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My new to me 147 cub fel

2K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  classic 
#1 ·
Today is rainy, so I wasn't able to do much, this lead to cruising the local Craigslist ads. I was actually looking for wheel weights, when I saw a Cub 147 with a fel on it. Along with the tractor he had a couple extra little things, like a spare transaxle and frame. He was asking 1200, so I gave him a call. Over the phone he said he would go down to 1000. I decided to head over and look at it, about an hour away. Just in case I decided I wanted it, I hooked up the trailer and brought some green. I got there and two brothers walked out, Pete and Jimmy. Pete, is actually a friend of mine, he went to same trade school for welding, as did I. Jimmy, was his younger brother and the owner of the loader. After looking at it, I got it for 850, minus the parts he had. I will likely take the loader off and put it on a Jim dandy, so I figured the extra parts weren't important, since he wanted 1000 with the parts.

It's in decent shape, not the best. The bucket has some pitting in it, it looks like it sat with water in it. The spool valve is a little funky, I am not sure if it is worn and needs to be replaced, you have to pull it pretty hard to get the full travel speed out of it. It is pretty small, so wasn't expecting a monster workhorse but it seems a little lacking on power. The power department is lacking in the loader, and in driving. I am thinking the hydro filters need to be replaced, and new fluid may help. The engine bogs down like it's running out of gas if you move the travel lever too fast, so I think the carb could use a cleaning, it doesn't seem like it was used very much by Jimmy. It has 4 wheel weights on each rear tire, one is plastic. The other weights, look like they are each probably 25 pounders.

I don't think I paid much for it, I going to see if I can get it to work a little better and if I can I'll take it off, and sell the tractor. Pete, actually has a Jim dandy that is in really good shape and would work well on. I could put it a Power King, but I think it's a little small for it. Pete is selling the tractor for 700, with a plow and if I sell the cub I will likely buy the dandy for the loader.
 

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#2 ·
Today is rainy, so I wasn't able to do much, this lead to cruising the local Craigslist ads. I was actually looking for wheel weights, when I saw a Cub 147 with a fel on it. Along with the tractor he had a couple extra little things, like a spare transaxle and frame. He was asking 1200, so I gave him a call. Over the phone he said he would go down to 1000. I decided to head over and look at it, about an hour away. Just in case I decided I wanted it, I hooked up the trailer and brought some green. I got there and two brothers walked out, Pete and Jimmy. Pete, is actually a friend of mine, he went to same trade school for welding, as did I. Jimmy, was his younger brother and the owner of the loader. After looking at it, I got it for 850, minus the parts he had. I will likely take the loader off and put it on a Jim dandy, so I figured the extra parts weren't important, since he wanted 1000 with the parts.

It's in decent shape, not the best. The bucket has some pitting in it, it looks like it sat with water in it. The spool valve is a little funky, I am not sure if it is worn and needs to be replaced, you have to pull it pretty hard to get the full travel speed out of it. It is pretty small, so wasn't expecting a monster workhorse but it seems a little lacking on power. The power department is lacking in the loader, and in driving. I am thinking the hydro filters need to be replaced, and new fluid may help. The engine bogs down like it's running out of gas if you move the travel lever too fast, so I think the carb could use a cleaning, it doesn't seem like it was used very much by Jimmy. It has 4 wheel weights on each rear tire, one is plastic. The other weights, look like they are each probably 25 pounders.

I don't think I paid much for it, I going to see if I can get it to work a little better and if I can I'll take it off, and sell the tractor. Pete, actually has a Jim dandy that is in really good shape and would work well on. I could put it a Power King, but I think it's a little small for it. Pete is selling the tractor for 700, with a plow and if I sell the cub I will likely buy the dandy for the loader.
Good find :thumbs:
 
#8 ·
I agree with grumpy on the Jim Dandy , I really abuse the clutch & throwout bearing on my PK ,using it the other day moving stone at my sons house is a good example . Slipping the clutch while trying to get a full bucket of stones. And you know how those transmissions love going from forward to reverse .lol
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the kind works everybody, and you guys are probably right about leaving it on the cub. I will probably listen to your advice, and leave it on here for now. If I really want on something else after I use it and see how well it works I'll put it on something else.

I looked, and it doesn't even have filters!! I noticed that the pivot pin for the levers on the valve was pretty worn, and the levers ha led excessive play; I went to the hardware store and got a bolt, the new bolt helped but still some play. With the new bolt, the loader operates much faster, and you don't have to pull the levers nearly as hard.

Since its not raining I gave it a good look over, and tried to see what I may need for it. The battery doesn't seem to hold a charge, so that is needed. Another bolt for the valve to get rid of a much play as possible. I want to swap the tires with the 25-10x12 ATV tires I have on my wheel horse. The front tires are rotted pretty bad, and I would rather have more of a turf tire, so I will find a set of those. Definitely a new seat. The last thing it needs, are some steering parts. It's not to hard to turn, it just has a lot of play, I am going to get all new tie rod ends, and try to adjust everything.

I took the wheel weights off to see what they are: 4 seem to be 25 pound AC weights (if I remember correctly), 2 are 33 pound plastic weights, and the other two I'm not sure, but they weigh 20 pounds. Can anybody tell m what they are?
 

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#10 ·
Once you have the steering tightened up, you might want to install the 'super-steer' kit for that Ross box. Might help with the loader on there.
 
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#13 ·
Also, what brand is your trailer?
I'm not sure what brand it is, my uncle used it for his stock car in the 80s. Then in 93 my parents bought a house and my Dad rented a skid steer. My Dad borrowed the trailer to bring it home. At the time, my uncle had just moved into a more urban setting and couldn't keep the trailer there, so he asked to keep it at our house... The trailer never left the house since he didn't have the stock car anymore. It sat until probably 2006 when I started doing tractor pulls and we have been using it since.
 
#14 ·
I'm not sure what brand it is, my uncle used it for his stock car in the 80s. Then in 93 my parents bought a house and my Dad rented a skid steer. My Dad borrowed the trailer to bring it home. At the time, my uncle had just moved into a more urban setting and couldn't keep the trailer there, so he asked to keep it at our house... The trailer never left the house since he didn't have the stock car anymore. It sat until probably 2006 when I started doing tractor pulls and we have been using it since.
Was mainly curious because it looked extremely similar to the trailer I just bought, and can't figure out the make from the "BERT" abbreviation and thought just maybe they made more than one lol.
 
#17 ·
I picked up a Cub cadet 147 with a Johnson loader on it and it's a tough machine. The weak link is the steering and small front spindles. Also, those Cubs have a two turn steering worm gear and should be upgraded to a three turn to make the steering easier. I'm installing a Cub Cadet super steer front axle assembly with 1" spindles and 5 lug trailer hubs with tapered wheel bearings. I'm using a 1/2" Cub drag link and tie rod with Heim joints. I took the three turn worm gear shaft out of a JD column and I'll have to shorten it before installing it. I've worked my Cub hard and the steering parts and wheel bushing wear fast, so if you want to work it, change out the front axle assembly, etc. The hydro trans and rear are near bullet proof, so leave that loader on that machine, you'll enjoy it.
 
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