Cub Cadet Collectors dot com

This tractor belongs to my FIL. It has had a long life of little maintenance. A couple years ago I had to replace the starter, it wouldn't engage with the flywheel. Recently it started doing that again. Since I still had the original starter, I took it apart and inspected the brushes, armature, bendix, magnets. All looked good after cleaning everything up. Assembly and bench test showed it working as it should. I was able to get the engine started with a battery boost. I think the head gaskets are blown, the engine smokes a lot when it is running and the engine is coated with oily dirt. Right now, I have the engine out of the tractor. The hour meter stopped working at 1880 hrs. That seems like a high number to me. Then again, it is a late eighties tractor. Even though it is a rough aged unit, I can see the potential and I'd like to do what I can to bring it back to life. It's not dependable right now and is tempermental about starting. After I degrease the engine, I'm gonna pull the heads and take a look at those gaskets and the cylinders before I go any farther. Then I think I should split the case and check the rotating mass and the governor gear. Due to the high hours, I fully expect this to turn into an engine overhaul at the very least. Can I get any advise and/or suggestions about engine teardown, special procedures, parts availability, manuals, etc.? Many of you probably have a tractor like this and you know what a beast they are when they are right. I want to get this set up so it will last many more years. Thanks in advance for any help.

Welcome Jeff. Sounds like a fun project. I did same thing a few years ago. In the search bar at the top of the page "magnum 20 rebuild". I think the whole job cost me around$1200-1400. Make sure you post some pictures of this beast!

Thanks dag. Will post again probably in a couple weeks.