[jsoluna]

A little backstory:

I got into Cubs about 5 years ago. Around that time I settled on a used 129 that I found locally. That 129 started the obsession. I spent a lot of time on this very forum, and I learned so much. I loved that old machine, but I eventually sold it and got into the more modern 2000 and 3000 Series tractors. I have used a 3205 for years now and am a firm believer in the reliability and hardiness of the 3000 Series Cubs.

Now that the 3205 is getting close to 1500 hours, I decided it was time to either find a backup 3000 Series or find another IH Cub. The QuietLine Series has always been my favorite visually, and I liked the fact that they came with a factory electric PTO and conventional starting and charging system. I knew I wanted a hydro, and something that ran well out the gate so that I didn't have to tear into the engine before moving forward.


I drove 4 hours round trip today and grabbed this one. There are no words for the type of excitement that you feel when bringing an old, neglected machine home for the first time. It's like breathing new life into a formerly inanimate object. That sense of wonder and curiosity is so intense....

I got the 1250 with 250 hours on the clock, hydraulic lift, deck, and mule drive assembly for 300. Not a bad deal, really.

Cosmetically it could use a lot of work. The owner I got it from was the third owner and the tractor had set under a tree for 10 years until he bought it. He power washed it down and rebuilt the carb, did the tune up, and then decided to sell it after he knew it ran well.

After I got it home and was able to delve deeper into the tractor, I found a couple problems that don't have obvious solutions, at least not to me. I've never owned a QuietLine, and the 129 I owned was 5 years ago and was my only experience with the IH Cubs.

I'll start with this one:

Vibration. It has insane vibration. Like the front end wants to dance kind of vibration. It's particularly bad at 2/3 throttle, smooths out more at full throttle. The previous owner said he installed new mounts that were NOS Cub Cadet style mounts. I can't tell by looking what they actually are (they have been replaced though, that much is true), but I did find one mount bolt that was loose so I tightened it up (not much, just snug) and went through the others and evened the torque up on all four corners.

Well, all that did was change at what RPM the thing vibrated terribly. The vibration is still there and it concerns me that it is putting a lot of stress on the drive line components.

I plan on doing the cradle modification and replacing the mounts. There still seems to be several different opinions on which are the best ones to use and I'll have to use my best judgement there. I guess I also need to look at the driveshaft and see if there are issues there as well. What do I look for?

My question is: how are these things supposed to vibrate when they are all done up right? Like, should it be as smooth as my v-twin Kawasaki in my 3205? Or just enough that the covers aren't rattling like mad?