#24

 

I was minding my own business reading craigslist one day when this ad jumped out in front of me.  Seems this guy had a cub for sale but he wasn't sure of the year or how much he wanted.  When I called he said the Cub was sitting in his garage and it was disassembled.  The guy said it had low compression so he took the motor apart and then lost interest.   When I asked about the year he said he thought it was a an early 50's model.  I asked if he had a price in mind and he said yes "As much as I can get!"  He was a little over 70 miles from my place and I told him I didn't want to drive that far and then be told he wanted $1500.00 for it in the condition he described.  He said he didn't expect to get that much.  I told him that I couldn't get there for a couple days because of work and he said he would not sell it until I saw it.  I never thought I'd find somebody that would do that since he never knew me.

I never had to refinish the sheet metal on this Cub. This is the condition it was in when I bought it.  It was disassembled and I put it together enough to move it around.

 

Two days later I called to see if he still had it and he said it hasn't moved.  I asked if he had given any thought as to how much he wanted and the answer was the same as two days earlier.  I again said it was too far to drive with out some reasonable idea as to cost.  He said it would probably be less than $600.00.  I agreed to drive over after work and take a look but told him there was no guarantee I would take it.  He was happy with that.

 

I went home and hooked up the trailer thinking, "If I buy it I don't want to have to go back after it.  When I got there I didn't see it anywhere around.  When I asked where it was he pointed to a corner where parts of it were buried under a ton of other stuff.  You would think that anyone trying to sell a tractor would at least have it out where it could be seen.  The back half was in the corner and I could see it still had good paint on it. When I saw the cast code on the torque tube was an "X" I figured it was a 1952.  I notice that the hood and grill was missing and he said they were behind the garage with the weights and mower.  We walked out the door and as I got behind the garage I said I didn't see them.  The seller said they were by the tree line behind the garage.  The tree line was a good 250 feet away.  That is a good ways behind the garage.

 

The sheet metal and emblems are in excellent shape.  This Cub will not require a paint job when it's done.

We walked back to look and not only were there rear weights but a nice set of front ones too.   Then I saw the grill and thought something was wrong. Then I saw the hood and said this is 55-56 stuff. I expected the grill and hood to be demolished from laying out side but when I saw them they were in excellent condition. The mower deck wasn't to bad at all either.  As we walked back to the garage I asked once more about the price. The guy said "Make me an offer, I want it gone."  I figured the most he could do was turn me down so I looked at him and asked if he would take $300.00 for it all.  He didn't hesitate at all when he said yes.

 


I never checked the serial number till I got home and it comes back as a 56. I checked the engine cast code and it is an "A" code. That is a 55 or early 56. The engine had been disassembled because it had low compression.  I asked the owner if he had checked for stuck valves before tearing it down and he hadn't.  That's a pity because he could have save us both a lot of work and this may have been a good running Cub.  In time I will have the engine checked out and get this one back together.  Once this one is back together I think it will be one of the better looking ones in the barnyard.