The Farmall Cub

[David LaPell]

I own a small plot of land, not alot just six acres and I really don't want a 4 wheeler for it and I always wanted a tractor. My grandfather had a variety over the years, an old Ford but I remember his Farmall H. I however fell in love with the Farmall Cub when I first saw one at a fair and realized it would be perfect for my little plot, from pulling out some of the small trees and brush that were downed by Hurricane Irene that I can't get to with my jeep. I admit though I don't know alot about them mechanically and other than my father's large John Deere I really haven't messed with any tractors at all. Anyone ever had one or know anything about the Farmall Cub?

 

[Kelly Green]

David,

The first tractor I bounced around a field on was a 1950 Farmall Cub. I was about ten or eleven at the time. It’s a strong little tractor and ideal for small to medium work. My dad sold the Cub in 1990 and it was still working perfectly. I’m attaching a link to the Owner’s Manual. It will give you most of the information you need on operation and maintenance of the Cub.

Enjoy,
Kel

McCormick-Deering Farmall Cub Owner's Manual 5-23-47

 

[Frank237]

Personally I'd take a look at KUBOTA. Zero % financing and zero down program is usually running.

Bought a 24 HP 4x4 model a few yrs back. Couldn't be any happier.

Unless there is some sort of nostalgia associated with the old Cub...why diddle around with such old technology? Not even 4x4.

YMMV.

 

[ThirtyAcres]

I have a 1949 Cub.

I also have a 1977 Kubota L-185.
For larger home gardens, deer food plots, or market gardens, there is nothing like the little Cub. The offset steering makes it easy to cultivate as you are looking right down into your rows. The Cub is all American made and parts are everywhere.
I have a sickle bar mower that I use on the Cub to cut my hay-----simplicity at its finest. Runs off the belt pulley and hums like a sewing machine.
When I need a three-point implement like a bush hog, I use my Kubota. It is just as tough as the Cub----but the Cub has soul........and no Japanese characters on the warning labels.
The Cub uses the Thermo-Siphon cooling system. No water pump. VERY important to keep coolant at proper level.

 

[snowman]

It really depends on what all you intend to use it for. The older models had less than 10 hp at the drawbar, 59.5 ci, and weighed only around 1500 pounds. That really limits what the thing can pull.

Andy

 

[Holster]

It's a very good garden tractor for row crops. I'd only get one if you keep a garden though. Mechanically they're sound and easy to fix, and you can usually find them for sale at a decent price.

 

[tops]

If I remember correctly the cub was rated for 40 acres but that was for a farmer but even working public work you should be able to handle 6 acres. As was posted earlier you can't beat one for cultivating because you are looking at your cultivators and if you grow a garden that is important. I have one of those new fangled 4x4 Kubotas and the only work I can do on it is change oil. If anything goes wrong it has to go to the dealer that has high dollar specialized equip. You can fix anything on the cub with a cresent wrench and a pair of pliers.

 

[V-35]

Farmall Cub

My neighbor has a Farmall Cub with a 5 foot belt drive belly mower. He has 20 acres of which he mowes about 8 acres. The Cub works as good as my John Deere 955 hydrostatic diesel mower for mowing. It has been totally dependable and simplicity its self. For this size place, unless you need some Very heavy pulling, I can't see why you would want to change. Besides that, the Cub has LOTS of class with an out of sight WOW factor. I have 160 acres so I have several larger tractors, none of which are as much fun to drive as my neighbors little Cub. (We share the same airport runway). I think that if I ever downsize, (I can't imagine having less than 5 acres) I believe the Cub is what I will buy.

BTW, your Cub looks GREAT.....................Art

 

[kudzu3]

Check this: Tractor Forum : MyTractorForum.Com Tractor Forums. I recently bought a 1979 wheel horse D 160 and knew nothing about it. I found this site, asked questions and got great accurate answers. I think you will enjoy the tractor and the forum.

 

[Marshwheeling]

Apart from the work you can do with it, which is considerable, owning and running a tractor is just plain fun. Put a slow-vehicle triangle on the back, pack a lunch, and take it on a road trip. I had a Jubilee that I used to drive down to the coffee shop instead of taking a car, bicycle or motorcycle.

My Ford implement dealer was 40 miles away, which was a bit ambitious for the Jubilee, but not for my neighbor's industrial Ford, which would do 50 mph on the open road.

And don't forget the Fourth of July. A tractor was made for parades. 5 mph down Main Street on your Cub will be a lot more fun for you than it will be for those guys on their Harleys, especially after they get hot and won't idle any more.

