One man, atop an incredible armada of miniature tractors ranging from bulldozer to motor grader to forklift, rules the DIY Cub Cadet range. Hartley “Frank” Smith is master of the fleet.
“I’ve always been curious,” Smith says, his words coated in a heavy dose of modesty. “And I’ve never done anything for the sake of collecting. Every build serves a purpose and gets used to take of my property.”
How did a nuclear engineer, raised in the big city miles from the nearest farm, obtain the machinery and metal-working knowledge to rebuild and modify a superb corral of classic Cub Cadet tractors, and garner 5.5 million views on YouTube?
Maybe, just maybe, it all began with the hum of an electric can opener.
White Goes Blue
Picture an early 1960s neighborhood in the era of Leave it to Beaver: Tight houses, trimmed yards, and tidy streets. Such was the suburban childhood domain of Frank Smith in Washington, D.C., where his father, a career military man, worked behind the walls of the Pentagon.
“My dad had a do-it-yourself streak in him. He’d build a porch or fix something on the house. As a boy, I took after him in woodworking, dragging out his tools to build tree forts and back-yard fun stuff. Then again, that’s what most kids did back then.”
However, Smith was not like “most kids.” Either blessed or afflicted, depending on vantage point, young Smith’s outrageously high-IQ mind churned on constant crank—a trait he still carries today. Simply, the boy had to know how everything worked. Everything.
“Inquisitive would be a fair description,” he says. “I clearly remember when my mom bought an electric can-opener. It was brand new, but I couldn’t help myself. I took it apart to find out how it functioned inside, and then I took proudly took the motor and parts to show her. She freaked out. I put it back together, part to part, and it worked great after that.”
From there, whether bicycle or small engine, he broke everything down. Rebuild and learn. Needed to know. Always.
Starting in grade school with an interest in dinosaurs and archeology, through high school where an interest in astrophysics took over—about as far from agriculture equipment and machinery as could be conceived—Smith spent a career split between nuclear engineering, IT and financial services.
However, upon retirement in 2017, Smith ripped his white collar to shreds and replaced it with stout blue. Time to mold metal.
Rugged Rebuilds
In 1979, Smith bought his first house. He needed a mower.
Smith visited a local Cub Cadet dealer, walked a line of prospects, and flinched at the $3,000 toe tag—a price beyond his wallet. Instead, he bought a used 1972 Cub Cadet 108 for $1,500. Almost 50 years later, he still operates (engine replaced from 10 hp to 12 hp in 2009) the initial purchase—the patriarch tractor.
“You must remember that even paying $1,500 for a used Cub Cadet in the 1970s was an extraordinary amount of money. But you also must realize: We weren’t buying a mower. We were buying a small tractor and an incredibly well-built machine.”
Cub Cadets were introduced in 1961 by International Harvester (IH) as heavy-duty, compact garden tractors for rural homeowners. Initially, suburbia was not the market. Basically, Cub Cadets were manufactured from parts already proven on American farms, i.e., they were originally scaled down Farmall Cub tractors made (1961-1981) in Louisville, Kentucky. Cub Cadets were extremely tough—vastly distinct from the distant lineage now queued on Home Depot lots.
“The components were rugged, and that’s why they’re still in use today,” Smith describes. “They have a differential transmission that’s equal to an automobile transmission in terms of its size and construction. They’re not built like a lawnmower. As opposed to lawn tractors, Cub Cadets were called garden tractors, and the name tells the true difference.”
“I eventually bought a second Cub Cadet with more horsepower,” Smith adds. “I needed another so I wouldn’t have to change the snowplow in and out every spring or fall. Maybe the second one really sparked a deeper interest.”
Smith didn’t know it, but he had already tapped the Cub Cadet vein. He was hooked.
Unleashing the Fleet
“In about 2010, I started buying and restoring tractors. I got on the internet and saw a lot of modified Cub Cadets, and I got really interested in a guy who built a motor grader. By that point, the internet had reached the place where you could get all the DIY needed to learn. I kinda dove in. I’d taken wood and metal shop class in high school, but now I could watch videos of guys cutting metal and welding, and copy what I saw.”
