New 2011 Cub Cadet Garden Tractor!!

[EuropaChris]

To me it just looks like a warmed over 2500 series with a few added things (power steering and deck lift) and a few things transferred from the 3000 series (arm rests, tilt wheel).

Fabricated deck is no big deal especially if it's shallow as Joel noticed and just a flat slab of steel with no air channels to assist with grass dispersion as a good stamped deck will have or a top notch fabricated deck ($$$). It is probably cheaper to have a deck fabricated in China rather than pay for new stamping dies.

The power steering is likely just a 12V linear actuator - but it COULD be a small 12V hydraulic pump/cylinder system. I admit, it would be nice to have because the steering is heavy on my 2544 - always has been. But if it doesn't hold up in service.....well, I'll keep up looking like Popeye.

I'm not trying to rain on parades, but MTD is a known quantity - the primary focus is cheap.

 

[JTKub]

is the locking diff still available? is the deck still shaft or is it the mule drive? is tilt available on all the 2500 models? and the electric lift? hp ratings on motors? this is what we want to know, im sure.

One thing that never made any sense to me with the 3K series was the shaft driven deck. I'm not sure why they bothered. The shaft was driven by a twin set of short V-belts anyway!! A belt & mule drive uses one belt. I can see it on an all hydraulic machine, or one where a belt can't reach, but on this size and configuration of machine? No way. PTO belt issues with the 2K are rare. About the only time I've heard of issues (or experience myself) was due to operator error. Installing the belt wrong (twisted).

Joel

 

[EmerichSales]

Deck is Not shallow, Its the same deck used on the Z-Force Commercial Machine. Real nice machine for the Money!!

 

[JTKub]

Deck is Not shallow, Its the same deck used on the Z-Force Commercial Machine. Real nice machine for the Money!!

There's no doubt it's real similar, but the same? I dunno. Here's my 2010 model year Z-Force. The "commercial" Z-Force uses the EXACT same decks, but painted black. From what I can tell from the photo, that 2011, 2K deck looks similar to the fab'd sloped-nose (shallower) deck used on the Z-Force-S (steering wheel model).

Joel

 

[highboy1975]

im gona hafta stop at the dealer this week to check it out. im thinking its a 2500 series with power steering and deck lift (how they should have been all along).

i liked the shaft drive on the 3k series because there was no belt to get tangled up. the shaft stayed with the deck, and hooked up quite simply. that was the only advantage i noticed over a mule drive deck. the pto system is supposed to be better too, no 300$ clutch that wasnt serviceable. the vac system is supposed to be completely serviceable.

i guess we'll hafta wait and see more pics on this new one, but im thinking they eliminated the 3k not because of price, but the nearest competitor, the 2400, did it in. if you were going to spend 7 on the 3k, why not 9 on a 2400 and get a much more capable machine?

 

[EuropaChris]

There's no doubt it's real similar, but the same? I dunno. Here's my 2010 model year Z-Force. The "commercial" Z-Force uses the EXACT same decks, but painted black. From what I can tell from the photo, that 2011, 2K deck looks similar to the fab'd sloped-nose (shallower) deck used on the Z-Force-S (steering wheel model).
Joel

Definitely not the same deck. But, I don't think it's even possible to use the same deck since attach points and under-chassis clearance will be quite different between 2500 series chassis and a Z-Force chassis. To me it looks like a faux-fab deck; i.e. they are trying to capture the "look" of a true commercial deck without the real beef or structure of one.

Highboy, that's exactly what I was thinking - the real "heavy duty" garden tractor is obsolete. I'm surprised Simplicity still sells the Legacy - base price starts at $8,600 WITHOUT the deck, and the diesel engine is over $12K! Jeezus, man, go buy a Cub 2400 or JD 2405 for that coin! No matter how you slice it, anyone that's got a lot of grass to mow and would look at a 3000 series Cub is probably going to be buying a true commercial ZTR or front mount instead (I know I would).

I hope the new model is everything it's advertised as. However, the phrase "real nice machine for the money" usually means to me that you get a lot of "features" that may or may not be useful (how hard it is to lift up a 2500 series deck by hand?) or not well made and/or corners cut (remember Joel's exhaust pipe issue on his Z-Force?) I want solid engineering, no useless frills, and something that is going to last.

I'll definitely check these out when they hit my local dealer and give my free opinion then. For now, my '05 2544 has been great and I love it!

 

[JTKub]

Maybe it is more 2K than 3K series, but from the looks of that arse-end, the length, the extra bulges aside the drive shaft tunnel and the room behind the wheel, you see lots of 3K in it. In regards to the electric deck lift is crap, our 1970 JD 110 had electric lift that was untouched (and used heavily) the 30yrs my family owned the tractor. I'm sure new stuff isn't as HD, but it is a simple system.

Joel

 

[EmerichSales]

Your right, I should have said similar deck as the Z-Force S. Plenty Deep Enough.

It is possible to have TOO Deep!! Look at the Exmark decks, A few years ago they went to a deeper deck and then went back to the shallower deck.

It will cut Great!!

 

[EuropaChris]

Maybe it is more 2K than 3K series, but from the looks of that arse-end, the length, the extra bulges aside the drive shaft tunnel and the room behind the wheel, you see lots of 3K in it. In regards to the electric deck lift is crap, our 1970 JD 110 had electric lift that was untouched (and used heavily) the 30yrs my family owned the tractor. I'm sure new stuff isn't as HD, but it is a simple system.

Joel

I hear ya' Joel on the deck lift.....BUT!!!! ...it was a) John Deere and b) NOT made by MTD (and wasn't likely sourced in China). JD circa 1970 = brick sh!thouse. As an engineer, I hate when good R&D money is pi$$ed away on useless features and fugly styling rather than making something simple, robust, long lasting and easy to maintain (i.e. that absolutely craptastic oil drain my 2544 came with and the galactically stupid person who approved the plastic hose as the "solution" to putting in a proper oil drain that didn't pour oil all over the tractor frame.

That said, I looked at JD long and hard before I bought my 2544 and couldn't justify the extra money (a LOT of extra money) to buy an equivalent tractor to my 2544. But it irks me to see the continued "dumbing down" of products just to hold a price point. There are few things left that can be appreciated by the people who enjoy spending money ONCE on quality and then taking care of it for a lifetime.

Sorry - old man rant over......turned 41 today.

 

[JTKub]

That's a fact. That John Deere was from a different era. Something built like that today would cost as much as a higher end compact utility tractor. I don't mind cheaper if it's serviceable and I can get parts, but we all know that's almost never the case. Yes! Engineering and bean counting are polar opposites. My job in operations is make a plant run after the bean counters spec out (what engineering designs) and have it built with old/cheap/undersized equipment. Good times. It's kept me in this occupation for the last ~14yrs!

Joel