Any LoBoy owners here?
 

Just curious, I know of two not very far from here, cant seem to talk the one guy out of his(yet) even tho he never uses it, was running when he parked it in his yard a few yrs back, drove by another one just a couple weeks ago but nobody was home, it looks a bit rough from a distance, didnt want to go wandering around the yard without invite, its about an hour away so I plan on going back soon. Was an IH red one advertised for $3500 about a year ago I would have went after if I hadnt just blown my tractor funds on an IH Hydro 86 w/fel

I want something a little bigger than a GT, but smaller than the 86, and these LoBoys caught my attention awhile back, especially the old round hood models are very cool looking tractors IMO, but I'd settle for a square hood any day..... anyone here with one, what do you guys think of them??

I have a couple. Just bought them. One is almost up and going, so haven't used it yet, but I used to work for IH, and have worked on a few of them. :biggrin2: Unless you get one with 3pt hitch, they are really just an overgrown lawn mower. If you get one with 3pt, then it can be used as a tractor. No rear PTO. Not a usable one anyway. Unless you get get an OLD one, that has the PTO in the center of the rear housing, and you spend 5 years looking for a reverser, which you will probably pay $750 at least for, and install it. Then it will turn the right way. If all this sounds ok, then go for it. If you looking for a compact tractor, then the Lo-Boy is going to disappoint. Congrats on the Hydro 86 BTW. I'd take one!

I've been told the lo boys were too big for an average yard but too small for a farm. Your results may vary. I sorta like the look of the 154 cuz it looks like the 125 but the steering being so far off center on the dash always drove me nuts.

Grew up using them for most of my pre-teen and teen years. They are basically what J-Mech said; an overgrown garden tractor. The biggest advantage they have over a Cub Cadet or Super is weight. Otherwise, they are great at mowing open areas, hills, tall grass, etc and they'll pull a full cart, hay rake, flare box, whatever the case may be. Not sure about ground engaging equipment as the only use in that category I had was a front blade but I will say it handled it well. But, and take this with a grain of salt, it was 54", the same size the one I have on my Cub Cadet is. I'm sure the Lo Boy would out push it but in snow, I've never really had a problem with a Cadet and the blade. But again, to echo what J-Mech said, if you're getting it for a sub compact, you may not be happy.

Thx guys, good info, I dont really need one, but they look like they could push/pull a blade nicely, I have about 250+yds of gravel drive around the yard, and a 6ft front blade from a buddys Blazer that needs a little repair but no tractor about the right size for it, I could put that on a Bronco II but I would need to buy proper dozer lights, the police dont like seeing blades on a truck without the them, they dont think much off my off road lights on the highway either... but I talked him out of that ticket. Lack of a rear pto wouldnt really be a concern to me, or can they be fitted with a small fel? that would make a nice little acreage tractor I think.

The Hydro 86 is almost too big for my purposes, its an 8000lb tractor, although with the snow we got last winter I was lucky to have it here, at one point I had 8ft of snow between me and the 9ft door on the shop... that was fun seat time. I needed something for some landscape work last year and got it cheap enough but now its not getting much use, but I could make use of something in between it and the GTs

Since the mods moved this thread to 'off topic' can I sneak in a pic without a Cub without gettin in trouble? I'll try, have a pic with my most stout garden tractor, a Columbia 960, with the IH hydro 86, I think a LoBoy would look pretty good parked in the middle;)

For the purposes listed, a Lo Boy would be a good fit, at least IMHO. Like I had said, that was the primary use of one of the Lo Boy's we had. My dad kept a blade on the front of it for pushing snow (turfs + chains make a mean combo). The other had a 60" deck and mowed weekly. If you find a niche for them to work in, they will do wonders.

As far as a FEL, yes they do make them. They make/made single are and twin arm, based on needs. There is actually a guy local to me here that has a Lo Boy with a FEL, cab, AG's, and a rear backhoe he uses to maintain his property. That thing looks FUN! :beerchug:

Edit: Nice pic, btw! I'd love to take a spin on that 86 Hydro!

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/3176/4167g3a20.jpg

IMO I'd feel better about using a FEL on a lo Boy than I'd feel on a cub cadet.

I like the LoBoy with the fel, thx4pic, dont think Ive seen 1 w/fel before... would look better in my yard tho;)

I wonder if IH marketed the lo boy towards the school/cemetery/city park crowd.

I know mine was a municipal mower that lived many hard years before coming to me. I really enjoy it, I use it for hauling firewood and trail work in the woods. I would really like a front blade and I would LOVE a fel. I know it has some shortcomings but I do love it.

I used to mow 4 acres of lawn every week with my 154. Had a 3 pt. hitch with a 2 stage blower on it, rear blade & rake. I miss it, but since I sold the house I ended up selling it years ago. Never missed a beat.

Greg

The first one I remember seeing as a kid was used to mow the community baseball/soccer fields with a flail mower on the back.

