How durable and reliable are MTD 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 MTD because I didn't know much about them basically. 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 MTD manufacturer/retail support in the event of a problem? Does anyone know anything about Columbia lawn tractors? Thanks for your help!

[namesray]

i have a mtd 700 series tractor with a briggs and stratton engine. probably has 300 hours about on it. had it for 5 years now and it is a you get what you pay for lawn mower. i got mine for $700 as it was slightly used from the dealership. it was a good deal for me. it mows good and is pretty dependable. however, it has had some nickle/dime stuff along the way. carb problems early on, but fixed under warrenty and no trouble since (more of a briggs and stratton issue there then mtd i guess). the rear axel bolts that hold the rear wheels on have broke on me twice (i do mow really steep hills with it and have replaced the orginal bolts with stronger grade bolts.) the rear axel was leaking last fall and it was supposedly fixed under warrenty, but has started leaking again in a different spot this year. and just last night i had to level the deck. no i didn't hit anything, it was just out of level. i think a little off from factory, and just worked it self off a little more from that. mowed with it last night and it mowed great with that level deck! i treat mine good, not rough with it at all. they are ok mowers, but if you paid over $1000 for what i got, then you over paid. mine is a 42" cut with 7 speed shift on the go, with forward/reverse lever. i guess it depends on your expectations and how you run a lawn mower. if you have 2 acres of lawn or more to mow and is rough ground, i wouldn't buy a lower brand model, like the mtd i have. but if you have a small yard and just want to have a economy riding mower to mow it, then mtd probably would be ok.

i also had a mtd 25 ton log slpitter and within the first 30 minutes, it blew a hydraulic fitting. it was fixed under warrenty and never gave me any trouble after that and i bet i split over 300 face cord in the 4 year i had it. i just recently sold it.

haven't had much other experience with mtd other then that. i think they are based in ohio. they seem to have good designs that are put together a little cheaply. if you are into modifing and beefing things up on them, then you will have something, but you have to get it for a good deal first to make all the modifications worth it. like i said, mtd does seem to have a good design with their equipment=good features, just not the most rugged put together/parts. i have seen other mowers/splitters that were made more rugged, but lacked the features that mtd had.

[NHmitch]

I have a 20HP, 46 in deck Yardman by MTD mower that we have been using to mow about 4 acres that was purchased by my dad in 2002, and given to us in 2007. It still mows great, however I have had to do some maintenance on it, like new blades, new belts, and a new fuel line that had become brittle. We mow pretty tall grass with it, and up steep hills, in some spots. My dad use to use it to plow snow when he first bought it. If I could afford one, I would get a zero turn in a second, but for now, the MTD works very well for us, as long as you change the oil, and keep the blades sharp, and the belts in good condition, an MTD will last for years. They make all of the brands listed below. I hope that you are able to find a mower that woks out well for you!

MTD's brands:

Bolens
Columbia
Craftsman
Cub Cadet
Cub Cadet Commercial
Cub Cadet Yanmar (joint with Yanmar)
Farm King
GardenWay
Gold Series
Gutbrod website
Gutbrod-Kehrer
Lawnflite
Mastercut
Mow Master
Mow Master Mastercut
MTD website
MTD Black Edition
MTD Silver Edition
MTD Gold website
MTD Mowmaster
MTD Platinum Pro
MTD Platinum SD
MTD Pro website
MTD Super
MTD Taral
MTD Tradesman
MTD Turbomax
MTD 2000 Elite
Novotrac
Rasentrac
Remington
Ryobi (sold at Costco)
Troy-Bilt
Ventzki
Ventzki MTD
White Outdoor
Yard Machines
Yard-Man
Yard-Man Elite
Yard-Man Select
YardWorks

[sellercreek]

Also Huskee (not Husqvarna).

[EE_Bota]

My buddy has an MTD which he likes. He got a good deal on it at either Costco or Sam's. The transmission has gear selections, but I was surprised to see that it is still variable speed depending on how hard you press the go pedal. I was impressed with that feature, as it mimics hydrostatic to a certain extent.

