LT 1050 usefull life

[Capt. Bob]

I was reading in my owners manual after purchasing my new LT1050 yesterday. It says the average usefull life expectancy of the machine is 7 years or 270 hrs. That is not something to bragg about as far as I am concerned. I put about 80 hrs a year on my lawn mower. My last one a GT6000 Sears is still running today after 18 years. What do ya'll think?

 

[OldMachinist]

I read that in my manual also and you are right its not something I would brag about ether. I think the useful life depends on how its used, maintained and stored. But since you have an old mower you know that the new ones are not build nearly as well. The metals are thinnner and most have plastic hoods. No matter what you do plastics get brittle with age and start cracking. Hydrostatic transmissions in my opinion will never last as long as the geared transmissions. I have several of the old Sears mid 70's garden tractors that are still running fine and one of them spent most of its life outdoors.

 

[JTKub]

270hrs?? Maybe for the engine and fuel system to stay 100% EPA/CARB compliant. Other than that, the unit should last much more than that with normal mowing work, no major hills, no attachment pulling.

Joel

 

[sdk8103]

Where in the book does it say that? I can't find it, but I think it must be an error. There was a post a while ago where someone said they read the Kohler engines were expected to last 700 hours (which I think is very low if they are maintained). If these things were dying after 270 hours there would be posts everywhere about it.

 

[Fordlords]

It sounds like planned obsolesence- I'm surprised they would print that. It's like saying we are wiring a stick of dynamite to the hour meter set at 270 hours. It lasts however long it lasts- why publish something that sounds like they aren't putting much faith in their own product?

-Fordlords-

 

[Capt. Bob]

Where in the book does it say that? I can't find it, but I think it must be an error. There was a post a while ago where someone said they read the Kohler engines were expected to last 700 hours (which I think is very low if they are maintained). If these things were dying after 270 hours there would be posts everywhere about it.

It says that on page #6 under the bold heading "Average useful life". Average usualy means some will last longer and some not so long. I plan on finding out since this thing is the best mowing machine I have ever tried on my bahaia grass. It mows as fast as it will go without leaving the missed trails between the blades. I like it so far.

 

[sdk8103]

I have a 1046 and I can't find a reference to that. Mine is 3 seasons old and has 100+ hours and has shown no sign of wear and still runs like new. I wouldn't give it any thought at all since my research in buying this tractor 3 years ago would have turned up reports of such a short life if that was reality.

 

[LBrown59]

my research in buying this tractor 3 years ago would have turned up reports of such a short life if that was reality.

Perhaps they aren't building them like they did 3 years ago.

 

[OldMachinist]

I think there are several reasons they would print that in the manual.
First is most likely a liability thing 10 years down the road and some guy who didn't maintain his mower has a wheel fall off and gets hurt I can hear the lawyers saying well is says right here in the manual that its useful life was 7 years.
Second thing is that by law they only have to support products with repair parts for 7 years. I can tell you from working for a company that makes its own products that even thou they have to support it it doesn't mean they can't make the price of a slow moving part so high you'll think about buying a new unit. If we had a parts request come in for something out of stock and it hadn't been made in a few years the customer would get hit with the high price of setting up and producing a few parts.

Its just the way of the business world today. You watch some of you guys with old Tecumceh engines are going to find it hard to get parts since they got bought up last year by Platinum Equity LLC. The new owners will be looking to cut costs and the first place they look is inventory.

 

[JTKub]

Good point on the liability concern / service life spec. That 7yr parts deal is pretty scary though. I couldn't imagine spending ~$6K on a 3K series Cub only to find I can't get parts for it 7yrs later. IMO, that's one thing that can be said about the 'big' brands like JD, Toro and Honda. Parts might be a tad pricey, but you can get'em.

Joel