Intermittent poor running on my 129

[Lanceskene]

just an FYI... the OP has an identical thread started on another forum that is now 3 pages long, maybe more by now. This "debate" has been going on for several months over 3 differant threads and some 15+ pages in total...

I say.... send the 129 to a good home and move on.

[johncub7172]

Even get another 129, or same running engine and swap a few parts around for the sake of it. While I love new Cub Cadet mowers, the old iron IH Cub Cadet's are far-more better built. My repowered-rebuilt model 72 starts before I can let go of the key, its that dam good!

Keep on with the good suggestions given and don't give up on the 129 until you figure out the problem

[three4rd]

Originally Posted by johncub7172

Even get another 129, or same running engine and swap a few parts around for the sake of it. While I love new Cub Cadet mowers, the old iron IH Cub Cadet's are far-more better built. My repowered-rebuilt model 72 starts before I can let go of the key, its that dam good!

Keep on with the good suggestions given and don't give up on the 129 until you figure out the problem

Been keeping my eye open, mostly on eBay, for engines or even 129s, but most of the guys have so little info on them that I wouldn't know what I'm buying. There is a guy that has a 129 in what looks to be in beautiful condition - he just bought it awhile back and now is selling it. I had several pieces of correspondence with him and he admittedly knows absolutely nothing about it. I find that to be really weird, but whatever. Another guy has a rebuilt engine listed but has never heard it run nor has any idea when it was rebuilt! I mean, really?

[three4rd]

Another thought...it appears MTD owns a multitude of tractor brands. So, given that Cub (and so many others) are now under the same roof, is Cub Cadet still among the best brands to buy? Maybe, at this point, since Cub hasn't had an affiliation with IH going all the way back to '81, might I do just as well with a different brand? Don't misinterpret as I'm still leaning heavily towards Cub for any new purchase I might make. And, I'd want to go for something chosen from among the best of the Cubs out there. Someone on another forum had suggested the XT3s, which is why I brought it up here. I'm just a bit off by all the plastic on the newer tractors, but such is the way of things now.

[three4rd]

Originally Posted by Lanceskene

just an FYI... the OP has an identical thread started on another forum that is now 3 pages long, maybe more by now. This "debate" has been going on for several months over 3 differant threads and some 15+ pages in total...

I say.... send the 129 to a good home and move on.

LOL...great post. Sorry for the encyclopedia-sized threads of the past few months! Your thoughts echo those of my brother who, while certainly willing to do whatever I want him to in the way of putting in a rebuilt engine, just feels it's not cost effective nor the best decision in light of the fact that the whole tractor and all the accessories are the same age.

[three4rd]

Originally Posted by Terry C

I think when we tell people to rebuild rather than buying new ones they are missing the picture. Yes a new machine will last longer than three years, but if you invest 1/2 of the price of a new machine into rebuilding the old one, they would end up with a tractor that will outlast the new one.
If you don’t like doing the work of rebuilding then by all means buy a new one.
But don’t expect us to praise you and tell you made a good move. We have the history of well built machines to back up our advice. Rebuilding gets you more for less money period, this fact cannot be disputed. I have a shed full of proof.

That’s not just my opinion it’s fact.

Makes sense.....

[three4rd]

Let's see what happens with the list of items you suggest still checking. I'd just love to see how this thing would run with a rebuilt engine in it. (Guess it's a similar feeling I had when my '95 Riviera blew out its first engine as a result of the plastic manifold crapping out and flooding the engine, AND a similar feeling after it blew out its SECOND rebuilt Jasper engine after it threw a rod right through the block (talk about a scary sensation...one of those moments when you KNOW something really bad just happened!). Guess by now you get the general idea of my obsession with all things retro and wanting to hang on to them maybe too long? Most people probably don't have any car for 22 years, let alone it being one that they actually still use AS their main car So maybe buy a new car AND a new garden tractor and not look back! These things start to be viewed like old friends rather than merely machines. Scary in a way....I've heard it said that 'what we own can start to own us'.

[R Bedell]

THIS THREAD IS CLOSED.............