The deck itself has three blades, but they are pretty short (I thought.) The deck is wide, but narrow. He and his wife cannot agree on what constitutes "yard" and what is actually woods. She took it out into the woods about a month after he got it and apparently started mowing quartz rock. She put major nicks in the blades, and bent one at about a 90 degree angle. Everything stood up to that but the blades, which we replaced at that time. I don't know of a single thing that has gone bad with it otherwise, and I bet he's had it 6-8 years.

A friend at work bought a Cub Cadet recently, and I was right impressed with that mower. It had lots of good features, hydrostatic drive, and they threw in a push mower as part of the deal, and it was well less than $2000. I sort of wished I could get one too, but I am full up.

[BigBoyinMS]

I bought my 20hp MTD made Yard Machine in 2000 and my 300+lbs has used it ever since. It got it's first new belts 3 years ago and other than oil changes every year and a new battery every few years I haven't spent much money at all on it. I did replace $70 worth of steering parts a couple of years ago.
Some advice: I used to have to clean the carb almost every year since ethanol fuel became the norm. Now I treat every tank of fuel with SeaFoam. I use it in all the fuel I use for my small engines.
Also, I use a battery maintainer on it now. Haven't had a battery issue in 4 years.

[LBrown59]

MTD's brands:

Bolens
Columbia
Craftsman
Cub Cadet
Cub Cadet Commercial
Cub Cadet Yanmar (joint with Yanmar)
Farm King
GardenWay
Gold Series
Gutbrod website
Gutbrod-Kehrer
Lawnflite
Mastercut
Mow Master
Mow Master Mastercut
MTD website
MTD Black Edition
MTD Silver Edition
MTD Gold website
MTD Mowmaster
MTD Platinum Pro
MTD Platinum SD
MTD Pro website
MTD Super
MTD Taral
MTD Tradesman
MTD Turbomax
MTD 2000 Elite
Novotrac
Rasentrac
Remington
Ryobi (sold at Costco)
Troy-Bilt
Ventzki
Ventzki MTD
White Outdoor
Yard Machines
Yard-Man
Yard-Man Elite
Yard-Man Select
YardWorks

This is made by AYP not MTD.

I had a 1995 Wards PowrCraft that was made by MTD.

Cub Cadet Yanmar (joint with Yanmar) Yanmar builds this one for MTD.

[JerryK]

I have a six year old Yard Machines 6 speed [ actually a CVT ] and the transaxle gave up a couple weeks ago. This was the least expensive model at Lowe's at the time and only a 38", I think I paid $800 for it on sale. I never had trouble with the CVT. My land is real hilly and that is probably why the thing died a couple years early. 13.5hp Briggs overhead valve is real easy on gas, and still like new. New transaxle is around $300-325, so I just bought a new Craftsman LT3000 46" hydro. Might still throw a transaxle into the Yardman, but want to see if the hydro transaxle will take the hills. Basic info on MTD is that they are not too bad, but not built to last forever.... but what is these days. I was mowing with a 10K dollar 1991 JD420 garden tractor with a 60" deck. The splined front pto pully shaft wore out, and it cost me less to buy the Yardman than to patch up the John deere deck.

[flusher]

Also Huskee (not Husqvarna).

Yep-MTD makes Huskee (Tractor Supply). I have a Huskee (42" cut, 18 hp B&S engine, hydrostatic tranny) that I bought for $900. It's on its seventh season with no problems. Just change the oil/filter every year and wash it off every so often.

[The kid]

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 MTD because I didn't know much about them basically. 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 MTD manufacturer/retail support in the event of a problem? Does anyone know anything about Columbia lawn tractors? Thanks for your help!

If you treat them right, they will last a long time. I own a commercial MTD Pro 5445 Z-turn with about 1500 hours. I have to replace the drive belt to the blades it I push it too hard in wet grass, but I'll put it up against any zero turn in it's size. Biult like a tank and easy to work on. Grease fittings all over it. About seven years ago it retailed for around $4995. I could probably get my money out of it today. You have you entry models and your heavy duty models. You get what you pay for. -robert