An old one compared to the new Spin Off's.
 

My next door neighbor bought a Home Depot special last Fall for a end of the year special. he could'nt be a more PROUD owner of his lawnmower until I BUST his bubble. :Choke:

When he 1st. saw me bring home my # 109 & watched me rip it apart, he thought it was a foolish project & waste. I did'nt want to bust his bubble all at once but in a mild way I DID over 5 months or so. He now is fully informed in the TRUE meaning of ' It's a Cub thing.' & the spin-off's that the big store sell. Now he's aware that when I call his Cub Cadet a 'LAWNMOWER' he is now a educated consumer.

Since buying a # 122 last week we pull up & he thought I was NUTS. I've cut my acre twice since & yesterday he asked if he could give it a try. He started to cut his. He then got carried away & cuts his entire (1.5 acres) with it. I could see the sparkle in his eyes.:bigeyes: Wow, that was an interesting ride, "I never thought about what you meant? "

As a parting note he said, "hey if you ever run across one thats a GOOD DEAL, call me about it." :bigthink: ' i could see myself tinkering with something this Winter to keep myself busy.

I think he's hooked????????????
Next year we may have 2 vintage Cub's pulling the kids on carts for the trick'er treat thing?

Nik

Your neighbor has caught Yellow Fever! There's no cure, but buying more cubs seems to help. :ThumbsUp:

One thing that I'll say, since I own both....

I have a Home Depot "special" LT1045, and it is a great LAWN TRACTOR. It is in no way comparable or should be compared to a GT. I had my LT for about a year then I got my GT2544. Now the GT and the LT are totally different machines. When I got my '09 GT I had no clue about "old iron" then I got educated. :)

Now is the '09 the same as an IH GT? No, but I do think that MTD is making steps to put out a better machine. A few years ago they switched back to a cast iron rear, no, it's not the IH rear, but it's better than aluminum... Yes, there's a lot of plastic, but there's still a shaft driven transmission. I do think and I know several die hard JD fans agree that for the money CC's 25XX series is by far the most capable NEW GT on the market today. I've plowed gardens with it, pushed snow like crazy, mow about 10 acres a week and I love it. I also can't wait to love what I'm going to be able to do with my 127 once I get it back together. I've been reading all these posts time and time again and I really want to see side by side what an "old muscle car GT" can do against a new one. :)

I was and still am in awe of my 'O' and 127. The 127 just looks "heavy" sitting there. :) Hopefully more and more guys will get new machines and get interested and learn to respect and want something more. I know I do... :)

i went to my local dealer yesterday to buy/order parts for the new 1450 and they had that new zero turn with the steering wheel. it's pretty cool, i didn't have alot of time to actually examine it "all" over but it looks to be an "ok" machine. i do not like the new yellow color, but i am used to the old yellow and white of the older ones, though. i have cut on a newer model and i have cut on my 1200 and 1450. i would just as soon spend the money to keep my older ones running as to buying a newer one and that is in NO WAY meant to be a put down to the people who own the newer models!!!!! jeff

I think the newer machines can and will serve their purpose well, but I also feel that they have a 'more finite' lifespan than our old iron. I'm sure that you can take very good care of a new(er) machine and have it last 30 years or so, but most of the cubs we restore were not very well cared for. I know my 2 - 70's were at least running but still basket cases. Simple, heavy duty design in both the tractor and drive train, which get less simple and less heavy duty as years pass. Example is when I compare the simplicity of my model 70 to my 982 or 1862. The latter are still heavy duty, and relatively simple on their own, but not compared to the 70. Just my 2 cents!

true, true.... This has came up numerous times before, but I think it goes back to everything now is a "throw away" society. Nothing is designed for a long lifespan. Everything as we know it now has a bell curve time table applied to it. All my clients their systems are on between 3 to 5 years. After that, throw it away. So that makes everyone think that they need to buy a new computer every 3 to 5 also... It's funny, in the manual of the GT2544 is comes right out and says... quote: "average machine lifespan not to exceed 750 hours."

So either businesses are so smart that they have convinced everyone to do as they say and replace within set time (go buy another and give the manufacturer more $$$), or everyone is so dumb that they listen to what they are told...

:)

amen, brother, amen

Good story
 

That was a good story and funny!

I have several older Cub Cadets, all narrow frames. I mowed with them several times. But, when I really need to mow quickly, I used my JD X320. After using the JD, the older garden tractors just aren't as sufficient, as fast, as nimble, as good a mowing machine as my X320. It's built to mow grass. It's built really stout with a very heavy frame, 22 hp Kawasaki engine, foot lift for the deck, etc. After saying all that, I really like my older garden tractors. I used one of my 104s with a box blade, the 123 has the snow blade. I want to configure one of my other Cubs with a Brinly plow.

