Not what I planned to do today

[john hall]

Dad has a 129 that developed a BAD oil leak last summer. He figured the flywheel crank seal had gone. I told him we'd get around to it. I kind of got the shop cleared out Saturday and he asked whats next? Told him we really should look at a couple pieces of our farm equipment and I wanted to change the tires on my Kawasaki Mule. I get home today and he's got his 122 and the 129 in the shop. The 122 only needed tinkering to get running, it hadn't been ran in a couple years, he already had that done. The 129 already had the hood and grill off and he was hard at it unhooking wires and cables. Guess there was no turning back at this point. He did all the wrench turning and then I sat the engine out for him. Nasty is not the word for the engine and chassis, like I said this oil leak was major. Pulled the flywheel to find the seal wasn't even sweating. The end plate on the motor however, well lets just say every bolt on it was loose. Got it all washed up and back in the shop. He had the gaskets and seal fortunately. I told him when we pulled the engine we would add a thrust bearing to the steering box so I took care of that. The front axle had way too much slop. I pulled it out and managed to get a 1/16 thick washer on the front side and made a new pivot pin, the old one was wore down about .020" The holes in the frame are worn pretty bad as well as the axle. Since this is just a repair and not a restoration the washer and new pivot pin will have to do. Lord knows the spindles and wheel bearings need help too, but that ain't happening. I did upgrade and put the new pivot pin in with a roll pin instead of a nail like the old one had.
Hopefully we can get the motor back in tomorrow afternoon/night. Did I mention he's 86? Somedays he can get into more stuff than my teenager!

[Cub Cadet 123]

You helped your dad and fixed a cub today....that was a day well spent!!! What a nice job you did, too. However, the nail for the pin trick is every rednecks engineering improvement, so I am not for sure why you changed that. Glad to hear your dad is 86 and enjoying his cub thanks to the attentive son he has.

Cub Cadet 123

[bruteforce]

Time with your dad what more could you want.

[Diz Jr.]

Nice work john hall
Your Dad must still be getting around pretty good for 86

[cubcadet]

Looks good

[CubDieselFan]

I hope I can still work on my Cubs when I am 86.

[john hall]

Originally Posted by Cub Cadet 123

You helped your dad and fixed a cub today....that was a day well spent!!! What a nice job you did, too. However, the nail for the pin trick is every rednecks engineering improvement, so I am not for sure why you changed that. Glad to hear your dad is 86 and enjoying his cub thanks to the attentive son he has.

Cub Cadet 123

I can't quite figure out the nail. My cousin rebuilt this mower rather extensively back in the 90's, before it was the "cool" thing to do. He was quite meticulous, changing some bolts to pan heads, getting all the lights working, nice paint job, rebuilt the engine, devised a nice hood stop, made a new deck. Yes I said made a deck, out of stainless steel, with stainless steel spindle housings. Basically he just made a deck shell and put the cast iron parts on it. Made new spindle assemblys so could use cheaper bearings than the old style. Dad came up with a set of newer style spindles and installed them when the others failed. I'll post some pics as we get this thing put back together. My cousin ran the heck out of it for a few years after that, then bought a zero turn.

[ACecil]

Great job, John! I bet, you enjoy wrenching with your Dad.

[bocephus1991]

Sounds like you both had fun! I'm interested to see the deck!

[Userj8670]

Great job and rime well spent!