What's so great about Cub Cadets anyway?

[Rmowl]

It's the IH heritage for me. I had a few diesel farmalls, then no longer had a use for them when moved to a smaller property. Drive shaft driven, farmall cub trans in the gear drives, was a no brainer. When a little 10 hp pulled an 8,000 lb truck in 1 low up my steep driveway back to the garage I was sold. Other brands are great too just seems less confusing to stick with one.

[Lanceskene]

Originally Posted by Rmowl

Drive shaft driven, farmall cub trans in the gear drives, was a no brainer.

Those are my favorite CCs, but why didnt they put a 16hp in one of them???

... and they could have been alot heavier.

[drcjv]

Originally Posted by Vrobert

Ford over GM? Who let you in here? I guess if you like fixing stuff Ford is the way to go!

Hopefully everyone here appreciates my sense of humour.

Originally Posted by finsruskw

Fords must not have been so great if you had to go through 45 of them,........................... to find a good one??!!

Funny thing I never had problems with any except for a few Lincolns I had. The worst car I ever had was a 93 Lincoln Continental It was horrible. Then I just traded my wife's MKS in. In the past year The Turbos went bad twice, The second time the engine was hurt. I think It was not fixed correctly the first time. All was under warranty so I did not care. The best is I traded it for another MKS. My wife loves them. It is under warranty until 2023 so again I don't care what happens to it.

[john hall]

Hey, the jokes are funny! But I'll try to address why I like older Cadets.

Most everyone here knows my dad retired from an IH dealer. Being a farmboy I was naturally obsessed by equipment. Suppertime conversations (dinner is the meal we at 12 noon down here) were times dad would comment on his day, mainly the adventures of some of his customers. Sometimes it would be tractors, then lawnmowers, then Echo products, then air cooled engines (there are others besides Kohler you know). There were darker times when the 70's strike began hurting on a local level (dads company was hurting for sales and the local farmers needed parts they couldn't get), or the day IH said they no longer sold enough equipment and were pulling the contract. There was uncertainty when IH spun off Cadet. So for me, lots of memories associated with all things IH.

Now, regarding the machines being so great. Well, here deep in the heart of tobacco country there were only 2 real brands of equipment--IH and Deere. The oddball Masseys, Olivers etc were rare. This setup provided a solid network for both IH and Deere for service and repair--face it, everything breaks or wears out. Farmers or folks with good paying town jobs bought REAL lawnmowers, and here the only real option was going to be a Cadet or a Deere. Yeah there were Snappers, Simplicity, maybe some Wheelhorse, but those guys relied too much on gimmicks and shortcuts--something we can probably all agree on.

Now here is the hard part. I can't say Cadet was the best, but I won't say they were the worst. There are some things on older Deere's that are great. My dad has a 66 Deere 110 he bought 2 years before quitting farming and going to work at the IH dealership. This is the first year I can recall it not being used. 50 years of use is a testament to any machine. I think it actually mows prettier than our 128, or any older Cadet.

I lean toward Cadet based on my history. Also, I hate being just like everyone else. I've shared this here before, but the 3 houses immediately to the south of me all bought high dollar Deere lawnmowers the same week one spring. Easily $20K worth equipment to mow 3 yards. And the 2 houses north of me use green as well. So dad and I get out here and keep ours cut using a hodge podge of classic Cadets amidst an ocean of green.

Oh, for the record. I really wish Cadet had a decent dealer network here. Basically they are all gone and the only one that is a CaseIH dealer is 60 miles away. Most of my parts come via big brown truck from IHCCW. Having said that, no way would I buy a new Cadet. A conventional mower would be Deere, ZTR would take a lot of research.

[ol'George]

Originally Posted by drcjv

Hellifiknow I'm a John Deere guy

George no offence just my observation at events I have attended.[/QUOTE]
Offence? hell no i just said it to stir the pot, ha,lOL!
I have vintage tractors, Green and Red and Orange too.
They all have their place, & all are fun.
They earn their keep, no show/Sunday parade.
I spent 40 years collecting Ford paychecks but never owned one.
Are they inferior? I hope not, they pay my retirement every month.
Run what ya brung
The true test is when you rev them full song, if the hair raises on yer arms/back of yer neck, you found yer passion.
And If I have to 'splain it, they will never understand.

[willys55]

Originally Posted by Lanceskene

Every brand has its group of die hard followers, and for good reason, if you go into this hobby/addiction color blind and thinking any one brand is superior you wont know a good tractor when you see it.

Now that's the best advise I have read in years!!!!!1

[twoton]

Originally Posted by ol'George

.....i just said it to stir the pot, ha,lOL!.....

Say it aint so ol'George, you wouldn't really do that,... would ya?

[Marko141]

I went with availability. I can find tons of cub cadets and attachments, other brands seem to be in short supply in my area.

[ol'George]

Originally Posted by twoton

Say it aint so ol'George, you wouldn't really do that,... would ya?

I cannot tell a lie, yea i did, but
the devil made me do it.
And SHE offered me an apple, or is that another story??

[V30crewcab]

cub is about all there is around here other than the typical murray crap. there are some John deeres, but usually too expensive.
Hard to beat a shaft drive cub.