 

[kimporter]

i would try to find a 140 if you could,same "wow" factor and parts are EVERYWHERE,its rated 17 hp at drawbar and 21 at pto check out this websitehttp://farmall140.com/

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

In about 1967, dad bought a 1959 Cub, many a summer day my brother and I spent mowing a 16 acre field in front of the house. My wife's uncle has 2, a 1952 and a 1957, the '52 came with almost every accessory made for them. My BIL from the hills, always talked of small tabaco farmers using Cubs in their small odd shaped valley plots. I have 3 of the later "lo-boys", 154, 184, and a 185. All 3 are junk compaired to the old Cubs, yes they had more HP (15 & 18) but the pto clutch will go bad and the part alone is over $800 which is more than most of them are worth. The old Cubs have a real "direct drive" pto and go on for years.By the way, they started making Cubs in 48 or 49, and started with SN 50.

 

[BigBill]

I own them all just about. My int154's are awesome and my fcub is good too. I also have about 15 cub cadets too. I come from an IH family of farmers(cousins). Thats all they ever used. The 1947 farmall cub was the first one. I own 3 int154's and 1 fcub. The super A, 100, 130 and 140 farmall will be my next ones. I need a tad more power over the fcub.

 

[mountaingun629]

I'm with kimporter on the 140 - about twice as much tractor as the Cub, but the same offset style.
The major drawback to the Cub or it's big brother the A, Super A, 100, 120, 130, and 140 is that you have to buy all Farmall / International implements that were designed for that specific model tractor.
I don't know for the life of me why Farmall dragged their feet so long on putting three point hitches on tractors. It wasn't until about 1979 or 1980 that they replaced the 140 with an import made by Komatsu that had the three point hitch.

Myron

 

[jrm53]

I had a cub from 1975 thru 1984, it had a 48" woods mower under it and it was a fine tractor, I seem to remember it was 12 hp and it had a manual lift. If you have one you should look for REAL gas, no alcohol in the gas and run a lead substiute in the gas. I traded it for a Kubota L245 with a Continental-Belton 60" mower under it. The cub was bullet proof. Jeff

 

[redlevel]

All according to what you want to do. That vertical exhaust, by the way, will keep you out of any place you have with overhanging limbs, brush, etc. I believe you would be much better served with a three-point hitch tractor with a good lift and a little more power. If doing the maintenance yourself is important, an older Ford 8N, 9N, 2N, 600 etc would be the trick. A ford 600 is a real tractor, capable of doing some real farming, but just as at home keeping ups few acres of grounds.

You mentioned pulling out some brush and limbs. That's fine, but be very careful if you intend to pull up any stumps, small trees, etc. It can be deadly if you don't attach chains properly. Many people have flipped their tractor over backward with deadly results doing this.

I have spent my time with the tractors from the late 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. I even had a cub about 40 years ago. I still have my fill's 600 Ford, and it is a useful piece, but it's hard to beat modern technology. You can find a smallish Kubota with a mower and a front-loader very reasonable used, and as someone mentioned, most all the manufacturers are running 0% financing on new stuff.

 

[mtelkhntr]

My Dad made a career with International Harvester starting back in the early '50's. However, my mother's dad who farmed, never had any IH product and I never asked why. That being the case, all of us grandsons's grew up learning to drive Grandpa's John Deere "M". He had a little noble blade in the back that we used to cultivate tree rows with and being the enterprising lazy kids we were I'm sure we barked too many of the trees killing them because we didn't want to have to hand hoe the weeds. That tractor had more hours just driving around the farm then it did doing any work. We were kings back then doing anything with that tractor. It didn't matter if it only had 20 horsepower as it wouldn't have made us any more puffed up if it had 500. Life was a lot simpler then and so was the equipment. Keep nostalgia alive and buy a cub.

 

[65kaiser]

Personally I'd take a look at KUBOTA. Zero % financing and zero down program is usually running.

Bought a 24 HP 4x4 model a few yrs back. Couldn't be any happier
Unless there is some sort of nostalgia associated with the old Cub...why diddle around with such old technology? Not even 4x4.

YMMV.

you just don't get it.

 

[65kaiser]

Here is a great place for info on the cub and other Farmall tractors.
FarmallCub.Com | The 'International' House of Cubs

 

[shamelessinct]

My grandfather owned a dairy farm from the time he came back from the "war to end all wars" until he died in the mid 1960's. When he "retired" from his farm in NYS and returned to CT, he kept a 1952 Chevrolet truck, a 1939 Oliver tractor and a (I think) 1949 Cub. The Oliver was for heavy work and the Cub was for cultivating and cutting hay. They all got sold off when he passed away; to this day I wish I had been old enough to buy them.