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Never Thought I'd See My Cub Like This!

3K views 29 replies 13 participants last post by  soobaroo 
#1 ·
My Cub Cadet 1525 is now 14 years old and has a little over 500 hours on it, and it really needs some attention. This little tractor has been the 'reliable beater' of the stable, and I have given it very little attention since I bought it new in 2003. It's had regular oil, filter, and plug changes, but not much else. The blades have been replaced a couple times, and the battery has been changed a few times. I changed the hydro oil last year for the first time at 497 hours.

The main issue with the tractor right now is that the fender pan and the deck are getting really rusty. Other things that need done are both belts need changed (they are original), two pulleys? on the deck have bad bearings, and the grease zerks on the spindles snapped off. The seat is also cracking, I may replace it if I can find a decent used one.

Anyway, here's the tractor all stripped down. I'll be working on the previously mentioned items over the next couple weeks. Stay tuned!
 

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#3 ·
Dang, does your State put salt on the grass also in the summer? That's some serious rusting problem for its age.

Looking forward to the freshening up progress.
 
#4 ·
It's only surface rust. But yes Pennsylvania DOT could empty the salt in the Pacific and turn it into a Freshwater ocean in a matter of months with all the salt that gets thrown around here.

Here's today's progress. I pressure washed the tractor after disassembling a little more. It came out really clean. It probably hasn't been this clean since it was brand new. There must have been 10 lbs of caked on oily grass inside this tractor.

Once I pressure washed, I immediately noticed the parking brake was functioning properly again (it hasn't worked in years). There must have been grass jamming up the mechanism!

I also wire wheeled the rust on the fender pan, and sanded it pretty smooth on top. I didn't go crazy on the bottom, I just hit it with a wire wheel to get the really loose stuff. I'm going to use truck bedliner on the underside too, so smoothness doesn't matter much underneath.

Once I had it sanded smooth I hit the bare metal spots with some red oxide primer and now I'm waiting for it to dry. (No photos yet, sorry!)

I also went to Sherwin Williams today and got the Yellow paint. The only place locally that stocked Cub cadet yellow was TSC and I hate their 'Majic' brand of paint, so I took a paint chip to SW and they matched it pretty close. I got a quart of it, not sure if I'm going to roll it on or spray it with a Preval sprayer. Stay tuned!
 

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#5 ·
Some pictures of the primered deck, took them in my dark garage so the quality may not be great.
 

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#6 ·
I've noticed since the advent of powder coat paint a lot of badly rusted vehicles. It seems they market powder coating as a durable paint system that won't rust as readily as wet paint but the opposite seems to be common. I'm of the opinion that the preparation is being rushed in production and therefore dust and moisture are coated over leading to premature rusting. You probably noticed areas where the paint was fine and areas where it peeled off in large pieces. All we can do is deal with as well as we can.
 
#8 ·
I've done my fair share of powder coating and I've also worked in a body shop on and off for the last seven years. Powder coating is a great product, but oftentimes? prep work is skipped because the powder will stick regardless of prepwork. The problem occurs when the electric charge (which makes the dry powder stick) is removed. Then the electric bond is gone, and there is little to no mechanical bond (i.e. sanded, scuffed metal/primer) to keep the (now baked) powder coating on. The powder is just melted on to the metal, and that is all that is attaching it.


Paint on the other hand requires excellent prep work for good adhesion and therefore the prep is not usually skimped on.

Both products have their place and as far as tractors go, I don't really prefer one over the other. Powder coating is more scratch resistant than paint, but paint is easier to match, touch up, clean and polish. Both, when correctly applied, should last about the same amount of time as each other.
 
#7 ·
The main reason my 2166 is "in process" is because of that same rust issue. It's getting a full repaint, GT size wheels/tires, and everything else (major maintenance wise) while it's apart.


I've got so many irons in the fire not much has happened lately though.
 
#9 ·
I've got so many irons in the fire not much has happened lately though.
I know what you mean. Currently I've got this tractor, my other John Deere tractor, my 1995 Ford Truck I'm 'restoring', and my 1976 Buick 350 4bbl I'm rebuilding to put in my 1987 Buick Regal. Plus I'm trying to get my daily driver BMW up to par on maintenance.

Between all these projects, I can barely remember what day it is, lol. And yet I still find myself on Craigslist every night looking for more potential projects!
 
#10 ·
Well I made some more progress on the Cub today. I got the underside of the fender pan painted with Rust-Oleum Leak Seal. It came out very nicely and gave a nice, uniformly textured, matte finish that hides a lot of the surface imperfections. I'm happy with the result.

I also got the mower deck disassembled and I was pleased to find that the spindles were totally and easily serviceable and the bearings themselves were made in USA Timken brand. I also noticed that the scalp wheels had their own grease zerks! (I never even knew they were there... oops) Who says MTD can't build a quality Machine? :)

More updates on the way!
 

