D_Mac 9,136 #1 Posted February 27 (edited) As you know I picked up that Bolens at an estate sale few weeks ago for 50 bucks. Got it running and have sold it. At the sale there was also a International Harvester Cub Cadet 109 for sale that I did not buy as the asking price was more then I was willing to spend. The lady running the sale called me the other day to tell me the Cub did not sell and asked if I was interested in it. Cub was in the barn. She said it wouldn't start. I bought the Bolens not starting and it was outside. So we worked out a deal and I went to pick it up today. Got it pretty cheap but not as cheap as I got the Bolens. The Cub had a deck attached and also a second one that appears to be solid but incomplete. It also came with the owners manual and a very nice Service Manual in a 3 ring binder. So I use my Snowco trailer for the second time now and get it home. Seems to be in ok shape. I notice some issues right away but a put some gas in it, charged the battery. Turned the key and it's purring like a kitten. Fired right up. I see some things I need to address but mostly issues with the deck and how the deck carriage locks into place. That being said it's running and driving. Saved from being scraped. Couple years back I had the 108 model. The 109 is same only it's hydro driven. These old IH Cubs are built like tanks. Hopefully find a new home for it soon. Let me know if anyone has had or have one. Noticed it didn't have headlights, were they an option ? This one has the cigarette lighter that still works. First pick is it in the barn. I thought because of all the green grass clippings all over it that it must have been running recently. 20250227_132803.mp4 Edited March 1 by D_Mac 7 9 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike'sHorseBarn 3,132 #2 Posted February 27 Very nice looking cub! Great save! 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 70,696 #4 Posted February 27 Excellent. Great save Don! If I was closer I'd be interested in that. My maternal Grampa had a yellow & white IHC Cub Cadet before his Red X82 series. Always did like that. His was hydro too. No idea what year or model. Niiiiice. 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 28,761 #5 Posted February 27 2 hours ago, D_Mac said: Noticed it didn't have headlights, were they an option ? Headlights would have been an option. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D_Mac 9,136 #6 Posted February 28 I believe it's a 1973. I'm going to hang on to the service manual as it explains in great detail of the kohler engines. @ebinmaine take a road trip and come get it for what I paid. Since I'm not keeping it I don't plan on fixing anything else on it. Needs a deck belt so I can't test the deck but the spindles spin very freely. For you I'd even toss in the 3 ring binder! Looking at some images of these older Cubs I notice alot of them have the steering knob. Was that another option or just coincidence ? This one has the cigarette lighter that works and dosnt look to be ever used. If no one noticed yet the rear tires don't match. I do have a pair of 6x12s or AGs I can put on. Going to have to wait for the snow to melt first to get them out of the shed. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D_Mac 9,136 #7 Posted March 16 (edited) Well been spending some time on this Cub since last posted. Since then I have rebuilt the starter generator, swapped some things back and forth on the 2 decks it came with. Got the one rusty one back on as it needed less parts exchanged. The other shell is rock solid but would need to swap everything over. Just wanted to get deck on to see if everything would be worth swapping. Good news is that it all works as it should. Needs either the carb replaced or rebuilt. Floods over making it tricky to start. Needle must be stuck. After rebuilding the starter/generator it cranks over much better. Anyways it still needs a little more TLC but it runs, drives, and cuts now. 20250315_152751.mp4 Edited March 20 by D_Mac 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 70,696 #8 Posted March 16 6 minutes ago, D_Mac said: Needs either the carb replaced or rebuilt. Floods over making it tricky to start. Needle must be stuck. After rebuilding the starter/generator it cranks over much better Those are super easy to clean and rebuild. IMHO and experience do NOT replace it. The float and needle in particular is the easiest thing to do. I'd be happy to help if needed. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D_Mac 9,136 #9 Posted March 16 May take you up on that. I tried one once and had horrible results. That's why I don't even try dropping the bowl. Tried that once too and lost the needle when it fell out. After I found it I couldn't reuse the gasket. I tried running some Seafoam through it to clean some but if you don't turn the gas off when shut off gas just leaks out. I think it's original carb. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 70,696 #10 Posted March 16 25 minutes ago, D_Mac said: May take you up on that. I tried one once and had horrible results. That's why I don't even try "dropping the bowl". I want to clear something up right here on the phrase above. For future reference of yourself and also anyone who may read this thread. Don't drop the bowl off of a Kohler carburetor while it's still on the engine. Ever. IMHO and experience there should be absolutely NO such thing as dropping the bowl. No one should ever remove the bowl from the bottom of the carburetor because if you THINK you need to do that, you KNOW you need to REBUILD it PROPERLY. 25 minutes ago, D_Mac said: Tried that once too and lost the needle when it fell out. After I found it I couldn't reuse the gasket. There should be a gasket in there along with a baffle piece. If it is more than 3 to 5 years old with NON ethanol it might be usable. If it's more than a month or two using ethanol gas, the gaskets and baffle are trash and can only be installed once. 25 minutes ago, D_Mac said: I tried running some Seafoam through it to clean some but if you don't turn the gas off when shut off gas just leaks out. I think it's original carb. Pop it out and send it up here. Looks like it has some significant corrosion. It will need to be disassembled and the Welch plug taken off the side so it can be properly cleaned behind it. FYI: That will need to soak some and run through a few cycles of my ultrasonic cleaner. With transportation it'll be a two or three week process. