My 1986 Cub 1610

[dougekewl]

Hi guys

I've been lurking on OCC for a while now trying to build up my knowledge on Cubs.
I've just recently purchased an acreage and now having the space I salvaged my dad's old 1610 from the bushes (5+ years sitting in the trees). When I pulled it out of the tree's it had no battery, 4 flat tires, a cracked starter solenoid, a broken steering linkage joint, and a plethora of seized bits.

First task was to see if the engine would run, a quick turn of the air screen told me the old 16HP B&S wasn't seized and had some good compression left!
Rig up a battery, toss a little gas down the carb and disconnect the miss-wired ground-to-kill wire on the coil and the B&S fires up on the first try!

Second task took me onto the seized bits. WD-40 and some light taps with the lil' hammer got the deck adjuster thumb-button and hydro-dump button unstuck. Both steering joints were seized solid - hence the broken steer-rod end. took them apart completely, clean and re-grease and they work like new! Replaced the rod-end at the same time.

Third task took me to the wiring. The PO had some issues with the safety switches and had nearly every one bypassed in some defunct fashion. some times they worked, other time the mower would vibrate a jumper wire loose. Took a good afternoon to disassemble the works and re-wire the full tractor. I'm not a fan of the safety switches at the best of times, so It's simplified to a coil-kill switch, push-button start, headlight switch and PTO switch. Only task left it to test/replace the rectifier and get the charging system working again.

Last major task was the deck. The 44" 3-blade'r was always a noisy critter. The spindle bearings were starting to go when pop's first bought it. Full dis-assembly and re-pack the spindles with grease. Only one broken bold - which happened to be the tensioner pivot! Oops - a quick drill and tap solved that. Back together it spins and cuts well, but earplugs are a must when running!!! I couldn't see any way to get the bearings out for replacement though.

Still need to replace the headlights and taillights, front grill was bent to heck, and maybe some paint. On the to-do list. The hydro sound like a loose part rattles when I try and go faster than the cut-speed and get weak after 1-2 hours of heavy cutting. I couldn't see anything loos/rattling when I had her up on blocks but the belt does vibrate a lot - I'll try replacing that first and maybe some new oil.

So with the ol' girl running strong (kinda) and cutting grass just fine now, I would like to try and search out some accessories that might be able to shoe-horn onto it. I don't know if it would be considered a wide frame or narrow frame or if anything could be run regardless. I have some fabrication skill so I can make most items work given time and a welder. Just looking for some input and a starting point. My biggest desire would be to fit a snow-thrower or snow-blower to the front for the winter storms up here.

ID Tag was hard to read.
M/N: 136393100
S/N:0350042U113426

Deck is a 44LT (I think, going from memory on that one)
Manu Date: E206G

I'll post pic's of it's current condition ASAP.

[Cubcrazy]

[dougekewl]

Thanks for the welcome Cubcrazy!
I am looking forward to more work on the 1610 soon.

[ACecil]

Originally Posted by dougekewl

Thanks for the welcome Cubcrazy!
I am looking forward to more work on the 1610 soon.

Welcome to OCC! Please keep us updated on your 1610.