2554 gone, now what?

[Seravo]

My 2554 suffered two big problems within the first few hours of mowing with it. First, I have to give the machine credit for mowing well, I liked that very much. I had about 5 trouble free hours on it, then while mowing I could smell something burning. It turns out the hood started to melt and warp from the heat of the engine and the exhaust was burning the plastic. The hood was soft enough to sort of get back into shape but was now twisted and didn't fit right. Has anyone else here had their hood melt? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
About an hour after that, the steering froze up solid, putting an end to my mowing!/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I had to get some help to lift the front of the tractor and aim it in the right direction to get it back to the house. That thing is heavy! At this point I'd had enough and called the dealer to come get it. This seemed to be a very nice machine, but with such a bad start it didn't seem that it would hold up well over time.
I wasn't happy with the machine, but have to give "two thumbs up" to the CC dealer, Abbotts in E. Waterboro Maine. They were very helpful and gracious throughout the whole process. Maybe I got the 1 in 1,000 "lemon", but they did all they could to help and in the end gave us a full refund.
So now I'm back to where I was four weeks ago - lots of grass and no way to mow it. I am a little hesitant to try another Cub Cadet. Would the 3000 series be any better? The green tractors seem pricey by camparison, but if they are more rugged it may be worth the money. Any suggestions?

 

[Seravo]

My 2554 suffered two big problems within the first few hours of mowing with it. First, I have to give the machine credit for mowing well, I liked that very much. I had about 5 trouble free hours on it, then while mowing I could smell something burning. It turns out the hood started to melt and warp from the heat of the engine and the exhaust was burning the plastic. The hood was soft enough to sort of get back into shape but was now twisted and didn't fit right. Has anyone else here had their hood melt? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
About an hour after that, the steering froze up solid, putting an end to my mowing!/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I had to get some help to lift the front of the tractor and aim it in the right direction to get it back to the house. That thing is heavy! At this point I'd had enough and called the dealer to come get it. This seemed to be a very nice machine, but with such a bad start it didn't seem that it would hold up well over time.
I wasn't happy with the machine, but have to give "two thumbs up" to the CC dealer, Abbotts in E. Waterboro Maine. They were very helpful and gracious throughout the whole process. Maybe I got the 1 in 1,000 "lemon", but they did all they could to help and in the end gave us a full refund.
So now I'm back to where I was four weeks ago - lots of grass and no way to mow it. I am a little hesitant to try another Cub Cadet. Would the 3000 series be any better? The green tractors seem pricey by camparison, but if they are more rugged it may be worth the money. Any suggestions?

 

[JSharp]

For $4000 the 2554 is as good as it gets IMO. If you want a comparable green tractor it'll be an X340 model. $4990. I looked at one before I got my 2554. The JD has a few nicer features for the $1000 but doesn't seem as heavily built as the Cub. It certainly wasn't enough nicer to convince me to buy one.

The 3100 series Cubs still have that micky mouse multi piece hood and side panel setup. The frame is substanially similar to the 2554 you had, with a heavier front axle, power steering, hydraulic implement lift, etc. But, one with a 54" deck will run you about $6K.

Personally, I get another '06 2554. You had problems with the last one that others don't seem to have. Maybe that one was built on a Tuesday after a Monday holiday...

 

[JSharp]

For $4000 the 2554 is as good as it gets IMO. If you want a comparable green tractor it'll be an X340 model. $4990. I looked at one before I got my 2554. The JD has a few nicer features for the $1000 but doesn't seem as heavily built as the Cub. It certainly wasn't enough nicer to convince me to buy one.

The 3100 series Cubs still have that micky mouse multi piece hood and side panel setup. The frame is substanially similar to the 2554 you had, with a heavier front axle, power steering, hydraulic implement lift, etc. But, one with a 54" deck will run you about $6K.

Personally, I get another '06 2554. You had problems with the last one that others don't seem to have. Maybe that one was built on a Tuesday after a Monday holiday...

 

[Seravo]

The same thinking got me to uy the CC in the first place - it seemed like the better value by far. The dealer seemed surprised by the hood problem. He's sold alot of these and hasn't seen this happen before. They said the steering might have been the "bushings needing to break in", but he hadn't had time to see it at that point. It was frozen solid, like it was welded into one piece.
I'm not enthused about spending more $ for what seems to be an equivalent tractor. FWIW, my old Scotts lawn tractor had a plastic hood and no problems. But what about the steering?

 

[Seravo]

The same thinking got me to uy the CC in the first place - it seemed like the better value by far. The dealer seemed surprised by the hood problem. He's sold alot of these and hasn't seen this happen before. They said the steering might have been the "bushings needing to break in", but he hadn't had time to see it at that point. It was frozen solid, like it was welded into one piece.
I'm not enthused about spending more $ for what seems to be an equivalent tractor. FWIW, my old Scotts lawn tractor had a plastic hood and no problems. But what about the steering?

 

[Fordlords]

I do recall from another thread here there is a service bulletin out for the '06 2500's for a defect with one of the grease fittings for the steering that causes the lockup problem. As far as the hood melting? Yikes! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

-Fordlords-

 

[Fordlords]

I do recall from another thread here there is a service bulletin out for the '06 2500's for a defect with one of the grease fittings for the steering that causes the lockup problem. As far as the hood melting? Yikes! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

-Fordlords-

 

[JTKub]

Oh man, this is a tough call. IMO- the 2K series have always had a heat problem under the hood from the exhaust. I dunno if I'd want to go thru that again! Atleast not until we here more about the 2006+ model year. I never had any steering problem or anything melt on my 'green' machines, but they are spendy. If I were in the market for something ~54", IMHO, I'd try kubota or ingersoll.

G/luck
Joel

Joel

 

[JTKub]

Oh man, this is a tough call. IMO- the 2K series have always had a heat problem under the hood from the exhaust. I dunno if I'd want to go thru that again! Atleast not until we here more about the 2006+ model year. I never had any steering problem or anything melt on my 'green' machines, but they are spendy. If I were in the market for something ~54", IMHO, I'd try kubota or ingersoll.

G/luck
Joel

Joel