Bill

Just found a little info yesterday... the earlier IH Farmall Cubs were marketed to the small acreage owners as an alternative to the larger Standard Cub, the off set wheel and seat position was known as 'cultivision' so you could see your garden rows easier, there was also a 'French Cub' built overseas. The more commonly known Lo Boy 154/184/185 were modeled after the smaller Cub Cadet garden tractors about the same time "Farmall' was dropped from the name.

Next crappy weather day on a weekend I want to go back and see if I can find somebody home, who knows, if the price is right ;)

love mine handles a 6 foot rear blade pretty well for snow removal have the wide turfs and chains

That's interesting. I've never seen a Lo-Boy with skinny front, and fat rear tires. :bigthink: Usually, it skinny/skinny, or fat/fat. Lol. :biggrin2:

Nice, looks like it would be very handy, still has a bit of 'row crop' look to it, lots of ground clearance, how is it on fuel? Even if a guy found one dead needing a repower that would make a really nice little diesel I bet. Or one He** of a puller with a hopped up Vdub engine...lol

I own two 154's one with a plow and the other with a fel they are not bad little tractors as long has your not in hurray, they are also good for pulling a trailer or whatever you need to move around the yard.

The frame won't hack much more HP. If they made good pullers, there would be a bunch already. Too many cons to discuss. Besides, I think you'll find the 4cyl engine pretty economical to rebuild. :biggrin2:

j-mech the turfs are off the other tractor ... dont worry i have the skinny AG tires also the turfs with chains bite better in the snow... so the other tractor has skinny AG tires on rear and wide turfs on front lol those skinny ones on front steer easier also

I have a LoBoy, not a numbered series, an old International one, love it!

You have a sharp LoBoy!

Very nice, dont think Ive ever seen one around here, for sale or not, is that another old IH in the background?

Im looking for an early Cockshutt, little one, 20 or 30 preferred but I'll take whatever I can find at the right price, my Pop ran a dealership after he came home from the war, I spent alot of time tinkering in the back when I was a kid in the 60s.

Not sure if I'll have time to go look at this Lo Boy here this weekend, gotta alot of grass waiting for me, but from what you guys are telling me I think it would fit well here for driveway maintainance and moving trailers around, not gettin my hopes up tho because too often people want restored prices for unrestored machines, judging from how it looked at a distance I would say this is not a 'drive in the trailer' tractor so I wont be willing to pay alot for it.

OK I 'THINK"... I just joined the Lo Boy owners club, not the one I mentioned earlier in this thread tho... another one that Ive known about for a year or so but havent been able to talk the guy out of, 154 I believe it was... until about two minutes after my last post... lol

Not sure if he is a member here but he is on another forum Im on so he knows Ive been after one of these for awhile, and I have a couple GTs here he is interested in... 2 for 1 trade, no cash out of pocket for either of us, gotta love those deals. Happy Happy

Thanks Allen.

Thanks! Yes, the other one is my '51 Farmall Cub.

Man those are Sharp lookin tractors!
I brought home my first Cub yesterday... pretty sure it wont be the last;)

Anytime! Sharp Farmall Cub also! Makes me miss mine.

Got it unloaded and took a couple pics, starts and runs good but it doesnt move, theres is another tranny that came with it, pto works, 3pt works, grill is missing, no battery cover, tractordata dates it to a '73... should be a fun project

Nice Lo-Boy! Good luck with it. :beerchug:

Congrats on the 154 Lance!

cub
 

Hi, looks good and there's that half original. Mike:biggrin2:

Ya thats my Half-an-O...lol, should have had the IH Hydro 86 in the pic also but it doesnt fit inside the shop unless I take off the stack so that will have wait until the Loboy can be driven out;)

Ive got very little invested in the Loboy so even tho it does need some work Im pretty happy with it... much better size for me than the garden tractor collection I got going... and a whole lot quieter engine than the old Kohlers. Im too hard on the GTs anyway, it can take 6-8 hrs to mow the grass here so the hours add up fast and thats alot to expect for an old Kohler to run full throttle all the time, had two die in the last year so I decided I needed to get a couple CUT sized tractors... and Ive been trying to talk this guy out of this particular Loboy for over a year but $$ wasnt gonna buy it... I had to find something he wanted.

So I will be trying to find a grill if anyone happens to have a spare...cheap... any condition, even if its only good for measurements as I can build a metal replacement if I need to.

Lance,

It looks like perseverance paid off!

Congratulations,

Thx guys... after some clutch adjusment I was able to take it for little spin, no first or reverse so it seems like just a shift fork issue, hi/low and 2nd/3rd seem to work fine... at least I think thats which ones are working... dont have a shift pattern sticker on it so Im just guessing its the same pattern as the Original... but hopefully the spare tranny has what I need to get it into working order soon... fun to take a ride at least!!!