Farmall Cub Repowered With Chevy V-6 Gas Engine
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"It's a real crowd pleaser at parades but is also a work horse on my farm," says Stephen Berger, West, Texas, who repowered his 1945 Farmall Cub tractor by re-placing the original 4-cyl. gas engine with a 2.8-liter V-6 gas engine out of a 1982 Chevy car. He also connected the car's 4-speed transmission to the tractor's original 3-speed transmission, giving him a total of 12 forward speeds and two reverse.
"It turned a 14 hp pto tractor into a 100 hp model," says Berger.
He bought the tractor with a bad engine for $247. For more than 20 years the tractor had been equipped with a liquid tar tank and was used by the city to seal cracks in paved streets. The engine was cracked beyond repair where it bolts to the front axle housing. He used 6-in. channel iron to make a new subframe that's 2 ft. longer than the original, then bolted the original front axle housing to the subframe and bolted the new engine on as well as the tractor's original radiator. An electric fan was installed to help cool the engine. The car's power steering pump is used to drive a pump that operates the tractor's belly-mount lift arms.
He made a new hood, grille, gas tank, and drive shaft guard. The car engine's air cleaner is mounted under the hood instead of to the side as on the original tractor. Exhaust exits the engine through factory-made V-6 manifolds to a custom built header that includes a 5-in. dia. chrome stack designed for a diesel truck.
He used a short homemade drive shaft and two sets of universal joints to join the two transmissions.
The last step was to disassemble the tractor and prepare it for painting. The job wasn't easy because the rear portion of the tractor, including the tires, wheels, weights, fenders, and floor board, was completely covered with a 1/4-in. thick layer of tar. He had to sand blast all the parts to remove the tar. New Farmall decals and chrome "V-6" emblems were installed on both sides of the hood.
" People come by often to look at it," says Berger. "I use it to move trailers and to operate a pto-powered cement mixer whenever I build fence on our farm. I spent less than $2,000. Because the engine is cooled by both the car radiator and the electric fan it can run all day in 100-degree heat without over-heating. The diesel truck exhaust stack gives the tractor a very unique sound.
"I made the hood so that it tilts forward which makes it easy to work on. A propper rod holds the hood up."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Stephen Berger, 671 Berger Rd., West, Texas 76691 (ph 254 822-1048).
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Farmall Cub Repowered With Chevy V-6 Gas Engine REPOWERED EQUIPMENT Repowered Equipment 22-6-30 "It's a real crowd pleaser at parades but is also a work horse on my farm," says Stephen Berger, West, Texas, who repowered his 1945 Farmall Cub tractor by re-placing the original 4-cyl. gas engine with a 2.8-liter V-6 gas engine out of a 1982 Chevy car. He also connected the car's 4-speed transmission to the tractor's original 3-speed transmission, giving him a total of 12 forward speeds and two reverse.
"It turned a 14 hp pto tractor into a 100 hp model," says Berger.
He bought the tractor with a bad engine for $247. For more than 20 years the tractor had been equipped with a liquid tar tank and was used by the city to seal cracks in paved streets. The engine was cracked beyond repair where it bolts to the front axle housing. He used 6-in. channel iron to make a new subframe that's 2 ft. longer than the original, then bolted the original front axle housing to the subframe and bolted the new engine on as well as the tractor's original radiator. An electric fan was installed to help cool the engine. The car's power steering pump is used to drive a pump that operates the tractor's belly-mount lift arms.
He made a new hood, grille, gas tank, and drive shaft guard. The car engine's air cleaner is mounted under the hood instead of to the side as on the original tractor. Exhaust exits the engine through factory-made V-6 manifolds to a custom built header that includes a 5-in. dia. chrome stack designed for a diesel truck.
He used a short homemade drive shaft and two sets of universal joints to join the two transmissions.
The last step was to disassemble the tractor and prepare it for painting. The job wasn't easy because the rear portion of the tractor, including the tires, wheels, weights, fenders, and floor board, was completely covered with a 1/4-in. thick layer of tar. He had to sand blast all the parts to remove the tar. New Farmall decals and chrome "V-6" emblems were installed on both sides of the hood.
" People come by often to look at it," says Berger. "I use it to move trailers and to operate a pto-powered cement mixer whenever I build fence on our farm. I spent less than $2,000. Because the engine is cooled by both the car radiator and the electric fan it can run all day in 100-degree heat without over-heating. The diesel truck exhaust stack gives the tractor a very unique sound.
"I made the hood so that it tilts forward which makes it easy to work on. A propper rod holds the hood up."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Stephen Berger, 671 Berger Rd., West, Texas 76691 (ph 254 822-1048).
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