Cub Cadet 125

[Lucky Chow]

As some of you know, I picked up this 125 about 3 weeks ago from a gentleman in Tennessee. It showed up on Craig's List and I made a call a couple days later. He still had it so I made arrangements to go see it. It was about an hour and 15 minutes from my house. I ended up buying the unit thinking it was a 105 instead of the 104 that was on the hood. I knew it wasn't a 104 since it was a hydrostatic. Little did I know how wrong I was, when Tim E said some things didn't look right for it to be a 104. Turns out to be a 125, which makes me even happier.

You've seen this before, but here it is coming home being pulled by my Prius V wagon, which Olds45512 referred to as my "hair dryer", lol.



So now it's time to start making repairs to things that have been neglected. Since the tires looked to be dry rotted and original, I ordered new tires and have already had them mounted and they're on the tractor. There was a lawn mower shop up the road that charged me $12 each and I took them up on that deal. Sometimes it pays to outsource some things even though I could have done it myself. They had a tire machine and I would have spent a long time getting those done. I also ordered some other parts that will be replaced as soon as I can get to them. Here's a few sitting on my cart waiting to be installed.



This afternoon I pulled the wheels off the front to install new bearings.



The wheel bearings were pretty sloppy. However, that's not the only slop there. The spindles have quite a bit of movement in the axle. I know I can buy new spindles, but is there a bushing in the axle too? When they are worn, is it usually just the spindle or does the axle also wear? If someone can point me in the right direction for this fix, I'd appreciate it.

Here's some pictures replacing the bearings. After removing them from the wheel, I pulled a rag through the axles to remove all the old grease. The new bearings are sealed, so I'm assuming there is no way (or need) to add any additional grease.






Please excuse the dirty wheel I'm working on. The weather has been so bad since I bought it, I haven't been able to wash it yet.

That's it for today. Hope to get more done this week since the weather will be a little warmer.

[Billy-O]

Oil in plastic bags? Intravenous feeding? Intensive care? Com'on!!!!

You will like that 125. Ask me how I know! Your 125 looks good!

[cubcadet]

Looks good.

[Rmowl]

That's a nice looking 125, congrats! I haven't seen the oil in a bag either! As far as the spindles, my 782 has bushings in the axle but the narrow frames do not. I had a spindle sieze up on the 124 to the point where I ended up getting a new axle, anti siezed all of them after that

[Lucky Chow]

Originally Posted by Billy-O

Oil in plastic bags? Intravenous feeding? Intensive care? Com'on!!!!

You will like that 125. Ask me how I know! Your 125 looks good!

Ha! Ha! I was shocked too!

[Jeff in Pa]

As I posted before, I like the 125 model so much I have two of them.

Look on the insides of your rims, there should be a grease fitting there. That's how you add grease to them.

Jeff

[Lucky Chow]

Originally Posted by Jeff in Pa

As I posted before, I like the 125 model so much I have two of them.

Look on the insides of your rims, there should be a grease fitting there. That's how you add grease to them.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff! You just sent me down to the garage to check that out. . . . .

These do not have a fitting on either side of the wheel for the spindle. There is one on the axle for the vertical part of the spindle. Could these be replacement wheels that were of lesser quality??

[olds45512]

a cub being pulled by a prius? oil in a bag? what will you come up with next?

[drglinski]

How does that hair dryer pull (and stop!) the trailer & cub?

I like it. 125s are one of my favorites too. We (the kids and Dad) wore his 125 out. We rebuilt the motor 3 times in the 31 years I've been alive, and countless repairs & new mower decks, and she keeps going. Awesome little machine. 4 kids beat on it and it keeps on going.

[john hall]

So should I take my unopened quart bottles of Low-ash oil and hide them away since they are now collector items? About how much did you get charged for the oil? I need to get near a Case-IH dealer this spring and get a case.