Cub Cadet Turned Into Mini "2+2"

Cub Cadet Turned Into Mini "2+2" TRACTORS Conversions 27-6-26 International Harvester enthusiast and Cub Cadet collector Carl Ruby had a lot of fun building what he calls his "782 X 2+2." The Baden, Ontario man's creation made its debut at an IH tractor show last summer. Starting with a 782 Cub Cadet, he modeled the mini tractor after an IH 2 + 2 tractor. It's built roughly to 1/4 scale. Ruby fitted the mini tractor with an 11 hp Yanmar diesel engine from a Thermoking reefer and 24-in. floater tires. Features include articulated power steering, 4-WD, a Cat. 0 3-pt. hitch, live PTO, adjustable swinging draw bar, AM/FM cassette IH radio, cab hazard lights, two each of headlights, taillights, and midlights, one rear working light, and one auxiliary remote valve. Ruby began gathering parts for the project two years before he started building it. The rear axle and the hood panel came from a 782 Cub Cadet, while the second axle and the hydrostatic assembly came from a 1650 Cub. Other parts were taken from an assortment of IH equipment such as a 303 combine, a 400 corn planter, a 234 corn picker and various trucks. The cab roof interior came from a Ford car, since Ruby couldn't bring himself to ravage a perfectly good IH cab. It took him a year and a half to finish the unit once he started building, but he used it prior to completion in a trial run, to plant sweet corn last spring. He pulled a two-row IH 250A planter and says that because of its high-torque engine combined with the 4-WD and hydrostatic transmission, it had no problem. "I owned a real IH 3588, but quit farming for a living 10 years ago, and eventually sold that tractor to a friend. I enjoyed driving it, so I thought it would be fun to build a small scale replica," Ruby says. Ruby has a collection of 30 Cub Cadets and says he enjoys them because they are the toughest lawn tractors ever built. Many of them are still being used today, he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Carl Ruby, 1547 Gingerich Rd., Baden, Ontario, Canada N3A 3J7 (ph 519 634-8032; fax 519 634-8033); email: bartlettsj@rogers.com).

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