Newest addition to the family...
 

My new cub cadet 129 hydrostat. I picked this thing up early this morning. Any info on it would be appreciated. thanks.

Nice looking tractor, have fun with it. Numbers are?

Nice score on the 129! :beerchug:

Nice. Good luck with it.

KennyP

Congrats on a nice looking 129!

thetuck
Nice 129 :ThumbsUp:

Sweet looking 129! Nice 3pt and 48in mower!

Nice 129. You will like it. 12 hp, hydrostatic drive, looks like it came with a 3 point lift. Almost looks like it had a spring assist but don't see the adjustment bolt head sticking out. Looks like it came with a 48 inch deck instead of a 42. Give it a tune up: carb rebuild, points, condenser, and fresh Hydro fluid and filter. If the Hydro seems to be a bit jerky you may have to do the trunion repair, not hard to do. :)... Enjoy your new addition.

thanks guys....ill get some more info on it for you later. im anxious to get started on this one too. im currently in the middle of restoing my 100 I got last week. thanks

cub cadet 129
 

nice 129 it has the rear lift hitch to have rototiler or other implementes. It does not have the original muffler and the fly wheel covers are missing. :bigthink:

ok guys serial no. is 2050046u449742*. can anyone tell me the size of the drive shaft and what the end that hooks to the motor looks like? the one on my 129 has been welded and needs to be replaced. im not sure what is suppose to go back on the right way. Is the drive shaft bolted solid to the motor? so when the motor is turning the shaft is also? thanks for any help.

Looks like it is a 1972 model made in Oct.

Here is a link to the service manual, it should help with most of your questions. The Drive shaft is 5/8 cold rolled steel, 18.52" long.

Service Manual:
http://ccmanuals.info/pdf/1x8-9%20&%...e%20Manual.pdf

Forgot to add. Mark a member here makes stainless drive shafts. I have one... Excellent quality.
Here is the link for his site. Scroll down and you will find the shaft.
http://ihcubcadetparts.net46.net/1_2_Products.html

another question..... last nite i removed the modified drive shaft the po put on the tractor. I put a little gas in and I started the motor. she fired right up after a couple slow revolutions. I killed it after only a couple seconds. I just wanted to see if it would run, and it did. a little bit later on last nite my fater in law stopped by and asked me to start it for him. I tried to start it but the battery was dead. it just tried to tun a couple revolutions and that was it. but I noticed while it was turning over the oil check stick was bobing up and down about 1/4 to 1/2 and inch. what could this be??(the bobing)thanks.

Nice looking 129!

any ideas on the bobing??? is the motor bad???

I am thinking you are looking at some blow-by possibly. Stuck rings??

How do you get rings unstuck?

Marvel Mystery Oil added to fuel and oil. It may take a couple of weeks if they are going to unstick. Otherwise, will have to pull the motor, remove the piston and unstick them manually. My 128 had the second ring stuck. When running the motor would smoke out of the breather in behind the carb and out of the dipstick tube. It shouldn't be happening, but have you inspected the dipstick to make sure nothing internally is rubbing on it?

Ive been on the hunt for a driveshaft and mounting hub for the 129. the cheapest I can find one is $100. I wanted to make sure the transaxle and rearend are good before I invest that much on this one right now. so I put the makeshift drive shaft that the po made for it on the tractor so I can test it out. both of the buttons just in front of the seat were stiff. I sparyed some pentrating oil on them last nite to see if it would free them up. when I checked them today the right side(setting in the seat) was free but the left side was stuck down. I proceded to give it a try anyway. I put a little gas in the tank and started the motor. I let off the left pedal and pushed the drive lever into forward......It works great. and is very quick to me. I then tried to put it in reverse......nothing. it just sets there. Is this because the left button is stuck in the freewheel position? whats the best way to get this unstuck? thanks for all the help.

Continue soaking it in penetrating oil a couple more days. PB blaster has really worked well for me on this same type of situation. After soaking a couple of days, I got a small piece of wood and place on top of the button, then LIGHTLY tapped and it freed it up. DO NOT USE THE HAMMER DIRECTLY ON THE BUTTON OR ANY TYPE OF PLIERS, ETC....AS THIS CAN MAR IT UP and render it unusable.

BTW: Your 129 looks good!! When I fired mine up today for the first time in over a year, my regulator was smokin' my wiring harness and the smoke did role!!! I think you'll really come to appreciate the power of the 129 and the hydro drive.

Cub Cadet 123

Nice 129! These 129's are nice tractors.

WEll I continued soaking the pin on the left but ir still only comes up just a hair. If I push it back down it stays down until I start the tractor. Then it moves up just a hairn not enough to get some pliers on it or anything. Can this be unscrewed and cleaned up or what? I went ahead and started it up and drove it around the yard yesterday for about 10 minutes hoping it would work it up. But it did nothing. The motor sure smokes like a freight train.

i had one that had to much gunky paint on it and it wouldnt pop up. just screw out the valve and on the bottom theres a little hole. i took a really small punch and pushed it up in the hole and just pressed with my hand and it popped up

THanks ihnick... Will the left button down not let it go into reverse? Thanks

ok I unscrewed the left valve and got the button unstuck. Now the forward and the reverse works. It is very very quick in forward and kinda slow in reverse. is there an adjustment for this??


I then decided to take the head off this motor to check the rings. the motor smokes really bad. here is a couple pics of what I found. is there suppose to be side to side movement in the piston? I made a small video of it moving but couldnt figure out how to load it.

The 4th pic you can see the gap in the rings.

Judging by the amount of oil on top of the piston and the gap between the piston and bore, I'd say that engine is pretty worn out and is going to need a rebuild.

hey matt can I order the regualar rebuild kit or do I have to have it bored? thanks

You need to take the engine apart and measure the crank and bore per the manual to determine if you need an overbore.

OK thanks.

Im going to be getting back on the 129 pretty soon. Im at the point that I need to decide wether I want to rebuild the motor I have or try to find another one that runs good with no problems. what are your thoughts on this? how difficult is it rebuild one of these motors? whats it normally cost to rebuild one versus buying another one that is in good condition. thanks for any input.