New to me 73!

[drglinski]

About a month ago I finally picked up what I'd been looking for, a 73! Due to working on it and life in general I haven't really put an update on here as of yet. Progress has sort of plateaued so here we go.

Why a 73? I have a 147 that I love. It's great. I like the style. (zig zaggy front end) and I like the narrow frames. I've never had a 3 speed my whole life, sorta wanted to explore that area of CC history. I wanted one that I could use all the attachments I already had so I didn't have duplicates of those, the 7HP is a close cousin to the roots of IH CC (the original), plus it doesn't have external brakes and I can mount a set of wheel weights on the inside of the wheels. This particular machine will primarily be used in the winter mounted up to a snow blade.

It didn't come with any attachments (see photos of hauling it home), 10.5 rear wheels/tires, and wide front wheels. I bought a set of 4.0s for the front as I wanted to put on tri ribs eventually. It runs great; starts up low throttle and no choke almost every time. Drove around really good in a gears. The clutch is a bit noisy but is tight and doesn't slip that I can see. (the clutch plate is worn around the 3 pins)

It's not 100% where I want it as of yet but that's half the fun for me. Stay tuned for further updates!

[drglinski]

Here it is the day I brought it home with my brothers Original. The next day I put on the 4.0 fronts. Don't like those tires, plus they are splitting so those are gonna go.

[ACecil]

Congrats on the 73, Daniel!

[drglinski]

About the first thing I did to it besides the different front wheels/tires was to address an oil/fuel leak. It dripped fuel fairly steadily from the sediment bowl, so much so that it was worse with the petcock turned off. I had a new bowl I just needed to get a new nipple to the tank. I also shortened the fuel line as the PO had (the bowl) oriented the wrong way and the fuel line about 6". I always enjoyed that the sediment bowl was directly over the coil so if it leaks fuel it's leaking directly onto an ignition source.

The oil leak turned out to be a bit more of a mystery. It didn't leak just putting the engine around on low revs, but if I opened it up WOT for a good 5 min or more it'd come out pretty significantly. It appeared to be coming from the breather area. I pulled the carb (snapped a carb bolt off in the engine, however, there was enough of the stud left that with PB blaster, heat and vise grips I could back the rest of it out) the breather, cleaned it all, new gaskets and a breather assembly/filter material, then reassembled everything solved the problem. Oil change as well. Thanks to Dale Merkle for his technical advice on that process! A K161 Kohler service manual was also utilized as a resource.

[darkminion_17]

Looks like a nice one from here.
Congrats!!

[drglinski]

Originally Posted by darkminion_17

Looks like a nice one from here.
Congrats!!

It has quite a bit of overspray from where someone poorly painted white..but what I saw when I found it was it has the OG seat (usually gone), the hood corners were good, and the tins were in good shape. Not to mention it ran and drove good so onto the trailer it went. New battery and wiring harness as well.

It's been a fun project so far, thanks.

[IHCubCadet147]

Congrats on the 73, looks nice.

[SGragg]

Congratulations on the 73, Daniel. Glad you were got the oil leak fixed.

[drglinski]

One of the upgrades I did was headlights and an OEM switch (again as I'll be using this in the winter for snow removal I may have to use it in the dark. No worries now plus I love pushing snow in the dark with headlights for illumination). Fortunately the wire was in the harness from the switch area to the headlight area so no need to run that wire in the loom; all I had to do was make up a hot wire from the solenoid to the switch. Easy peasy. The old panel makes a good shop decoration.

For fathers day my wife bought me some 4.0 tri ribs for the front. I love the way these look and how they resemble the like tri ribs on the front of a larger Farmall letter series tractor that I grew up with (Farmall H.) They steer great too! The originals had to go. You can see in the photos that I have the headlight panel installed.

I went with my brother on a road trip to meet a Farmall collector and he had a decent set of used 8.50 rears so I could eliminate the 10.0s. IMO the only tractors that should have the 10.0s are the larger HP ones like 147,149,169, 782 etc. I didn't like the 6/12s that originally came on the 73s but I like the way the 8.5s looked. Again, since I'll be using this for snow removal and will eventually be chaining the turfs, no need for expensive tires. Cheap ole turfs that hold air will do. These are OEM style goodyears. (Unlike 2020 which has been anything BUT a goodyear....well I guess I did find a 73 after I had been looking for a while, so.....)

More to come!

[drglinski]

Part of the IH trip I bought a set of weights for very reasonable. They were originally white. I don't prefer white and didn't think they looked good so they were painted. I also mounted a set on the inside (what a joy getting the wheel back on that was). I think it turned out well. I would have painted the existing yellow again but ran out of paint, and don't have a CC/CNH dealer nearby. I like that I have two sets of weights but they don't stick out far, and if I want to add another I can keep going.