Upgrades to the garden tractor (pics warning)

Well I finally got around to fixing the clutch in my Cub Cadet (mid 70's Model 1000). Its been a great tractor for the couple of years I've had it, and despite its age, has been quite a workhorse and very useful at a multitude of duties. But last year the clutch went out on it, probably the original one still for all I know. It was trashed...



I don't know what went first but it looks to me like the main spring broke and sent a few pieces into the throwout bearing. The throwout arm was just abotu worn through anyhow, and the disk was craked in a few places and the pin holes like the one on the left side at the bottom of the pic were all wallowed out. So there was really nothing much left even usable.

Decided to upgrade it to a light duty pulling clutch, one I could get as a complete package. And also wanted to add a creeper unit to give me low range.


So the old clutch is there on the right, the new midwest super cub clutch on the left, and the creeper unit to the far left. The MWSC clutch had a Kevlar disk, billet machined pressure plates, a 900# spring that I had them set a little lower(adjustable collar), 6 drive pins instead of 3, a thicker and much longer throwout lever.

Time to get to work...

First thing was the new machined aluminum hub with 6 hardened pins. Kind of overkill for a GT but I want to do it once and do it right. Take a look at the stock 3 pin driver next to it. Unfortunately I had to remove the grass screen and also grind down the grass screen mounts a little. If they would have just rotated it a few more degrees when they drilled the holes...


Another mod I did while I had the front end off, I put a later model axle on the front off an 80's cyclops Cub. The newer axle features a much sharper turning circle (took off almost 2 foot), larger and greasable wheel bearings, plus slightly heavier construction and lifted the front around 2" which balanced back out the bigger tires I put on the rears. I just got to swap my nice V61 ribbed tires back on the new axle. Took some fabbing to get the steering link hooked up though (different rod ends).




New clutch and creeper set in place. I've heard rumors I may have to reinforce the throwout arm bracket, but I am going to try it first, since I chose there lighter spring and also had em back it off a little.


Engine back in and matched up. Purdy!

Time to put it and my new trailer I built to the test!


30cuft loaded up! Just got to be careful now not to pop a wheelie! 10HP is more than it sounds...


Back up the hill to the truck. Works like a charm! I know she's no show machine, but paint is pretty good I think being all original still. Like the new taller stance and the increased ground clearance. She's ready to start working on next years wood!

BTW I skipped the several month nightmare of wrong shaft lengths and pin holes, linkage issues, etc. Oh and as you can see from the green grass this was actually back this summer... I just havent got online here since then.

Sweet ride. If you bust that clutch I'm going to report you and confiscate your tractor for cruelty.

Have you considered some front weight to keep the front end down? You sure are moving a lot of weight on a garden tractor!

I had Cub Cadet 70 and that was one hell of a tractor. Your setup looks great!

Thanks all!
Danno - If I break that clutch I'll turn it over to you and stick with hydros.
J.Straw - Love the look of the ol 70's and 100's wish I had one of those myself.

Well my comment about popping a wheelie was due to the 'pulling' clutch not the weight... I mean it engages so much harder and sharper than the factory clutch (thats one disadvantage for a daily worker, but its not so bad - I just have to remember to take my foot off more slowly). But the extra weight does make it easier... and I designed that trailer with the axle further back to put more weight on the drive tires. The tractor itself can take a lot more weight until the front end gets bouncy... my 6x10 road trailer weighs in at 1400# empty and it will handle a tossed on seasoned load on that(here is a pic). But a stacked load of green wood is too much. But yeah I do want to put some ballast weight on the front. I've got plans to turn one of my other cubs into a dedicated logger that I may just leave up to the farm. I was going to build a bumper/grill guard in the front with a hitch mount (I've got some 2" steel tubbing laying around), and maybe a battery box behind it to fit one of the big truck batteries. That should be enough weight out front. Perhaps even a cheap winch, but I may put that on a hitch mount so I could put it in the front or the back, wherever needed. maybe a small boom for dragging logs too (well, small ones)... the ideas are flowing. Time and money though, thats another story.