And then some. Going full-throttle on a rural, East Coast property after retirement in 2017, Smith restored and modified a 15-vehicle fleet (almost all complete engine rebuilds and wear-component replacements) composed of Cub Cadets manufactured from 1967-1976.
His first redo, completed in 2018, was a 109 Cargo-Cub 6x4, extra rear-end connected (made from two Cubs), with a hydraulic, 1,000-lb. capacity dump-bed. His second build, while “just learning to weld,” was a motor grader.
Once unleashed, Smith churned out a phenomenal chain of Cub Cadet modifications. He crafted a forklift Cadet capable of handling 1,200 lb. at 7’ high (used to move 4x4 sheets of steel upon delivery); a mini-bulldozer with separate Cadet transmissions in front and back; an articulated 4WD Cadet with hydraulic dump bed; a 128 with a rear PTO and rare reverser; a 123 to haul fertilizer and spread seed; a 1650 with a snowblower on the front; a 149 with a rototiller on the back; a custom red-painted (reminiscent of a 1066 IH tractor) original 108 with a 14 hp engine, badged as a 148 (Cub Cadet never made a 148); a 128 fitted with a category 1 3-point hitch; and more. Many more. Two garages full.
“Cub Cadets were built like tanks. I rescued most of my parts from the scrap pile, although I did cannibalize a couple of common working Cadets for parts. Nothing rare.”
“I have to build with compromises because I don’t have unlimited time or funds, but everything is functional, and I use the tractors to clean lanes and work my property. Of course, they have limitations because they’re small, scale models,” Smith emphasizes. “I don’t want to pretend these are commercial class machines by any stretch.”
YouTube Beckons
In December 2020, restricted by Covid, Smith posted a Cub Cadet motor grader video to YouTube, with the sole intention of sending the link to siblings. However, the video jumped the family tree. Several months later, to Smith’s shock, he received an email from Google, alerting him to monetization potential due to 1 million-plus views on YouTube (See Wood and Metal Shop Time).
“I was stunned. I was getting views and messages from farmers, mechanics, equipment operators, and fabricators. I didn’t know hardly anything about YouTube, and at that time, our property was too far away for anything except cellular internet. I was still watching videos with buffering and low resolution. But I said to myself, ‘If people are interested in seeing this stuff, maybe I should do more videos, and do them right.’ Once again, it gave me a chance to learn something new, from editing to posting. I started making regular restoration-and-build videos.”
YouTube led to a drone license. “I learned drone operation and studied to get my FAA license to use drone footage in my videos. Again, I just love any day where I can learn something new.”
After 5.5 million views, 300 videos, and 15 Cub Cadet builds, what’s next for Smith?
“I don’t know. Sometimes I have trouble sleeping because my mind goes too fast, like it won’t turn off, but that’s where I often come up with ideas. I’ve got more modifications for the grader and bulldozer in the works, but I’m limited when it comes to any other restorations,” he adds, wearing a wide grin. “I’ve run out of garage space.”
“I’m no professional and I’m not necessarily doing this the right way,” Smith concludes with a heavy dose of self-deprecation. “Just a self-taught guy who is still learning. I tell everyone, ‘Please don’t do what I do. Do better.’”
Tall order. Indeed. Tall order.
For more from Chris Bennett (@ChrisBennettMS or cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:
Stealing the Farm: China Continues Raid of US Agriculture by Theft and Agroterror
Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told
How the Deep State Tried, and Failed, to Crush an American Farmer
Game of Horns: Iowa Poacher’s Antler Addiction Leads to Historic Bust
Ghost Cattle: $650M Ponzi Rocks Livestock Industry, Money Still Missing
Georgia Watermelon Heist Explodes into Epic Night of Pandemonium
Sisters of Farm Fraud: How 4 Siblings Fleeced USDA for $10M
When Conservation Backfires: Landowner Defeats Feds in Mindboggling Private Property Case
Cold-Busted: Frozen Deer Decoy Nabs Poachers and Cocaine in Spectacular Sting
Sticky Fingers: USDA Fraudster Steals $200M in Stunning Scam
