, and promised myself to not mutate a thread merely intended to ask about finding parts back into the same old diatribe! As to the highlighted part - the deck sort of already has gone bad - Jon kind of affirmed this - so I'm trying to mentally project myself into the place of having already fixed the cub's engine problem but now am looking at the next step - which logically would be to do something about the deck. As to the trans, I'm caught between everyone here telling me that there is a strong likelihood that the thing will never wear out (I really want to believe this..but yet is it likely?) vs. others (including my IH parts dealer) telling me that at some point it probably will fail. In the latter case, my disadvantage - as has been noted and recognized clearly enough around here - is my lack of sufficient mechanical knowledge and experience to tackle a large repair job, which I assume the trans issue would be. Any 'used' part is always a roll of the dice as far as that goes - especially with something like a transmission. Kind of ironically, however, until the engine went down, I never really worried about the trans going bad at all!! Sooooo...THAT being said, maybe my mental projection is all wrong and that if I would put the engine in, that same (non-worried) frame of mind may resurface and I'll go merrily on my way again. The deck, however, IS a different issue. That needs attention and probably sooner rather than later. Can't see putting new spindles into a shell that's beginning to rust. Thanks again to ALL! I do agree..chit or get off the old pot (as the saying goes!) In the meantime, I have visited 3 dealers and looked at 3 different tractor brands. Wondering if the option of fixing the Cub AND also buying a new tractor might not be a bad idea? (A bit more garage space to accommodate this option would help sway me more in that direction). It has been suggested to me to not get rid of the Cub even if I DO buy something new. Another suggestion has been to keep the Cub as the 'old war horse' and use it for such jobs as I may not want to take a spanking new machine (with a lovely plastic hood..lol) into. I have one of those rough-and-tumble mowing jobs, by the way, which is that over the past 4 years I've been mowing paths in the woods adjacent to our property (LONG story)...some of that terrain is pretty rough and uneven, and I wind up running the edge of the deck over pretty tough weeds, etc.

[cooperino]

When the dealer was telling you at some point the trans would go.. Was he showing you new tractors???LOL.. I mean, you have told us already he had no interest in doing the repair work on your 129. So my guess is he is talking you out of rebuilding the 129 because if you do this, he gets nothing. No one here, other than Jon, have anything to gain from you keeping your 129. Btw, at the price Jon is selling the engine for, He would be getting very very little benefit from you keeping it as well.. By time you account for parts, labor, and time taken here, he will be hard pressed to break even. I doubt he calculates his time this way while building cub engines but in his work life he likely charges 80-100 an hour for labor. I bet all in he has 6-8 hours in that engine alone before parts cost.. All I am saying here is no one here is monetarily motivated to help you. The dealer you had been talking to about a new tractor is ONLY motivated by money..He will tell you whatever he needs to sway you away from your 129.

[john hall]

You have to be really careful talking to a dealer for any product. A lot of those guys are absolute idiots and will tell you anything. Be sure the individual you spoke with has "real" experience and working there is their career, not just their job. I had a dealer one time tell me they couldn't get many parts for a 20 year old Cadet (this was my 2072). They honestly told me to contact the factory for something that old. If you have a REAL parts guy at the dealer, ask him how many Cadets his shop has EVER had to go into the rear end/hydro (the real ones, not the belt drive lawn tractors). My dad spent 23 years at an IH dealer (68-91) and the opened up only 2 of them. They sold tons of Cadets. One of those was towed a long distance, Think the other was damaged when it fell out of trailer (wheels spun quit a bit when it hit the highway). The biggest problem with a hydro that is expensive to fix is changing the cork gasket--$10 part and 3-4 hours labor charge if I remember correctly.

[SS5150]

FWIW I have a pretty good Cub dealer here locally. He knows I run some oldies (2- 782s, an 86 (same series as your 129), and an 1861), I asked him would he fix the IH tractors, or should I buy something newer? His answer was a definitive FIX THE IH TRACTORS.