Cub Cadet Collectors dot com

Never fails... I get a flu shot, and 5 days later, I got the flu...

At least, amidst the chills, sweating, coughing and sneezing, i was able to participate in the world of E-commerce and order some gaskets for the Mutt transaxle. Next steps include getting the hydrostat mounted and moved to the other side of the mess, then clean out the mess so I can get the Mutt moved into warm area for rearend replacement...

Merry Christmas, Everybody!

I got gaskets!

WooHoo... a little (very little) but little progress...

Got the remaining studs installed in the sides of the case.

Got the hydrostat unit bolted down, pipe connected. This one (and it's case) came from a 127, so the pickup tube is the long type that wraps around the top... as a cooling concept. After a few years, they decided it wasn't that necessary, so they just made it a simple 90... and when they did, they changed the threading In my case, it'll probably do some good, because it gets worked pretty hard.

I had more ideas to implement in this transaxle, but because of several factors (other responsibilities and committments, a still-almost-useless knee, etc) I'll probably set most of those aside and just get it put in and operational, and worry about the other things later...

Pictures to follow soon... at the moment, I've got a spi-rol pin to bust out, and it's being ornery!

Dave - Yes, pictures please! You know this a bit of "short attention span theater" here, we need pictures to keep our attention!

Man, good luck with the spirol pin, they can be terrible, especially if they break and shift the holes out of alignment. Oof...

Good luck with the knee as well, I've been suddenly fighting a knee acting up that came out of nowhere.

So, the hydrostat went in nice, and while the spi-rol was a PITA, I found that a worn-out extended-length T25 Torx bit with the shank polished down (chuck it in the drill, and spin it against the belt grinder for 30 seconds) and it actually did really well... the T25 point pushed the CENTER of the spi-rol to the side, which caused the outer turns to suck in, and slip down. There's probably quite a few who don't know the history, but over two decades ago, I built Loader Mutt from parts of four or five different Cub Cadets, and the one part I was simply NOT satisfied with, was the driveshaft. The flange and crosspin up front, and the rag joint and fan out back was not a good combo for the kind of service factor I impose, so I changed the setup around, moved the rag joint to the front, nixed the cooling fan, and put a U-joint at the hydrostat end. I ran that for better part of what... 15 years, until it was ready for a new engine, at which time I fitted in a Vanguard 18 that ran surprisingly well, despite having a broken rod... and the second Vanguard had some other bizzare problem, so I bought a Honda GX660 and dropped it in... instead of the Kohler soft-mount cradle (which had become problematic under my loading), I welded in a solid platform, then reinforced the frame and cut out some of the sides to make the GX fit... and then I made a new driveshaft that ran U-joints at both ends...

This hydrostat I have here, is actually one of my spares... as is the transaxle housing that I butchered to fit this Auburn Limited Slip/D60FF axle assembly into. Loader-Mutt's 'original' transaxle is still bolted into the frame, driveshaft still connected, so I'll hafta unbolt and pull it out to get THIS one in...

and THAT is why I had to pull the spi-rol pin from this hydrostat... gotta be able to fit the Mutt's driveshaft to it.

I also had to back out the bypass relief valves and clean 'em up. One was a little sticky (lots)... And the other thing I did, was remove the trunion setup, straighten out the swashplate trunion bracket, and drill it for a heim-joint pin. I'll set this one up for direct acting off the heel/toe pedal.

And it wouldn't be tractor porn if I didn't include a rear-end shot...

And eventually, there's gonna be some guy who says that it ain't so... that it's a photoshop-job... No, that's an Auburn Limited Slip in there... you're absolutely right, it doesn't fit in through that back window... it has to be carried inside in pieces, and assembled in situ... but it's in there.

Your dedication to to that old girl is like a marriage......"for better or for worse, till death do you part". I would have be divorced long ago
Great job!!

Keep it going, Dave!

A little more progress... here's some pix... I got some heim joints and a piece of tubing to improve my treadle control for speed/direction...
Some studs in place for SOME of the rear cover installation...
I marked the housing around the top cover to locate some points for a dipstick/fill spot and some huydrauics things
The original cover marked...

Original back cover...
So I decided to drill a thicker cover... spoiler alert, I didn't like this one, so I changed it...
Making a more substantial TOP cover
And it looks like this...

knock out the original breather...
Tap it for NPT barb fitting

Here's my NEXT iteration at a 'cover'... some heavier channel iron, which will naturally provide 'wings' to which things can be secured...
Place the gasket on it, get it aligned, and fill the 'holes' with black permanent marker
Place a washer on the holes such that it is sized to just BARELY cover the black, which then identifies your center...

Now to attend to the recipient chassis, which has been patiently waiting for all this time:

Disconnect linkages, unbolt brackets and axle housing bolts, and a little tug...
It's out!

Good stuff Dave!  I like the "picture heavy" with narration format!  Thanks for continuing to share the story!

Gotta be the best thread ever!

That washer centering trick is good... because I'm badly in need of a set of center punches. Good update!

No significant progress to report at the moment, aside from moving a few things around to get ready to mate the newly-beastial rearend assembly into Mutt's chassis.  I'll have to do a little fab work to the frame to make the new axle tubes' upper bolt locations mate well to the frame- the width is slightly different, and of course, I'm using studs, rather than bolts.  I haven't decided exactly how I'll do it, but I'm likely to incorporate frame reinforcement into the new attachment points.  I'm also contemplating the independent mechanical brake setup, which may, or may not happen, but either way, won't happen right away.  I've never had a need for physical brakes (lowering the bucket is very swift and secure) and in the past, my only wish for brakes was to hold down one spinning wheel to get the other pulling, which is moot with the limited slip (we hope)...

But I DID get the revisit of knee surgery last week... it's talkin' to me loud, but the problems it had before are supposedly resolved... hopefully in a few days I'll feel more like I did 2.5hrs ago, before all this started.

So the knee is doing much better, and today I was able to get some cool forward motion-
I got the long-reach lifting boom on the forklift, reached WAY INTO the workshop, and hooked on to the transaxle, and carefully withdrew it from the shop to the driveway...
attached the wheels and tires
and then carried it to the south grain bin (now workshop) to introduce it to Loader-Mutt's chassis.

It will require a little fab work to fit it together, as it's now held with studs, rather than bolts, and the frame spacing is not exactly as it was before, but it's not a worrysome problem, plasma, grinder, and MIG will solve this.


  Then I'll make the speed-direction ratio linkage, add a damper and centering springs to it, get the fancy-blue driveshaft connected, slap on a new filter, fill it with HyTran Ultra... and give it a whirl.  Then...

Good stuff Dave, keep the pics coming! 

Keep it coming! This is my favorite thread on the site, been following it forever it seems!

Dave... That's because it HAS BEEN TAKING ME FOREVER!!!! 

DaveKamp wrote: ↑

Tue May 23, 2023 9:56 pm

Dave... That's because it HAS BEEN TAKING ME FOREVER!!!! 

That's ok. I enjoy following it!