Noob with an odd Cub Cadet walking tractor

[cajunfj40]

Hello!
I just bought a used Cub Cadet Grounds Maintenance Tractor, GMT125 or GMT-125 or 169-130-100 with the model 346 38" Mower Deck for GMT. I hope this link works, this thumbnail is the only pic I have of the whole thing: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...TbFf6pV-QeM%3A
I can't find much about it, but it has only 213 hours on it and is in great shape. Jerky steering has me tearing it down to grease everything - took apart before photos, oops!
When I get to work I have scanned in a dealer brochure that the seller - allegedly the original dealer for this unit to the single owner that traded it in last fall - as it has nice pics and SEVERAL attachments that were evidently planned for it but I can't find any info for. The snowblower attachment would be ideal, as I'm in the Western suburbs of Minneapolis and we get snow, and I got a bigger driveway with the bigger lawn.
So far it ran fine for one yard cut, then stalled out lean (would run with choke) so I am replacing the fuel lines (goopy!) and filter, the leaky fuel tap I found, etc.
Best guess is it is a 1989-1991 or so unit. It is a commercial walk-behind style unit, with 6 speed trans, shaft drive to deck, and horizontal shaft V-twin Briggs Vanguard engine. It is niether belt nor hydro drive - it has clutch-brake units on both of the transmission output shafts with heavy chain final drive to the wheels. I have been unable to find anything else like it.
Only problems are the old grease, dry drive chains (but not badly worn!), and dirty flung grease all over under the covers, plus the fuel line/tap, a sun-damaged fuel cap, and one busted weld for one of the deck hanger brackets. Each bracket is part of a pair, though, so the deck stays up fine.
Hope to get through the clean/degrease/regrease/tune and adjust quick so I can have it take over from the 1996 21" self-propelled Lawn-Boy (MTD) that's tough to get uphill even with a new belt and adjusted 6-speed trans.
I'm a verbose mechanical engineer, sorry in advance...

[CADplans]

Considering that there is ZERO view-able images of this unit, I would consider it to be rare as hens teeth.

Get a Gravely, there are accessories available used on every Craigs List city!!

Oh, yea, you can find pics of Gravelys'!!

[cajunfj40]

Thanks for the welcome. I have looked at the Gravely's, but they are even more overkill for my average suburban lot than this 38" GMT. All I need is a better/bigger mower than my 21", and this more than fits the bil - and is way more mower for the dollar than any new unit would have beenl. I will try to post a scan of the dealer lineup brochure when I'm back where I left the copy - it has good pics. The service manuals for the power unit, deck and engine are all online, as are a multitude of exploded parts diagrams.

Mostly curious if any enthusiasts have any idea what happened with it - failed launch? Poor marketing? Bean-counters killed the accessories? Entire industry moved to vertical shaft engines making this one too expensive? Once I get it back together I'll post some photos, maybe start a "What's this?" thread.

I picked this over a cheaper ride-on because my brother, former lawn-care professional, recommended a wide-area walk-behind. All the Scag, Exmark, etc. I found were nearly scrap, bare skeletons, or 2-10x as expensive. The three belts it has are all constantly in tension, rather than being used as a clutch, so they should hold up a good long time. That it is definitely "different" is kind of a plus to me. I like old odd stuff, and the chunky commercial-grade parts on this are easy to work on.

I'll get it going and just use it as a mower for now. If some accessories turn up or it happens to be adaptable to other model attachments, and they won't cost an arm and a leg, I might pick them up. If it turns out to be super-rare, well, either someone will be interested in it as a collectible or I'll just have a really unique mower. There are several snowblowers on CL for not much money, might pick up a cheap one while it is still summer and I can grease it/make sure it runs right before the snow flies.

[Sam Mac]

That machine shows up on the Cub Parts site.
http://www.cubcadet.com/webapp/wcs/s.../CUT/GMT125//1

[RR1862CC]

Welcome to OCC! And now we need real pics when you get a chance!

[cajunfj40]

Hello all,

Sorry about the lack of pics - like I said, I tore it apart before I took any... That said, I did scan in the dealer brochure. It's too big as a full PDF, so here are a few crops showing what was supposed to be the full lineup of attachments, with my annotations for model numbers that are actually reflected in parts lists, manuals, etc. Also one larger crop of the "Model Shot" of some guy mowing with it, but I don't have a riding sulky. Shows the scale pretty good, though.

Now how do I link an attachment here...
Hmm. Yep, that worked on preview. Here goes. I have the grass catcher attachment and the 38" mower deck attachment. Curious as to what happened with the attachments I couldn't find model numbers to.

Real pics when I get it cleaned up and back together - which I hope doesn't take too long because mowing with the 21" is a bother - and takes more than a full tank of gas due to having to double-cut the really lush part at the bottom of the hill, even mowing weekly.

[Sam Mac]

Funny thing is you show a pic of a snowblower yet the Cub site does not. Cub site does not show some of the other attachments that your lit shows as well?

Attachments
345 32" Mower For GMT, 190D345-100
346 38" Mower For GMT, 190D346-100
347 46" Mower For GMT, 190D347-100
602 Grass Catcher
603 Riding Sulky
604 48" Dozer Blade
605 Utility Dump Cart
610 32", 38" Grass Catcher
611 Front Weight Rack

[CADplans]

This is probably Cub Cadet's attempt to do what Gravely did with the "Rapid Z"

Gravely imported an European machine,, rebadged it, and tried to sell it.



Maybe search around the European machines?

[olds45512]

now thats pretty cool, i dont know what id do with it but i want one.

[cajunfj40]

Originally Posted by Sam Mac

Funny thing is you show a pic of a snowblower yet the Cub site does not. Cub site does not show some of the other attachments that your lit shows as well?

Yeah, I annotated the brochure with the model numbers of the attachments I could find info for, the rest are, I don't know, aspirational? That's kind of what I'm curious about: were they ever launched at all?

While I have it apart to clean and re-grease, I may try to measure the hookup points, location of PTO shaft, PTO RPM, etc to see if it matches anything else.

It's a solid machine, though, and does not appear to be an import - all US fasteners, for example.

Got degreaser, brake cleaner, new grease, new fuel filter. Just need fuel line and fuel tap/tap seal, and should get a fuel cap.

Already found one "gotcha": the big washer with a lip that holds the fuel tap seal on has a Dorman part number stamped in it - that checks out to be a freeze plug of the exact size and shape, just lacking the hole in the middle. The hole costs extra.