How reliable and durable are Cub Cadet lawn tractors?

[canlis]

I will be buying a new lawn tractor to replace my 8hp Snapper RER which is 28 years old and just went bad on me. I guess I should not complain . My price range is $1500-$2000. My lawn is 3/4 acre and basically flat. Up to this point, I have not considered the Cub Cadet because I always thought of them as a low end product from Home Depot or Lowes. However, I could be wrong.Could you guys talk about the reliability and durability of these products? What suggestions/input can anyone give me on this matter? Has anyone experienced any reliability/durability problems with this brand as a whole? How has anyone found Cub Cadet manufacturer/retail support in the event of a problem? Does anyone know anything about Columbia lawn tractors? Thanks for your help!

[creekbend]

I don't have a Cub Cadet, but I posted in the other thread you started in regards to Craftsman mowers.

[Timber]

I have had my LT1050 since 2005 & it has been flawless. I have about 4 acres of lawn and a 500' driveway I snow blow with it. I will buy another one when this one dies or when the deck goes. I just put new blades on it last week after 6 years of cutting.This it from yesterday, I have been clearing some land back.



This is a video of it with the snowblower set up o have for it. It does a great job as a snow blower

snow blower 2 002.MPG - YouTube

[Bob_Bainbridge]

My first Cub Cadet was a 1978 1450 which I had for 26 years. That tractor was made by International Harvester, however, and I didn't really expect my new one (2004 3235) to last that long because it was made by MTD. So far after 8 years and 410 hours the only problem has been a blown head gasket a couple years ago. Some of the head bolts were not very tight. I torqued the new bolts and gasket and then ran the tractor until it was hot and torqued them again. I replaced the first deck belt last year and also the matched PTO belts. The PTO belts went again this year after 1 year's use. I bought them on eBay so maybe they were'nt top quality. The 1000 line is the cheapest line which you'll find at Home Depot and TSC (Lowe's no longer sells Cub, only John deere). The 2000 & 3000 line is sold at dealers and is priced higher. I used to read comments that the Kohler Courage engine was only made to last 5 years whereas the higher lines like my 3235 have the Command engine. Judging from some of the posts here that doesn't seem to be true. MY 3235 still has the original battery which to me is remarkable since garden tractor batteries aren't known for their longevity. I believe Cub gives you more tractor for the money or for the equivalent size in a John Deere will save you $500-$1000. The bigger Cubs, like mine, have shaft drive to the mower deck as well as to the drive train.

Bob B.

[LBrown59]

I will be buying a new lawn tractor to replace my 8hp Snapper RER which is 28 years old and just went bad on me. I guess I should not complain . My price range is $1500-$2000. My lawn is 3/4 acre and basically flat. Up to this point, I have not considered the Cub Cadet because I always thought of them as a low end product from Home Depot or Lowes. However, I could be wrong.Could you guys talk about the reliability and durability of these products? What suggestions/input can anyone give me on this matter? Has anyone experienced any reliability/durability problems with this brand as a whole? How has anyone found Cub Cadet manufacturer/retail support in the event of a problem? Does anyone know anything about Columbia lawn tractors? Thanks for your help!

The Cub Cadet 2500 and 3000 series garden tractors are great tractors and offer the most bang for the buck of any garden tractor out there.
I would not throw my money away on any of the other CC models however.

[tracter]

Had a Cub HDS2155 for 13 years , sold it still running like a train and bought a GT2550 , both so far have prove reliable and capable mowers.
Maintenance is the key , as the Cub book says oil/grease is cheap , new parts are not

[RoadHogg]

We bought our first Cub Cadet tractor a couple of months ago and I soon started to have my doubts, now, I just dislike the thing and wish I'd never bought it. I certainly won't be buying another one. I guess they're "reliable" but ours has so many design flaws that reliability isn't a consideration at this point.

The tractor is a TOTL GTX2100 Power deck lift, power steering model. It has the 54" manufactured deck. We were looking for a very capable machine to mow our 4 acres of lawn. That's all this tractor was meant to do, no snow clearing, no garden tilling etc, just mowing.

Dislikes:
The first thing I noticed with this tractor, within the first couple hours of mowing, the hood emblem fell off, never to be found. I hoped that this was not an indication of the overall build quality of this unit. My hopes would be dashed over and over in the coming weeks however.

The second thing I noticed that after that first couple hours of mowing, the headlights were filled with dirt and dust. Upon inspection, I could easily see why and I could easily see the horribly cheap design of the headlights. The lenses just snap over the headlights, no seals to keep out dust and moisture and not only that but once I took the lenses off to clean out the headlights, I saw that the reflectors are some cheap kind of plastic thing that doesn't even fit properly. The headlight reflectors are ill-fitting and are often open to the back, into the engine compartment. In short, there are no headlight assemblies on this tractor, only cobbled together headlight parts...and poorly at that.

Next we discovered that after about 3 acres of mowing, the deck was so plugged up that the mower struggled even in a light to medium cut. The deck has been removed three times for cleaning and we've only cut the grass four times! The desk wash system is almost useless considering how badly this deck gets plugged up.

While using the pointless "Deck Wash System", it is handy to set the parking brake, as you have to sit there for five or ten minutes with the deck running wide open. Well, the parking brake lock began to jump off, releasing the brake with a BANG. Now, the brake won't stay engaged at all. This is very inconvenient with the myriad of idiot switches on this machine, you can't get off the tractor with the engine running unless the parking brake is locked. No parking brake lock means no getting off with the engine running.

So, we sit, very disappointed and about six thousand dollars poorer. This tractor isn't worth half that money, it has so many design flaws.

[JTKub]

Given the original poster's <$2000 requirement, a Cub 2000 series machine is way over budget.

As it's probably been suggested to you in your threads on this, ALL machines in the <$2000 range are going to be exactly the same in terms of durability, reliability and longevity. Store it well, give it reasonable care, keep the deck set so it doesn't bang around on the ground and you'll get decades of service out of one.

Joel

[MessickFarmEqu]

Given the original poster's <$2000 requirement, a Cub 2000 series machine is way over budget.

As it's probably been suggested to you in your threads on this, ALL machines in the <$2000 range are going to be exactly the same in terms of durability, reliability and longevity. Store it well, give it reasonable care, keep the deck set so it doesn't bang around on the ground and you'll get decades of service out of one.

Joel

They are not perfect, but for what you pay they are good tractors. I like the new "KW" series. They are a dealer only version with a better transmission, seat and Kawaski engine. They are only about $150 more.

[PTWannaHave]

... Up to this point, I have not considered the Cub Cadet because I always thought of them as a low end product from Home Depot or Lowes. However, I could be wrong.Could you guys talk about the reliability and durability of these products? What suggestions/input can anyone give me on this matter? Has anyone experienced any reliability/durability problems with this brand as a whole? How has anyone found Cub Cadet manufacturer/retail support in the event of a problem?

Hello Canlis,

A great Cub for your needs & price would be a rebuilt/restored 1xx series with a 42in deck. The IHCC tractors are popular with collectors and restorers because they are very tough. They are not the same machine produced after the early 80's. If you're not in a rush, you will be able to find a restored machine in your price range.

Even today, one cannot compare a big box store lawn tractor with a dealer garden tractor... (Entry-level lawn tractors excluded.) If you want to buy new/modern, find someone with a Consumer Reports subscription; they rate machines (lawn tractors) intended for your level of usage.

Hope this helps,