Cub Cadet RZT 50 - Ongoing Reviews

[JTKub]

I got to mow my neighbor's yard a few times earlier this month while they were on vacation with his IS1500Z - 48" deck with the Kawi engine...
A few things I noticed - it's LOUD. The deck howls louder than my Cub and the hydros whine a lot louder, too. I suppose having the engine out in the open and then sitting on top of the whole works makes it seem worse than my '05 with the full metal hood. .

Yep, I didn't mention it in this thread, but the fab'd 44" on my Z-Force is ridiculously loud as well, compared to the stamped 44" on my Cub 2544. Going without ear protection was not uncomfortable for me at all on the 2544. With the Z, ear protection is a must. The deck on my old Case 220 is basically silent. My Z-Force has those aggressive angled, very wide/thick blades. That may account for a lot of the noise. They're just too new and cut too well to replace at the moment.

Joel

 

[EuropaChris]

I've noticed that with the old mowers compared to the new ones - I grew up on late 60's through the 70's vintage stuff and never recall the amount of noise from the deck that the newer mowers put out. Another neighbor has a JD 317 and all I hear is the purr of the (replaced) Kohler flat twin. Anyone else in the neighborhood with a newer tractor running I hear the deck noise far and above any engine noise.

What's so different?

 

[Bob55]

I just bought a 2006 Z-Force 44 got it new with only 7.0 hours on it. I like a lot my first time with a zero turn. My last mower was a GT 2544. Hope this has the better Hyrdo's
Bob

 

[JTKub]

I just bought a 2006 Z-Force 44 got it new with only 7.0 hours on it. I like a lot my first time with a zero turn. My last mower was a GT 2544. Hope this has the better Hyrdo's
Bob

I believe the 2006's will have either the Hydrogear EZTs or IZT transaxles.

Joel

 

[Carl_NH]

I've noticed that with the old mowers compared to the new ones - I grew up on late 60's through the 70's vintage stuff and never recall the amount of noise from the deck that the newer mowers put out. Another neighbor has a JD 317 and all I hear is the purr of the (replaced) Kohler flat twin. Anyone else in the neighborhood with a newer tractor running I hear the deck noise far and above any engine noise.

What's so different?

Chris,

A number of things - the blade tip speed is a lot of it, my 20 yr old cub cadet 1811 has much less noise than my Ferris mostly due to the blade speed, and second due to the design of the decks and blades. My neighbor has a Cub Cadet 3200 series and it is almost as loud as my Ferris ZTR. The newer GT's have a larger pulley and higher blade speeds than the old ones..

This does improve the discharge, especially with non powered grass collection systems, however on the ZTR's it is more about blade speed and cutting a a faster travel speed.

 

[JTKub]

True about the blade tip speed thing, but as far as I know, there's only been two blade tip speeds (allowed by law) for many years: A residential speed and a commercial speed. The cutting deck has to be fabricated steel or a very thick gauge stamped steel to allow for the faster commercial speed. The Cub 3K's and associated attachments are not considered a commercial machine. Based on the noise, suction and discharge blast of my new fabricated Cub 44", I'm *assuming* the tip speed is faster than it was on the stamped 44" on my Cub 2544. The 2544 was much quieter. My Z-Force isn't classified as a commercial machine, but the deck is fab'd plate steel. What's strange to me is; listen to one of those multi-deck, turbo diesel, hydraulic monsters you see mowing town/commercial lots or golf courses. There's no deck noise on those at all (or very little). I was just near one the other day when I was with the kids at a town park. It was a huge Jacobson diesel, rear steer, with 3-4 decks out front. Young kid at the controls mowing (flying) at ~15mph. No deck noise. Only the the drone/hum from the diesel. Sorry for the ramble.. but I guess my point is; I'm thinking the noise is dependent on the specific design of the deck. I'm thinking the very high quality, highly designed and expensive decks are the quiet ones. The 44" on my Z-F, although strong and heavy, is a cheap MTD inverted roasting pan.

Joel

 

[Carl_NH]

The batwing mowers I see on golf courses are almost always hydraulic reel mowers which are very quiet. IF they are traditional blades and quiet they might be rear discharge? Dont know if that makes a difference.

Interesting thoughts about deck design and noise - I have seen/heard many high end machines have similar noise, so I dont think its necessarily the grade of machine you have - In my opinion there probably is little difference in your "inverted roasting pan" to the higher end machines tho i havent compared them side to side.

 

[EuropaChris]

Verrrrrrryyy interesting.....verrrryyyy interesting indeed.

I can say that I don't recall any of the "old school" mowers I grew up on being able to handle tall grass and especially tall grass at higher speed that my 2544 can, and my neighbor's Ferris is just an animal. :drool: Granted, I probably have twice the horsepower compared to the past, but back in the day, trying to plow through 5 or 6" tall grass would leave a huge clumpy mess behind and you'd be bogging badly. I can zip through that on mine set on "5" and not even have to rake.

 

[JTKub]

The batwing mowers I see on golf courses are almost always hydraulic reel mowers which are very quiet. IF they are traditional blades and quiet they might be rear discharge? Dont know if that makes a difference..

Yep, good points, but the silent ones I'm referring to were regular rotary decks. Discharge orientation is a good question! I didn't notice, but on gang mower like those I'd assume they're rear discharge decks.

Joel

 

[billl]

mas Z71
I had a real problem with my hydros not working and was seriously disgusted with the situation only to find out there is a simple cure. Had a new belt, but after reading the suggestions about belt tension I crawled underneath and noticed that the belt had some play in it (still felt snug) and the tensioner was not really holding enough tension...went and got a 1" shorter belt and drives are working GOOD AS NEW. THANKS BLUECHIP. back to the good old days.