Cub 1864 Restore for Garden Duty

[B440?]

I picked up an 1864 recently from FB Marketplace. The description didn't mention the model, but I spied this from the pic. (This is my pic. Seller's pic was from far away and hard to see.)


Power steering! Which I do not have for any of my current machines. I picked it up in the middle of a rainstorm, with no front wheels, just as you see it. :00000060: The 54" deck had to be removed first. and we winched it onto the trailer.


The seller said the engine would run.... but you know how that goes. It's a Kohler Command V-twin. When I got some free time, I put some oil in, hooked up the charger/starter, and fired some starter fluid down the carburetor. It ran! He wasn't kidding.


So the next day I went to the mower repair/boneyard and they just happen to have an 1862 or 3 with everything but the engine. I bought the front wheels and bolts.


I got it running well enough to go for a ride. I think the fuel in the tank was bad. I changed out the oil and filter. and drove around the yard. Love it!


Now on to the issues:
1.) Reverse wasn't very fast and it failed my test hill going up in reverse. There was hardly any oil in the transaxle. I added a quart and it brought it to the Low mark. Not sure if it is leaking?

2.) The lever for hydraulic deck up/down seemed to be frozen, but I gave it a little tappa-tappa from the back side and it works now.


3.) It is a filthy, oily mess! The engine leaks oil just sitting there. It peed on my garage floor and I had to lay down rags.

4.) The hood mounts are broken. Here are two pics of it just kind of sitting on there.




So I need to pull the engine and find the leak, or leaks. Then investigate changing the transaxle oil and fixing slow reverse. If I'm successful with everything I want to do, then this tractor will replace my John Deere 212 which has full-time garden duty.

[B440?]

The 1864 needs a plow to replace the 212, and I was having trouble finding something that would fit. Now a 1440 pops up for sale, with a plow, so that appeared to be a no-brainer. :tango_face_grin: It also came with a 42" deck, but no pic of that.


This one has a 14hp Briggs Vanguard. Seller said it ran when using a gravity-fuel tank. He also said not to fill the original tank because the petcock seals were leaking. I noted these issues and proceeded to fire up the engine. It ran on starter fluid but not the gravity tank that I added. I did notice this strange wire not connected to anything.


It appeared to be going to the anti-backfire solenoid on the carb. I tried putting power to it but heard no click from the ABS. Just for fun I unscrewed the ABS just a little (fuel was leaking out), and then cranked the engine; it ran! I drove it around for a bit. Forward and reverse worked great. Steering was a little stiff compared to the 1864 but I guess that's to be expected :tango_face_wink:

So I stopped there and pulled the engine and cleaned it. The valve covers had been leaking oil for quite some time. I resealed the valve covers with Threebond.

The hood is marginally better than the 1864. The mounts aren't broken, but there has been many repairs done to the inner structure. I guess it will become a donor for parts. I will say that if I had bought the 1440 first, it would also replace the JD 212. Here is what it looks like currently.


I'm thinking the Vanguard engine will go in the 1864 while I find the leaks on the Kohler.

[B440?]

I was trying to figure out how to operate the plow using the hydraulic deck control when the 1440 hooks the plow up to the lever.


On the 1864 there's this thing which I thought was plastic and only there to show the deck height.


I flipped it around and realized it's steel and could be used for plow actuation. I'll have to figure the rest out later. Must do engine work first.


Something I noticed about the Kohler; The engine mount bolts are larger and in a different location from the Briggs. Kohler shown below.


Briggs bolts on the 1440.


So The whole mounting plate had to be removed to get the front bolts out. Ugh, more oily mess.


The Vanguard engine needs a diode on each coil kill wire so they can't interfere with each other. I had to remake my harness. The original harness was completely busted.






Much better. I'm trying to sort out any wiring issues before everything goes back together. It's much easier to access stuff when the engine is out of the tractor.

[B440?]

I also replaced the battery terminals. They were pretty beat up and not making good connections.


Here is something I've wanted to do for all my tractors. Critter-proofing.


Both engines have seen problems with mice nests. I'm hoping this prevents any future problems. It's much harder to remove the cooling shroud on a horizontal engine vs. a vertical.


The cooling shroud is back on and I just need to install the exhaust heat shields. Then the engine can go back in. That's as much as I felt like doing today.

[Sam Mac]

Some tips on the Cyclop series
https://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/...ad.php?t=33244

If you want the Cyclops service manual you can join Cub Cadet Cyclops
https://www.facebook.com/groups/6662...?ref=bookmarks

[B440?]

Thank you. I'll check them out.

[B440?]

Got the oil changed.




I placed the engine on the frame and realized the driveshaft was too short. I needed to pull the 1440 driveshaft and swap.


This is where I left off last night.

[twoton]

Good to see your progress.

[B440?]

Today I finally tackled the last electrical connections.


I connected the kill wire, fuel solenoid power, and the alternator. The other two are taped off for now. I'll hook them up some other time.


I tried to start the engine and no-go. Two problems; the pulse line for the fuel pump was cracked, and the fuel solenoid is junk. I fiddled with it and thought I had it fixed, but I finally ended up cutting the plunger.


It starts, runs, and is clean enough to see leaks, which I found. How much work is it to fix this? It appears to be coming from the seal at the top of the steering.




Also, how do I make reverse faster? I was in full reverse (so slow) and pushed on the spring and it went faster! Any tricks to this? Do I need a different plate as shown below?

[B440?]

Received this package the other day.


Got the pump out, but it fought me most of the way.


Found the leaking seal, and replaced it, along with the others.


Reassembled, added some hydraulic fluid and fired her up. No leaks! Well almost.

I had fixed an obvious valve cover leak, but the head gasket is also leaking. Now I need to pull the engine.... again.

I also played with the forward/reverse linkage to try and make reverse a little faster. So far, no adjustments made it any better.