All Done!
 

well, only 6-7 months behind schedule, but it's finally finished! took the 125 for it's first post-rebuild test drive today, even though the weather was less than agreeable. everything worked great! hydro lift was nice and smooth, hydro tranny climbed steep hills without missing a beat, and the engine purred happily. snapped some pictures of the finished product.

http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/...ps41c91186.jpg

http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/...psf9f3ab71.jpg

http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1ca22dba.jpg

plus a nice profile shot. drglinski, I've got the hood ornament on the right way round! :biggrin2:

http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/...ps12775d32.jpg

It's come a long way from when I first bought it. here's how it used to look:

http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/...ps37431d59.jpg

http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/...psb478442b.jpg

http://i1306.photobucket.com/albums/...ps68c830f3.jpg

now to get the qa-42a ready for winter! free up some rusted bolts, lube what needs it, make some skis for it to help avoid the rocks in the driveway, and we're ready for snow! I have the 42 blade ready as a backup.

Your 125 came out great!

wow, looks completely different, great work :beerchug:

Looks really nice cadzag, are all of those lights functional or just the rear? Love the hydraulic lift, I got one on my 123 and they work awesome. Must be a good feeling, its quality not quantity right!

Great job!!! :beerchug:

Fantastic job on the 125!:beerchug:

The 125 looks great!!!

What he said!:beerchug:

Ditto to what Mike said! :biggrin2:

Now what you need is to go get yourself some of the door edge guard and put on the front of the hood so it doesn't chip the paint when you open the hood!

Still waiting to see your bling!:biggrin2:

I will try to get a pic this week. :beerchug:

Looks great. Give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.

That is a SHARP looking 125:beerchug:

You did a great job on it!! You got to love to drive a freshly redone tractor and see the all the hard work pay off!

:beatdeadhorse: but AWESOME looking tractor. :beerchug:

looks fantastic.
I bet your the only owner of two 40+ year old Cub Cadets in the entire state!.

There is a hole in my heart and your 125 makes it feel better.

Nice job on the paint.

Haha, that was the first thing I noticed on your pics. You have a gorgeous machine. 125s are easily my second favorite cub behind the 147. I love how IH went with the blue dash, something I wish my 147 had. I also think 125s look best with the wider front wheels/tires exactly like yours has.

As for the hood guard; I think a cable/rope shortened on the inside of the hood so it can't open too far to chip paint is a better looking option.

Thanks everybody! it was a fun project, I only wish I could have worked on it more regularly! I started in April, and probably averaged about 20 minutes a week of actual work. I would bring the baby monitor out to the shop so I would know when I was back "on duty."

Alvy, the lights are all operational, the large lights on the back are linked into the stock tail light circuit, plus they have a flasher that will blink them for when I'm plowing/blowing or just working near the road. when I bought it it had all the stock wiring for lights including the NF light switch under the dash, but all of the lights were missing. I decided to put them all back and add a few (including those markers on the grille casting to fill in the PO holes.) glad you all like the end result!

125 turned out great, a job well done:beerchug:

A cub cannot be outstanding unless it is willing to stand out and yours certainly does! :beerchug: A job well done and with a hydraulic lift, too. I do think that it would look more finished with a clutch guard, but that is only my opinion. Great looking tractor!!!!

Just in case you are interested: In order to have it work with your hydraulic lift, starting in the middle (engine side of it) cut a slit 3/4" at the top of the hump. Then from the hydraulic lift side, cut a straight line up to meet that cut. That should accommodate your hydraulic lift belt...it did for mine and the good news is that your clutch cover is still in tact as one piece.

Cub Cadet 123

Beautiful job! I love those hydraulic lifts. Would like to have one some day for my 73.

Wow! Really nice! Awesome!

You did a really nice job! Take a bow!

That really came out great! Did you use spray cans to repaint it or did you get a gun? It looks outstanding!

That turned out great. Almost too nice to use :biggrin2:

Awesome job. I really need to get decals for mine.

What a very sharp 125. Good to see these brought back to a great looking, working tractor. Thanks for posting the before and after pictures.
Regards,
Chris

If you get bored with nothing to do I can loan you my 124!

You did a nice job. I will have to refer to yours for inspiration when I start on mine.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ps655bdc3a.jpg

Wow, looks great!!

Big Difference, Looks Great!

Thanks everybody! I'm really happy with it. can't wait to put it through its paces!

Cub Cadet 123, I have the clutch guard, but the one for my 72 is missing, so I'm planning to use it on that rather than cut it up. I agree it would look more complete, but I'm ok with it like this. For now, anyways.

garnold, I intended to use a gun, but I was running out of time and resorted to the rattle cans. I used a gun handle you can attach to the top of the can, it made a big difference in how smooth the finish is. i used the TSC Majic paint, and did 1-2 coats of primer and 3-5 coats of paint, depending on what I was working on. The only things I may wat to do over come springtime is perhaps another couple coats on the fenders and rear light panel, they aren't as glossy as the rest of the tractor, probably due to it being a cooler day they were painted. that and I want to paint the underside of my seat IH white instead of the black. on that, just ran out of time. I'll post some pics later of how many cans I used of everything.

It's going to be hard now to wait on doing my 72, but I want to wait until my daughter is old enough to be part of the project. she does like tractor rides at the moment!

Hmm?

How to say, "You did a great job!" and "The tractor looks great!" without simply repeating everything that all have already said.

How 'bout?

You're much better at coloring within the lines than the previous owner! :biggrin2:

Great job!