Cyclops plastic damage

[Mike McKown]

Just a short comment on the plastic.

I bought three of these Cyclops back when two of them were 2-4 years old. The third one was about 6. None of them had broken plastic. Everything was in good condition.

EVERY ONE I have bought since then that had at least 10 years with the previous owner had damage done to the plastic front ends. Some minor, some major to the point that ALL the panels had at least some broken parts.

I initially attributed this to poor design and the plastic just self destructing. As time went on, I noticed my original three Cyclops plastic was still in top shape. It finally occurred to me, the reason for the broken plastic was just careless driving/handling of the panels.

Running/ramming the front end into immovable objects breaks the top pins out of the side panels at a minumum. Leaning with your body weight against the side panels will crack them on the top. Over tightening of the grill mount will crack it. Putting the tractor on a trailer backwards and towing it will cause the hood to fly up under wind pressure. This bends the hood hinge, breaks the top of the grill out, breaks the pins out of the side panels and will also break the grill off at the frame mounting point.

So here it is about 20 years after I bought my first Cyclops and the factory installed plastic is still solid on these machines

There are other causes to that I've seen but the point here is, if you take care of your plastic, it will give you good service for years and years.

[jimbob200521]

I couldn't agree more...to an extent. A good owner should never ram/run there tractor into anything, that breaks plastic. A good owner shouldn't put there weight into the side panels as it breaks them. A good owner shouldn't over tighten mounting points that leads to cracked plastic. A good owner shouldn't slam the hood up and down cracking/breaking the mounting plastic.

HOWEVER; MTD, knowing of the previous quality of the Cub name (and what they charged for them at the time), shouldn't have used plastic on it's premier line of garden tractors, especially the Supers. It should have, at the very least, been steel re-inforced at the mounting and hinge points as those have proven to be the weak points. I can somewhat understand using plastic on the hood and panels as some of todays big boy tractors use it, but the quality of what they used wasn't up to snuff. It should have either been thicker, steel reinforced, more flexible, or just been metal.

If it weren't for the plastic panels on the Cyclops', I think a lot more people would like them. Aside from the plastic, they are (in my opinion) every bit as strong as the Cubs that came before them, with some nice creature comfort additions. I love the tile wheel, power steering, fender flares on the Supers, heck, I even like the dashes quite a bit. It's just that darn plastic. I like the looks of it, but not the durability.

There, that's my , like it or not

[Sam Mac]

Originally Posted by Mike McKown

Just a short comment on the plastic.

I bought three of these Cyclops back when two of them were 2-4 years old. The third one was about 6. None of them had broken plastic. Everything was in good condition.

EVERY ONE I have bought since then that had at least 10 years with the previous owner had damage done to the plastic front ends. Some minor, some major to the point that ALL the panels had at least some broken parts.

I initially attributed this to poor design and the plastic just self destructing. As time went on, I noticed my original three Cyclops plastic was still in top shape. It finally occurred to me, the reason for the broken plastic was just careless driving/handling of the panels.

Running/ramming the front end into immovable objects breaks the top pins out of the side panels at a minumum. Leaning with your body weight against the side panels will crack them on the top. Over tightening of the grill mount will crack it. Putting the tractor on a trailer backwards and towing it will cause the hood to fly up under wind pressure. This bends the hood hinge, breaks the top of the grill out, breaks the pins out of the side panels and will also break the grill off at the frame mounting point.

So here it is about 20 years after I bought my first Cyclops and the factory installed plastic is still solid on these machines

There are other causes to that I've seen but the point here is, if you take care of your plastic, it will give you good service for years and years.

Bingo! We have a winner! Couldn't have said it better Mike.

[Tacosteelersman]

I speak from experience when I say, 10 times more durable than JD plastic hoods and panels, they really do crack from age alone.

[bugeye]

I purchased my 1863 new in ~ 1993. It has always been over maintained. The engine covers have been removed frequently to inspect for debris. The engine has been out a couple times for a complete external cleaning with the shrouds removed. Always mostly clean as the the engine is blown clean with a leaf blower or compressed air after each mowing. Yet, two years ago the otherwise perfect grill surround developed a crack at the bottom of the grill opening. I blame heat and age. I wish someone manufactured fiberglass replacements.

[darkminion_17]

Maybe they can print it out on a 3D printer,yeah that's a good idea

[inspectorudy]

My 1811 has steel side panels and hood and I don't understand how the cost could have been so much greater than plastic panels. I guess a few bucks here and a few more there add up to real money but after all they did stick the CC name plate on them. JD did the same thing and cracks for no obvious reason seem to appear on them. I have redone several in the 400 series and they all had plastic panel issues. I agree that the least they could/should have done was to make the outer frame out of metal and then the mounting holes would have had something to take the stress of over tightening the screws and vibration that plastic could never handle. That makes these older "All steel" models just that more desirable. Has anyone tried to adapt the old steel panels to the plastic panel tractors?

[Mike McKown]

Originally Posted by bugeye

Yet, two years ago the otherwise perfect grill surround developed a crack at the bottom of the grill opening. I blame heat and age. I wish someone manufactured fiberglass replacements.

I'm not sure what causes that I have several like that and several that never had that problem.

This is what I use with great success to fix splits, cracks and voids in the plastic.

http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/pl_...n-Adhesive.htm

I see it is not recommended for polypropolene which is what I thing the CC plastic is. I haven't had any problems and no failures from using it for repair.

[gdheck]

Originally Posted by bugeye

I wish someone manufactured fiberglass replacements.

Would there be much interest in fiberglass hoods and grills? Would it be that big of an improvement over plastic? I have been wanting to try having some fiberglass seats made by a place not too far from me and had considered having the plastic parts reproduced for my 1782.

Another option I had considered is having a couple aluminum grills cast after modifying my original to be more "mold friendly". Mainly, I would fill in all the cavities that I could and make the outside frame and mount thicker. This would be a fairly high cost piece, but since I'm 31 and plan to hang onto the 1782 for a few decades, I though it would be worth it.

[Group_44]

[QUOTE= I wish someone manufactured fiberglass replacements.[/QUOTE]

I often wondered why some enterprising individual hasn't started reproducing some of the many NLA plastic panels , with the prices I see used junk going for on fleabay there has to be a market for them. I like the cast aluminum grill idea but I bet it would be out of range of all but a few of the cub crazies.