Tom

Hi all, I'm sure many of you saw I have acquired a new lathe from Alan and John. I didn't intend on buying a lathe from them but after seeing it there and some light persuasion from Iain I agreed a price with Alan and John and brought it home. After some fiddling with the wiring I got the motor working. Both gearboxes were quite low with oil so I filled them up and the gearboxes sound much nicer now. I am very happy with it and it has already proved useful as my dad needed a pulley bored out and it did it no problem. John had soaked it in grease to prevent it from rusting which has kept it very well, although it has been a pain cleaning it up! This picture was of it at Johns: Back in it's new home: After a good clean up and I put some carpet in the storage area to tidy it up: Tom

Hi all, I have upgraded from my small lathe as you have probably seen to a bit of a bigger one Photos to follow tomorrow.. I had one question for all you lathe users though, do you have coolant set-ups? I am tempted to set one up as there is a tank in the cabinet for it but I don't really want to use a water-based coolant as I'm presuming it will just rust everything up unless I clean it meticulously. I don't want to set one up if it's pointless but I just thought if the tank is there all I need is a pump and some pipe.. What do you guys use if you do have coolant setups? Tom

Did you find the steering box very hard to rebuild? I keep contemplating doing mine because it's done then and I can leave it alone! What are your opinions of the Cub then? Tom

That is so mean looking Ian!! You have created a monster I look forward to seeing a video of in action, don't rush it, you want to get it right! Tom

I couldn't stop grinning! They were real tight getting out but they are like new now, it's amazing the difference it has made. It'd be great to finally meet you, are you planning on taking anything? Thanks Ian, that's the plan anyway Luckily mine wasn't too bad, I pumped some grease into it and it's a lot better now, what is Ewan's steering like? Tom

Great pictures Mark, that John Deere gets my vote though Tom

Hi, Had an afternoon on the Cub today. I wanted to see if the engine ran OK and there was no major problems so I hooked up a coil and tried it. Well I say I did, it looked like someone had tried to do it before. Cleaned the carb and off she went, and I've got proof http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r713/whtom/th_510BD656-0C65-4948-AA57-A3219A31E413.mp4 The engine runs well for it's age in my opinion. It hunts a bit but I have a NOS carb for it which I am tempted to stick on, I'm also going to fit new points, condenser, magneto coil, fuel sediment bowl and fuel lines. A birthday really I had a drive well and it all seemed really good. The only problem seemed to be the steering which was very tight, I thought it was the steering box which worried me as I was hoping I was going to get away without taking it out and rebuilding it for now. I jacked the front up and it turned out to be the spindles were very stiff, I had great difficulty in getting them out! After eventually getting them out I soaked them in the parts cleaner and it sanded everything down, re-greased and they were 1000x better. I put it back together had a quick drive and it is so much better, I am very happy with it now. Now just to get some bits for it, tempted to take this to Rural past times.. Tom

Very cool, I look forward to the pictures of it behind your tractor! Tom

Great minds think alike

Regarding the flywheel, on a Kohler engine I use wedge a chock of wood in between the engine block and the flywheel so there is constant pressure on the flywheel and usually a combination of hitting the flywheel and the flywheel nut it will come loose. Plenty of penetrating oil and you want lots of shock but not too much so you damage things.. Tom

Great pictures, thanks Paul. Project Bendy looks HUGE compared to that little RJ! Awesome line up.. Ewans cub is looking very nice too Tom

:lol: Looking great Charlie

Good looking projects Charlie, I look forward to seeing them progress.. I'm sure I recognise them from somewhere Tom

Looks great Paul, very nice little display Tom

You are right Norm, I will have to keep the original set for ploughing I was very lucky with the K161, I'm just hoping the parts are similar on them, no doubt they will all be different!! It definitely is looking like tri-ribs, I was half tempted to go with ags on the front as well like my 312... Tom

Hi all, Not done much on the Cub lately, unfortunately. However, I have picked up some new rear tyres and another K161 engine. Admittedly it is seized but it has been barn stored and looks fairly straight so I can use parts off of it all being well. Has anyone else put 23-8.50 x 12 tyres on a cub before? I mocked it up and I quite like it, not sure what to put on the front though... What do you guys think? Tom

Looking very nice Ewan, you done a great job on the steering wheel, it looks new!! Tom

Thanks for that Ewan, I appreciate it. It's good news also, handy to know Tom

Hi HeadExam, I fully understand what you are saying and have noticed many small differences in the Kohlers I have owned. The spec number I have for this engine is: 23493E if that is any help to you.. The only problem I can see me having if I were to put a K141/K161/K181 would be fitting the drive pulley and recoil for the drive belt. I'm not too sure if the other Kohlers would have a hole for the dowel on the pulley.. Tom Hi Iain, It may be an idea, and one that I have thought of. The only thing I would be worried about is would it unbalance the flywheel? I know you wouldn't be adding much weight.. That's a very kind offer of you which I may take you up on as, like you say, I don't want to throw sums of money at it and find out there is something else wrong! We will have to have a chat at the weekend Tom

I would imagine so, from what I've read the K141, K161 and K181 are very similar apart from bore size. The 350s run a K141 originally... I was actually thinking of them because they are fairly common, the main downside is they come with the rest of the machine most of the time! Tom

Hi guys, Thanks for your continued help. I'd prefer a recoil really, it's less to go wrong in my opinion. If I did replace the engine I'd like to try and rebuild the original engine and eventually stick it back in. Apparently the recoils are quite uncommon. I know Iains is also a recoil start. I'm definitely going to have to look out for a replacement I think, it's going to be expensive gaining all the parts and in the mean time I can look out for a 7hp. The only thing that worries me is fitting the drive pulley on the flywheel side of the engine, I'm not sure if the Cub kohlers were made any different to other kohlers? Tom

Hi guys, Were the K181s electric start? I imagine so as the 7hp Cub recoil wouldn't fit an 8hp I don't think as it has dowels to help keep it in line, maybe I will have to convert it to electric start too.. They don't make it easy! Tom

Hi Ewan, It's a possibility as long as the bolt pattern is the same on the sump and I can put the recoil on the 8hp as well as the tank and the drive pulley. It's definitely achievable though, the next problem is finding a nice running 8hp, unless you've got one? Tom

Had the engine on the bench today and inspected further into it. Not great news unfortunately, bearing plate is broken on the side; I'm presuming where someone has tried to lever the flywheel off. The flywheel is cracked, again I imagine due to harsh treatment, the magneto also seems to be not working. I tried an OHM test with no results so I'm not sure how else to try it. It makes sense because someone has put a coil on the side of it which makes me think they didn't or couldn't replace the magneto so just tried a coil to get it to work. They have also tried a new condenser. I'm unsure what to do now, I want to keep it original as possible BUT at the same time don't want to spend heaps of money getting all the original parts because like all my other tractors it will be a worker. The best thing would be to get a donor engine but I can't see that happening really.. Any help or advice would be appreciated! Tom

Very cool photo and what a handy machine! I love the rear tyres on your 1886. Tom