Cub Cadet Pro Z - Any Experience?

[nh15201]

^^^^
You may be doing better than I with fuel consumption. It’s worth noting, I do mow steep hillsides, so that may also increase my fuel consumption a bit.
And, because of the hillsides, I fill both tanks and keep the fuel lines open on both, to make sure I don’t starve the engine of fuel when traversing steep terrain.

Mike

I agree with the increased fuel usage on steeper terrain theory. The wife took off for a weekend visit / shopping trip last weekend with our youngest daughter. She wasn't around the bend in the road before I was mowing with our new CC 560. Starting out with a full tank and mowing the same area, I found that I used slightly less fuel. She is still getting the hang of this new mower where I've been mowing forever it seems. I will adjust throttle slightly depending on grass conditions and probably anticipate turns a little better from years of experience. I want her to start learning on her own so I just let cut at full throttle and let her chase the mowing patterns as the area size decreases. She is having fun, doing a great job, gaining skill and confidence - if that equals a couple extra gallons of gas over a summer mowing season so be it. The older I get, the less I fret over the details I guess.

 

[mikester]

My neighbor bought the CC at the same time I got my ZD326 11 years ago. We cut about the same acreage. At the time he razed me over how expensive K ZTRs are and a waste of money.

7 years ago he traded it in for a JD ZTR. He complained about constant breakdowns and repairs on his CC. I'm still using my ZD with no problems knocking on wood. My ZD seems cheap now in comparison.

I just picked up a set of filters at the dealership and saw a same age used ZD for sale. The asking price is what I paid for it 11 years ago.

 

[nh15201]

I'm a big fan of Kubota equipment.

 

[Rdrcr]

^^^^
Im not a brand specific guy but, me too.

Mike

 

[nh15201]

My neighbor bought the CC at the same time I got my ZD326 11 years ago. We cut about the same acreage. At the time he razed me over how expensive K ZTRs are and a waste of money.

7 years ago he traded it in for a JD ZTR. He complained about constant breakdowns and repairs on his CC. I'm still using my ZD with no problems knocking on wood. My ZD seems cheap now in comparison.

I just picked up a set of filters at the dealership and saw a same age used ZD for sale. The asking price is what I paid for it 11 years ago.

My brother has had a B7300 Kubota w/60" mid mower deck since he bought it new back in '96. It has proven out to be a good one - he just replaced the water pump last month. The mower deck is still on the original spindles and OE mower deck. He is thinking about a little larger unit with a loader - but he can't bring himself to get rid of it and he really doesn't need a loader on his steep property.

I hope that I fair better than your neighbor with our new Cub? As I have posted before, I wouldn't be caught dead with the box store Cubs - but - if I did my homework - the commercial series Cubs are on an entirely different level.

 

[DWPauly]

Bought a Pro Z 560 S w/the Kawasaki 850V 27 hp engine in Oct. 2024. Wife loves it - especially that it's not a "ditch magnet" like zero turns tend to be (she uses the lawn & farm equipment. I just fix the stuff) but today it quit running while she was on it. Mikuni fuel pump crapped out (already!) "No sweat" I thought and called the dealer I got it from just 2 miles up the road. Told him what's wrong (I'm not a lawn mower mech but am a certified aircraft mech) and asked if they had a pump in stock and if so I'd just come up and get it. "Oh no, can't have a customer work on it . . ." "OK" I said. "Just trying to save you some time/work." "Can you have your guy bring the new pump out and install it?" (5 minute job if that) and he again said "Oh no, we gotta bring it to the shop." "OK" I said. "That ain't gonna cost me anything since it's under warranty, right?" "$60 for the transportation". I told him I'd bring it up myself in the next day or 2 but after thinking about what a rip off that is, decided I'll buy (elsewhere) & install my own pump and resolve not to do business with these guys again. Compact tractors I've bought new in the past 10 years and a Husqvarna Zero Turn I bought new in 2011. The Dealers had to come get them for various warranty issues and none of them ever charged me for the transport so my question to those on this blog is "Are the Cub Cadet Management just a bunch of scrooges, is my dealer getting over at my expense or is this the way businesses are now doing things?" Nice as this Cub is it sure ain't the only game in town; so depending what I read on here this may be the last Cub Cadet I buy; at least from this dealer.

 

[stevem5215]

All dealerships are different. Yours is different in a way that's a negative to you. Fix it yourself and never see the again IMO is the best method.

 

[dpauly]

As mentioned in an earlier post, we bought a Pro Z 560 S with the Kawasaki engine new in October of 2024. Overall a good, powerful mower though already in May the fuel pump crapped out and now we're detecting "sticky" turning (i.e. takes more effort to turn it now and we're hearing some "squeekiness" when turning.)

The most aggravating part of owning this Cub Cadet is the fact that we as the customers have the burden to haul that monster back to the dealer for WARRANTY work, or pay them $60 for the 2 mile trip to their shop (not even sure that's round trip or each way) to come get it. I've bought tractors (other brands, obviously) going back to 2011 and when they had to go back to the shop for repairs covered under warranty, the dealer picked it up & returned it at no cost to me. So I called C.C. headquarters to see if this is a company wide policy or was my particular dealer just sticking it to his customers and maybe making additional money on things the warranty already pays him for. They said it's "company wide".

So, given the probability my mower would sit there in the quay at the dealer for at least a few days until they could get to it I elected to see if I could find an OEM fuel pump on-line (which I did and got 2 of them for the same price a dealer would charge for just 1) and did the less than 5 minute installation myself: saving money and time for this "Warranteed" repair. Buyer beware.

While we're on the subject, does anyone know if there's anything in the way of grease fittings accessible by the customer on this beast? When buying, the dealer claimed all the bearings were "lifetime, requiring no additional grease" but that steering issue I mentioned earlier sounds like something regular, proper greasing might have prevented.

One other thing: does anyone know where a Factory Service Manual can be purchased for this particular machine? Thanks.

 

[dpauly]

All dealerships are different. Yours is different in a way that's a negative to you. Fix it yourself and never see the again IMO is the best method.

So are you saying not all (Cub) dealers charge their customers for pick up/delivery? I generally tend to fix things myself but if something major occurs and it's still covered, it WILL go back to them for the work 'cause I've got plenty of other things to do (and I'll load it up on my dump trailer to get it to them and save myself $60 . . .)

 

[stevem5215]

Your call, your money.