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#12 · (Edited)
ouch! looking good now-glad to see you rescued it with some tlc. Cub must have had prep issues prior to paint back then; had to sand, prime & paint my now 14 yr. old 42" deck about 4 years after it was purchased new due to rust under paint causing it to peel off in sheets. I still have to touch it up now & then and hope that is a Cub thing of the past now.
 
#14 ·
Wow!!!!!!! That is very rusty for it's age! I dunno if it's true or not but my dad says they don't use salt on the roads in PA, he says they use cinders. Do ya know if that's true?
 
#15 ·
My Cub Cadet 1525 is now 14 years old and has a little over 500 hours on it, and it really needs some attention. This little tractor has been the 'reliable beater' of the stable, and I have given it very little attention since I bought it new in 2003. It's had regular oil, filter, and plug changes, but not much else. The blades have been replaced a couple times, and the battery has been changed a few times. I changed the hydro oil last year for the first time at 497 hours.

The main issue with the tractor right now is that the fender pan and the deck are getting really rusty. Other things that need done are both belts need changed (they are original), two pulleys? on the deck have bad bearings, and the grease zerks on the spindles snapped off. The seat is also cracking, I may replace it if I can find a decent used one.

Anyway, here's the tractor all stripped down. I'll be working on the previously mentioned items over the next couple weeks. Stay tuned!
Wow!!!!!!! That is very rusty for it's age! I dunno if it's true or not but my dad says they don't use salt on the roads in PA, he says they use cinders. Do ya know if that's true?

They definitely use salt here in Pittsburgh. They use it like it's going out of style. Our vehicles desinagrate after 15 years or less and the roads look white in the winter, not from the snow, but from the salt. I wish they'd use cinders or sand or anything besides salt! It rusts out everything!
 
#17 ·
I haven't updated in a while as I've been occupied with some other projects, but I'm back!

The Sherwin Williams paint I originally intended on using had an adverse reaction with the original paint when I applied it. It bubbled up and looked horrible. So I sanded it back off and changed brands of paint. I was weary of using the Tractor Supply brand Majic due to the many bad reviews online, but i went for it anyway since it was the only locally available brand of Cub Cadet yellow. So far it seems to be working nicely. I read the directions carefully and read one of the instruction pamphlets that they give out in the store, and I think as long as I follow the directions, it should be fine. The instructions state to use two coats of red oxide primer on top of surfaces prepped with 80 grit paper. Then it says to scuff between coats and to wait 24 hours between coats. So the dry times are kinda long, but I'll just have to be patient.

I got my first coat of primer on today. It went on nicely and covered well. It has excellent scratch filling capability. Next coat of primer will be tomorrow!
 

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#18 ·
Got the second coat of primer on the fender pan today. It looks really good! I also painted the muffler shroud with color today (no primer was necessary) and the color match is awesome! Also the gloss right out of the can is great! I am really liking these Majic paints (just not the really long dry times!)! Photos coming soon!
 
#19 ·
Watch your recoat times with that stuff or it will wrinkle bad... Other than that it's good stuff.
 
#21 ·
If I remember correctly you can recoat within one hour or you have to wait the full 24 hours. Most alkyd spray paints are like that though, some more forgiving than others.
 
#22 ·
Well I've now got two coats of primer and three coats of paint on my fender pan. It's a little orange-peely but it'll wetsand out, no problems. I'll pull the tape tomorrow once it's dry and if it's dry enough, I may reinstall the trim bits.

Also attached a picture of the painted muffler shroud.
 

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#25 ·
Well I got the tractor reassembled today. I peeled the tape off the back and then reglued the decal in between the footrests?. I then cleaned and reattached the grab handles and the set the pan back on the tractor. I bolted it down along with the seat and reattached the tail lights? (now just reflectors, I disconnected the wiring to them) and put the footrest pads back in place. I then reinstalled the front bumper.

I then polished up the hood and side panels with some Meguiars Ultra Cut Compound and wiped the plastics down with some 303 Aerospace Protectant.

All in all I'm very happy with the results. The paint is super glossy and looks fantastic. The color match is dead on. It will need a little wetsanding to make it mirror-like but I'll have to wait for the paint to harden for a few weeks first.

I still need to repaint and reassemble the mower deck, but at least I've got the tractor back together now!

More updates on the mower deck will be coming soon!
 

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#29 ·
Well thank you all! I am really happy to see it looking a bit better than it has for a while. As I previously said, this tractor is the 'reliable beater' of the stable and it's kinda been overlooked when it comes to cosmetics and cleaning.

I really think these MTD Cub Cadets get a lot more hate than they really deserve. For example, this tractor has a full frame, cast iron solid front axle, actual lug nuts on the rear wheels (not a keyed shaft and a snap ring), grease zerks everywhere, a metal hood and sides, a really heavy (10 gauge, I'm guessing) deck and a Kawasaki OHV engine. Sure it's not an IH, but it's pretty overbuilt for a lawn tractor.



I've attached the only real 'before' picture I have of it.
 

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