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Cub LowBoy 154

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John Harris
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2004-07-17          91180

I'm looking at buy a 1971 Cub Lowboy 154 that needs the PTO shaft replaced and possibly a clutch pack. Is this a major undertaking? The parts are still available thru IH.

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Cub LowBoy 154

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Chief
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee
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2004-07-17          91187

John, I hate to be the messenger of bad news but this was one of the big weak links in this tractor. I had a 154 Lo Boy for 10 years that was given to me by my father as a basket case for the very reason you post here and had to replace the pto shaft. That was about 10 years ago and it cost me over $250 for the shaft which is a special hardened steel shaft. The pto clutch drum assembly on the shaft as well as the shaft are now obsolete parts and only stock left on dealer shelves (if any) is left. The problem as I recall was that the drive belt pulley on the pto shaft would work back and forth on the key way and set screw holding it in place on the shaft. The first tell tale signs were the knocking noise at idle and eventually the pulley would strip out the key way and key. Same thing applied to the pto clutch drum assy. only the clutch plate ears would eat into the pto clutch drum and render is useless. I was very lucky and found a new pto shaft and the clutch drum was not too far gone. In the event you cannot find a servicable pto shaft, you can take the shaft to a GOOD machine shop and have them will the key way slot by welding it with material and remachining the the key way slot. The problem with doing this is the the heat of welding the shaft tends to cause it to warp and it must then be straightened. This can be an expensive proposition. If you can get this done and the drive belt pulley is not damaged too; I used Locktite to secure the pulley key way key and the set screw. I tightened the set screw as much as I dared without striping it out. After this you must be VERY careful to engage the pto clutch by VERY SLOOOOOOOOOWLY pulling out the pto clutch engagement rod so as to VERY gradually bring the pto up to speed at the lowest possible rpm. This wears on the clutch plates a bit but they are MUCH cheaper than the other parts. Even after I performed all of these measures by installing new parts and babied the pto; the shaft was again knocking and drive belt pulley was looose on the key way as well as the set screw loose in short order. I retightened and re Locktited the set screw a few times which would last until you hit a rock or other debry and the shock load would loosen it again. Just a really poor design. I eventually traded my 154 Lo Boy for a Kubota L245. The 154 was a great little tractor and served me well for the 10 years I had it but this was a fatal flaw and one of the primary reasons they were discontinued. During the 10 years I owned the 154, I must have spent over $4,000 in parts and labor to maintain it. When the opportunity for the Kubota L245 came along, I jumped on it as more and more parts for the 154 were becoming obsolete and unavailable each year not to mention, much more expensive for the parts still available. Sorry to hear about your problems and hope this helps you out. Hope you can get her up and running but you may want to look into selling or trading up to a newer tractor unless you want to keep it for restoration. ....

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Cub LowBoy 154

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jharris
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 1 Illinois
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2004-07-19          91292

Thanks for the info, I dont own the tractor yet, just looking for something to mow 3 acres, I thought the IH would be a good investment plus it would be something to restore. Are all of the Cubs this way or just the 154 Lowboys? ....

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Cub LowBoy 154

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Chief
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee
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2004-07-19          91294

I am not absolutely sure but I believe the 154 and 184 had this particular design. I would recommend you go with a tractor that utilizes and gear driven pto. In my opinion, you would be better off with an older Kubota L185,L245 etc. or Deere 850, 950, 855, or 955. ....

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Cub LowBoy 154

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Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2004-07-19          91368

Chief you sure must have been mowing a lot of lawn! We do see them in from time to time and there are a lot of them out there working. The later models were improved and the last ones had an electric PTO clutch. ....

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Cub LowBoy 154

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Chief
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee
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2004-07-19          91369

The yard is about 4 acres including the drive way. I mow another 6 or 7 acres of pasture and walking trails too. It used to take me about 14 hours to cut it all with the 154 Lo Boy but I cut it is in about half that time with the Deere 4410 and the F525. Only 3 forward speeds in that old 154; 1st gear was way to slow, 2nd gear was too slow, and 3rd gear was way too fast. It was still a great little machine that served me well the 10 years I owned it. ....

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Cub LowBoy 154

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Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2004-07-20          91412

You are about right with the speeds unfortuantely the cut of the deck in second wasn't very good compared to first as it was getting to fast for it normally. The older ones were a little short on horsepower but they sure did run good. I guess to cut for ten years a 400 dollars a year investment isn't really to far out of line for the acreage mowed as the machine was not new when you got it. I like to think that if you can't mow in less time with a newer machine it really makes it hard to justify the purchase. ....

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