Some other future plans for this tractor include a spring assist for the lift (which I have on one of my hydro cubs thats getting a hydraulic lift instead), turning brakes if I can fabricate em, and a 14hp motor from a junk 1450 cub I have sitting around (but not sure what the condition of the motor is).

That looks very similar to a mid-eighties MTD garden tractor that I just retired. I only retired it because the deck was rusted too badly and was an odd size.
Replacement was too expensive.
I think that MTD actually built Cubs.
Its good to see that your machine is still going.

I think I'd take that over my 2006ish cub- a number of problems from day one

Nice trailer too!

The 1000 is an International Harvester built Cub Cadet. MTD bought the company from IH in the early 80's. Your mid-eighties MTD machine had nothing in common with an IH Cub cadet.

Very nice set up. Good that you are handy. I"m ok with gas, grease, oil and plugs, but that about my limit. I'm using a new tractor now because my 6 yr old one won't run right. (MTD) enough said about that one!

I had a nice Ariens hydro with all the PTO's but my teenage kids kept trying to use it as an ATV. Now they own it!

Hey Flatbed havent talked to you in a while. Yep all my cubs are the pre-1981 MTD acquisition, all built at IH Louisville Tractor Works, Louisville, KY. However to be technical, there is one part from an 80's MTD cub that I put on mine - that black front axle.

Hey Jags, not sure if you caught the one link I posted above of my bigger trailer: 6x10 full of wood thats probably more similar trailer load to yours. Its one of my hydro cubs, and it can move that (~2000lbs?) on level ground just putting along at idle. But introduce a big hill and rough terrain and its completely unusable in the woods, which I why I made the 30cuft one. Braking is also the bigger issue when you start talking 2k lbs or more, or less really, if on a hill.

Thanks! Well I'm not that handy, but I learn as I go. One reason I got that clutch instead of factory replacement parts was because it was a complete & assembled unit. I was really hoping to not have to do too much figuring out. But of course nothing ever goes as planned, and now I know all about cub cadet clutches lol. And Ariens made some great stuff over the years too.

Good to see you to OhioBurner. That's some nice work you did on that machine. I've only dealt with hydro cubs so far. That whole clutch assembly looks much more complicated than the hydro drivetrain. I had my 149 apart a couple times this summer. I did the trunion repair, and had the engine out to remove the balance gears and do some serious cleaning.

Well yeah it looks more complicated, the hydro just has a driveshaft! The hydro is complicated on the inside though, but very robust. Its all the control linkages and stuff like you have found out thats the pain. Same with the clutch, all those parts you dont mess with, the only thing really adjustable is the throwout arm adjustment so you can set when the clutch and brakes engage relative to each other. My 129 will need some hydro work before winter, since for snow removal I much prefer the hydro. There is no tension left on the lever, it will fall right down into reverse on its own. It also is all over the place, and bucks and kicks. I havent ever looked into how to adjust hydros yet, but I'll have to for this machine, its pretty much unusable now. Might be the trunion repair too. I have a 1450 junk tractor with hydraulic lift that I want to swap the whole assembly out - I'm not sure what the condition of the hydro is in that but maybe I'll get lucky. I have a QA-42A snow thrower that I've never used yet that I want to test out on that 129 this winter, so I need to get it running good.

The tension on the lever could be very easy. Tighten the cap screw on part #16 in this diagram of the hydro control linkage. Remove the tunnel cover and start moving the hydro lever. You should be able to find the parts pretty easily. You'll need a smaller allen key, maybe 1/8". Once the lever is tight, the bucking and kicking should stop.

If that doesn't help, you may have to do the trunion repair. Here's a link on that. http://onlycubcadets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4635&referrerid=2019

Thanks I been meaning to look into it for so long but keep putting it off. Just might have to pop the hood on it tomorrow, thanks for the info!

Happy to help.