I'm going to nominate my 1973 Cub Cadet 149 with a Danco front end loader for the month of November. As far as I can figure the fel was purchased with the tractor in 1973. This was my second GT that I've purchased. I purchased this tractor in Jan. of 2016 in Monroe Washington. I drove 460 miles round trip over the Cascade mountains during the dead of winter to bring it home. My son and I were very thrilled when we got it loaded into the back of my truck because so many people were calling, while we were looking at it, wanting to buy it. I knew the tractor needed work but I didn't really know what until I got it home and started to fix it up. After I started to tear into it I decided I needed to strip it down to the frame and properly fix and repair the many years of neglect.
Here is a list of things that I did to get it back up and running:
1. Replaced the engine (still have the original)
2. Replaced the tie rods with hyme joints
3. Replaced muffler
4. Replaced safety neutral switch and hydro linkage ends
5. Service transaxle
6. Service steering box
7. Replaced ignition switch and headlight switch
8. Replaced front and rear tires
9. Rebuild fel lift cylinder and replace all hydraulic lines
10. Sand blast all sheet metal and fel
11. Welded crack in the tractor frame and fel lift arms
12. Weld cracks in headlight bezel
13. Modify the drive shaft with u-joints
14. Replaced grill
15. Repaint everything!
16. Replace seat!
I took it to a tractor show this summer along with my sons Cub 123 plus my 1811. It was the only GT that had a fel. As a result it got a lot of attention! Several people couldn't believe a tractor this small could even have a fel yet alone survive the 44 years of use. I simply smiled at them, informed them about GT's, and thanked them for looking. I use this tractor on my 2.23 acres and have added dual tires on the rear for fun and help stabilize it when lifting loads.