How to best reduce gear ratio?

db4570 · #1 06-22-2014, 11:17 PM

Hi guys. I just bought my first Cub, a 106, a few weeks ago and love it already. It works and mows great, but I am gradually making some mechanical repairs an upgrades to it.

One thing I don't really like is the stock gearing. 1st seems a little too slow to mow in, 2nd too fast. 3rd is so high I don't know what I'd ever use it for, not really needing a "road gear". It would also be great if 1st were lower so I could haul heavy stuff like my boat and tent camper around the yard easily.

At first I thought a creeper would be just the ticket, and I was keeping my eye out for one on Ebay. But then I read that a creeper is mostly just for going slowly, and that it's not made to withstand heavy pulling.

So it looks like there are other methods to reduce the gearing: with an underdrive reduction gear; by replacing the 1st and/or 2nd gears in the transmission, or possibly by changing the axle ratio. None of these give me the reduction I assume I want. The underdrive is only 20% under, and I think I want close to 50%.

Have any of you had the same dilema, and how did you solve it? (Please don't say to just buy a hydro. I want to stick with this tractor at least for a while, and am not ready to start collecting Cubs just yet, believe it or not!)

Thanks for any suggestions!

David

Cubby guy · #2 06-22-2014, 11:47 PM

IH made creeper gear unit. You can probably find the creeper assembly from one of the sponsors of this forum.

Regards

Cubby Guy

ACecil · #3 06-23-2014, 12:02 AM

Welcome to OCC! Congrats on your 106, and glad you're enjoying it.

J-Mech · #4 06-23-2014, 12:14 AM

I don't know why you think that about the gearing. If you want to go slower a creeper is the ticket. Pulling a boat or a camper isn't a "load". It will be fine. That or find/trade for a hydro. Leave the reduction gear alone. You don't have to have the engine running full throttle to move stuff around. Idle it back and go the speed you need. (Only need full throttle when mowing/blowing snow, etc....)

Yosemite Sam · #5 06-23-2014, 01:04 AM

Welcome to OCC.

Obviously, I don't know how heavy your boat or camper are, but you have chosen the right brand of tractor if you are intending to pull a heavy load.

I can't speak for everyone here but I believe that most of the folks will tell you that (depending on the load of coarse) your Cub will run out of traction long before it runs out of pulling power. Stopping that load is a totally different story.

What I do understand is your grass cutting/ground speed dilemma. There are a number of ways to change the ground speed of your tractor, from changing gears in the reduction housing, to changing the gears in the transmission, or a combination of both.

Please understand that I personally have never had a great need to change the gearing in my Cubs, so I don't know all the particulars involved in getting your ground speed where you want it to be, hopefully some of the pullers here will be able to point you in the right direction.

You have also made the correct decision about a creeper gear vs heavy loads, they just don't mix. Besides that, a creeper would do nothing to get your ground speed where you want it to be, low creeper and 3rd gear is still slower than high creeper and 1st gear.

I believe this information came from a 1X2 manual, but I don't believe there were any gearing changes made between the 1X2 series and the 1X6 series tractors. Someone please correct me if I am mistaken.

In MPH.

1st gear 2.3 direct .6 w/creeper engaged.

2nd gear 3.9 direct 1.0 w/creeper engaged.

3rd gear 6.9 direct 1.7 w/creeper engaged.

Reverse 2.5 direct .6 w/creeper engaged.

Good luck.

Maxwelhse · #6 06-23-2014, 01:48 AM

The simple answer to the mowing speed problem that we always used with the 102 was to mow in 2nd and raise the deck if the grass was too heavy then make a second pass in 2nd with the deck down. Just pull the deck handle up while mowing if its not cutting well. It's not perfect but it works and saves clutch wear and usually time from the stopping and starting from all the shifting.

That is unless your yard is like the surface of the moon and 2nd is literally bouncing you off of the seat. I'd probably buy a roller before tranny parts if that's the case.

In regard to moving heavy stuff the 102's second job was to put a 14' boat with 10hp motor in and out of the lake and move my aunts Coleman pop-up (I dunno... average size? probably 2000ish lbs?) around the property to avoid killing the grass. The little boat was basically like pulling nothing. The only problems we ever had were traction in the sand pulling the boat and trailer out of the water. On good footing the tractor had plenty of power to do it. The camper wasn't much different once it got it rolling. I agree that you can pull FAR more than you can STOP with a cub if you're not on flat ground. You trying to pull some tri-axle 5th wheel stuff?

drglinski · #7 06-23-2014, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Mech

I don't know why you think that about the gearing. If you want to go slower a creeper is the ticket. Pulling a boat or a camper isn't a "load". It will be fine. That or find/trade for a hydro. Leave the reduction gear alone. You don't have to have the engine running full throttle to move stuff around. Idle it back and go the speed you need. (Only need full throttle when mowing/blowing snow, etc....)

X2. Look into the creeper. Or get a hydro.

We used dad's 125 to move his boat/camper for years, and still do AFAIK. It always worked good. To go slower on a gear drive you just gotta work the throttle back.

sawdustdad · #8 06-23-2014, 08:53 AM

Nobody's mentioned this, but perhaps smaller rear tires would slow down the tractor in 2nd gear for grass cutting duty. Easier than changing the trans. gears.

olds45512 · #9 06-23-2014, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sawdustdad

Nobody's mentioned this, but perhaps smaller rear tires would slow down the tractor in 2nd gear for grass cutting duty. Easier than changing the trans. gears.

Only problem with that is that it will also lower the rear of the deck which be would be hard to adjust out.

db4570 · #10 06-23-2014, 07:16 PM

Thanks for the responses. I will try towing in 1st and see how it does. I assumed that I would need to be up in the RPM/power band so the engine would have enough torque. I'll try it slow and see how it does.

I thought the creeper was 1:2 ratio, but from Yosemite Sam's figures it looks like it's actually 1:4. The creeper probably isn't the way to go.

Mowing in 2nd is just a bit too fast as far as ground speed, unless I throttle down. I'm still thinking about a 20% underdrive reduction gear, like the one Brian Miller offers.

David