I think within the next couple of years I might buy a zero turn to do the mowing, use the X320 as my back up. That leaves all my Cubs to do the real work.

Well put, Bill.

I just can't believe he put a Nova in that group. j/k :)

My FIL has a bad boy zero turn and has a factory blade for it, yes they do make blades for those. However he'll be the first to admit it was the biggest $500 he's ever wasted.

I used to teach a small motor class using Briggs and Stratton training/teaching manuals. There was a section on average life of a push mower, lawn tractor and garden tractor. A push mower has an average life of 2 years. A lawn tractor has an average life of 3 to 5 years. A garden tractor has an average life of 5 to 7 years.

My newest garden tractor is 14 1/2 yeas old. It has 980 hours on it. I expect to put another 1000 hours on it before I do anything to the motor.

A good example is I can buy a new push mower from wal mart cheaper than I can buy a new short block for a push mower.

I like the wide frames or older thank you. The newer stuff is good for mowing but that's about it as far as I'm concerned. I've been fixing up a couple 2000 series the last couple weeks and do not have a burning desire to see any more.

Nova,... Ha!, you got more laugfhs than a stack of commic books! Your funny! try the 69' Chevy with a 396, Hurts 4-speed on the floor!

like I said, I was teasing about the Nova. I know a guy with a Nova and a "tweaked" 350. I'd take it. Although I'd rather have a Chevelle, which you didn't list... if I was going the GM route.

I know it would never happen but it would be cool if MTD would come out with something modern retro for the 50th anniversary. I can dream... :)

You be surprise how many don't know how to check the oil level or do regular maintance.

There is a huge difference between a small owner who does regular maintance and most who just turn the key or switch on. The majority of small motor home owners don't brother to do the regular maintance like most do on this site. Most don't know or don't care to. I've worked on several small motors in the last few years that had the cooling fins plug so tight that you had to use a screw driver to remove the grass, dirt and whatever else. The oil look like tar when I drain it. One guy I work with rather buy a new push mower every 1-3 years than pay a shop $50 to $60 to do spring maintance.

The best one I had was a lawn tractor that the owner and another repair guy thought the starter was bad because it didn't turn over the motor...even on 24 volts. It turns out to be no oil in the crankcase. Needless to say the motor seize up because of the lack of oil. I ask the owner if the motor smoke some and when is the last time you check the oil??? His reply was I just add gas.....never check the oil. The motor was smoking some.

The last 3.5 horse power Briggs I had apart had a plastic camshaft in it.

Wild Bill's original statement in this thread was well put. Not all of the new stuff is junk or cheaply built, but it is specialized. My commercial zero turn has a welded 11 gauge steel deck and frame, not stamped like the residential zero turns. It also has rebuildable transmissions and the residential versions are not rebuildable. The plastic parts are what drives me crazy......the little plastic safety switch in the seat malfunctioned so it wouldn't run with the brake released-----solution, pop out a small plastic part in the safety switch (30 second fix)!!! Some of the re-designs that Cub Cadet is making is falling back on the older, simpler technologies, like the gravity feed fuel systems are now replacing their electronic feeds that they put on just a year or two ago.

There is low end, middle, and high end items that are out on the market. The zero turn "Tanks" that Cub Cadet has out there are exactly that, they are Tanks with 28hp diesel engines they will mow your grass at about 12 mph and can shread up small farm animals without a hiccup. Despite building them solid, they are for mowing only.....my zero turn has no attachments available other than a hitch and a bagger. Some of the cheaper JD's (I don't know if CC did this or not) have fixed decks which scalp your yard. They tried to cut cost in too many ways and as a result, I think that they put their reputations on the line!!! People who buy these lower end machines from the box stores are becoming disappointed with their purchase and are likely to seek other brands the next time they purchase one!!! The older cub machines are certainly the best all around in their class and will continue to be the standard by which other GT's are measured!!

BTW: Nova is Spanish (No va!) for "No Go!".:biggrin2.gif:

Cub Cadet 123

Do I want to even know?

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Sorry, I missed the Chevelle.... sometimes I read too fast or don't pay attention, something like that. :)
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I definitely don't like the plastic, that is my ONLY gripe with my 2544. That hood is a shame, however even on the $10K JD x700 series, they have plastic hoods... What's funny is MTD's low end Lowe's model has a metal hood, but their "premium" Cub Cadet line doesn't offer any except on the 3000 series....