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 10,354 #11 Posted March 17 (edited) 14 hours ago, ebinmaine said: I want to clear something up right here on the phrase above. For future reference of yourself and also anyone who may read this thread. Don't drop the bowl off of a Kohler carburetor while it's still on the engine. Ever. IMHO and experience there should be absolutely NO such thing as dropping the bowl. No one should ever remove the bowl from the bottom of the carburetor because if you THINK you need to do that, you KNOW you need to REBUILD it PROPERLY. While we’re both entitled to our opinion, its usually one of the first things I do to a new to me tractor. I want to see if it will run before I give its lot of maintenance. The bowl tells me some history. I clean it, pull the jets, spray the ports with carb cleaner (poor man’s carb overhaul) Then I hook up a nurse tank so I’m pulling new clean fuel verses old fuel from a dirty tank, lines and bowl. Now I’m ready to try to make it run. If it runs half decent and doesn’t smoke terrible, then I proceed putting some maintenance $$ into it, including a full carb cleaning. Edited March 17 by oliver2-44 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 70,696 #12 Posted March 17 3 hours ago, oliver2-44 said: The bowl tells me some history. I clean it, pull the jets, spray the ports with carb cleaner I can absolutely see the logic there. Good procedure. Our methodology differs in that BBT and I really don't test things. If something is being disassembled for cleaning here it's during a restoration. I've seen/handled/read about quite a few cases where someone starts to do a quick check and the bowl, needle and seat go six different directions while flying away... sorta like the shift detent balls in a transmission. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squonk 42,513 #13 Posted March 17 Pull the main jet out counting the turns. Spray a bunch of carb cleaner down the hole and reinstall the jet. If the carb isn't too bad it will clear out the carbunkles. If it doesn't work chances are there is so much junk in the trunk that it really needs to be torn apart. That Cub carb looks pretty nasty 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D_Mac 9,136 #14 Posted March 17 Looks nasty but once it starts runs perfectly. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D_Mac 9,136 #15 Posted yesterday at 11:37 AM (edited) Since acquiring this IHCC I have slowly but surely getting some needed work done to it. I have rebuilt the starter/generator, replaced the PTO bearing, and just finished combining the two decks into one good deck. I still haven't installed the finished deck onto the tractor yet, finished it last night. After work today I'll hang it. Overall it's in great shape. Any of you who have ever had an older Cub know just how solid these things are. Hopefully when this is done I can move on to my Charger project. Edited yesterday at 11:40 AM by D_Mac 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peter lena 9,087 #16 Posted yesterday at 12:50 PM @ D-MAC thought that engine sounded very good , would take advantage of that , a regular for me on any pickups , is to run it in on a separate gallon of heavily treated fuel , after bole drop . then a fresh oil change , watch for effect , own personal experience with fuel debris , is to replace fuel lines , clean out tank / related , know this is a hot spot of contention , ethanol fuel , or ethanol free , been using sta bil in all my fuels for years , guess what ? absolutely no rubber hose break down , or related debris in any filter / bowl area . top off my tank after every use , add an ounce or two of stabil , thats it ! no fuel related issues at all . regularly refer to my trial with a REPEDITIVE PROBLEM , love those ? break down every stage , and eliminate it . isn't that what you want ????? also have vertical in line fuel check valves , in my units , looking at clean / clear fuel , going to carb bole ,just my cure to a long gone nagging problem , pete 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D_Mac 9,136 #17 Posted yesterday at 03:55 PM (edited) @peter lena yes I have been using ethanol free gas in all my small engines for years. Before i fill my 5 gallon can with ethanol free gas I pour Sta - bil in the can . Snowblower, tractors , lawn mowers, chippers, ..etc. no matter what needs gas it's treated and ethanol free. If it was a tractor I would be keeping I would do fuel lines and carb. It's not a keeper and runs great so I'm not messing with those. Give the next owner something to do. Edited yesterday at 07:07 PM by D_Mac 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D_Mac 9,136 #18 Posted yesterday at 07:17 PM Well I got the deck on only to find out I have to take it off again. One of the spindles is a little loud. I should have swapped the spindles from the rotted deck as they were really quiet when I had it on. I did remove them from the rotted shell. Shoulda coulda woulda. I thought about swapping the spindles but decided to roll the dice. Snake eyes! These decks are not as easy to take on and off as Wheel Horses and attach a matic system. PITA. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 70,696 #19 Posted 23 hours ago 5 hours ago, D_Mac said: Sta - bil in the can . Snowblower, tractors , lawn mowers, chippers, ..etc. no matter what needs gas it's treated and ethanol free FYI. If you're using that gas within 6 months or even a year. No stabilizer required. No harm!! But not required..... We use NO additives in our fuel even on the engines that are only seasonal. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D_Mac 9,136 #20 Posted 23 hours ago I do it mainly for the snowblower. It's just a habit for me now. Depending on the winter the snowblower may go a year between it's last use to the first use of the next season. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 70,696 #21 Posted 20 hours ago 2 hours ago, D_Mac said: habit Good habit 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites