bermuda_ken
Silver Member
Sometimes you are just paying for the name when you buy a Brand X....Everything they make is not the best it could be.(but the Brand X marketing kids would not even hint at this)
Cub Vs. John Deere
- Thread starter rcflyer15
- Start date
- Views: 34637
This was brought up a few months ago, and MTD does not make the lower end JD 100's, but many of the components of the JD100's are shared with those of MTD machines from the same suppliers, making them look nearly identical to the Cub 1000's.
I'm just shocked that to get a true JD garden tractor with horizontal shaft engine, heavy duty hydro and shaft drive which were things very common to JD GT's of the past and the main things I look for in a GT, one now has to spend over $10,000 for an X700. (I noticed they just dropped the price $1000 as the season wears on.) A nice machine mind you, but when I can get a nearly mint used equivalent JD or Cub GT with close to the X700's features for under $3000 or a brand new Cub 2542 for $3000 that has the minimum shaft drive, horizontal engine and heavy hydro you know what choice I would make. It just seems either JD is reserving their cream of the crop high end GT's only for the rich guys, or I am too old fashioned for their pricing structure?!?
A lot of people talk about the Cub value here, and looking at what you get by comparison to JD, the gap is not a small few hundred bucks, it is many thousands of dollars when the comparison comes down to apples to apples of what a true GT should consist of. If one compares prices, Cub's highest end 3000 GT's are priced about where JD's X500's are at, and the X500's I consider to be no more than belt driven SLT's (Super-lawn tractors) with 4 wheel steering.
I have friends who buy nothing but JD because of the name and pretense asscociated with it, they have to have the best names of everything. They never maintain and beat the He!! out of their equipment, and every 3 or 4 years are right back at JD trading up to the next bigger model. I just saw the payment book of their latest 1420 front mower and thought it must be nice having that kind of money to %&#@ away on a lawn mower every month, it was more than my mortgage payment was.
I'm not bashing JD, they are great machines, I just can't justify the pricing for what one actually gets for it.
-Fordlords-
I'm just shocked that to get a true JD garden tractor with horizontal shaft engine, heavy duty hydro and shaft drive which were things very common to JD GT's of the past and the main things I look for in a GT, one now has to spend over $10,000 for an X700. (I noticed they just dropped the price $1000 as the season wears on.) A nice machine mind you, but when I can get a nearly mint used equivalent JD or Cub GT with close to the X700's features for under $3000 or a brand new Cub 2542 for $3000 that has the minimum shaft drive, horizontal engine and heavy hydro you know what choice I would make. It just seems either JD is reserving their cream of the crop high end GT's only for the rich guys, or I am too old fashioned for their pricing structure?!?
A lot of people talk about the Cub value here, and looking at what you get by comparison to JD, the gap is not a small few hundred bucks, it is many thousands of dollars when the comparison comes down to apples to apples of what a true GT should consist of. If one compares prices, Cub's highest end 3000 GT's are priced about where JD's X500's are at, and the X500's I consider to be no more than belt driven SLT's (Super-lawn tractors) with 4 wheel steering.
I have friends who buy nothing but JD because of the name and pretense asscociated with it, they have to have the best names of everything. They never maintain and beat the He!! out of their equipment, and every 3 or 4 years are right back at JD trading up to the next bigger model. I just saw the payment book of their latest 1420 front mower and thought it must be nice having that kind of money to %&#@ away on a lawn mower every month, it was more than my mortgage payment was.
I'm not bashing JD, they are great machines, I just can't justify the pricing for what one actually gets for it.
-Fordlords-
knute_m
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2005
- Messages
- 408
- Tractor
- Down to my lovable little red Mahindra with FEL, and backhoe.
A few years ago it was time to retire a 1962 John Deere Model 60 lawn tractor. I really loved that old lawn tractor. It originally had been my FILs. It had just gone through it's second engine and it was looking tired -- cracked fiberglass hood, ripped seat, dry rotted original tires, etc.
My heart was set on getting a bright new John Deere. Unfortunately, I was shocked when I started looking. As others have said, we don't want to bash John Deere, but the quality of the smaller John Deere lawn tractors has really diminished. I just couldn't see spending that kind of money for that level of quality.
I ended up with a Cub Cadet 1515 which I have been quite happy with. It actually cost a little more than the comparable John Deere I was looking at. Maybe it was all perception, but overall, there were things about the Cub Cadet that just seemed a lot sturdier, friendlier, and better designed -- especially the mower deck.
Except for a spindle on the mower deck that froze up within the first 10 hours, or so, the Cub Cadet has been real reliable. The deck is pretty heavy duty. The Cub Cadet mower blades are very heavy duty. The thing is reasonably comfortable, and it is a real mowing machine.
My heart was set on getting a bright new John Deere. Unfortunately, I was shocked when I started looking. As others have said, we don't want to bash John Deere, but the quality of the smaller John Deere lawn tractors has really diminished. I just couldn't see spending that kind of money for that level of quality.
I ended up with a Cub Cadet 1515 which I have been quite happy with. It actually cost a little more than the comparable John Deere I was looking at. Maybe it was all perception, but overall, there were things about the Cub Cadet that just seemed a lot sturdier, friendlier, and better designed -- especially the mower deck.
Except for a spindle on the mower deck that froze up within the first 10 hours, or so, the Cub Cadet has been real reliable. The deck is pretty heavy duty. The Cub Cadet mower blades are very heavy duty. The thing is reasonably comfortable, and it is a real mowing machine.