JD L130 vs 2 Craftsman Lawn Tractors (buying)
- Thread starter baxsie
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briggs_man
Member
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2004
- Messages
- 33
- Location
- West Virginia
- Tractor
- 79 Ford 2600 DSL, 331 Bobcat excavator,
Nice looking MTD errrrrrrr cubcadet their /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
For reference, I was able to find the manuals over at MTD:
Cub Cadet GT1554 Owners Manual (3.8M PDF)
Cub Cadet GT1554 Parts Manual (9.1M PDF)
Cub Cadet GT1554 Owners Manual (3.8M PDF)
Cub Cadet GT1554 Parts Manual (9.1M PDF)
(sorry, it looks like those manual links have expired, but I can't edit/delete the post)
Unloading the Cub Cadet/MTD GT1554 from the pickup using a Massey Ferguson MF-65 with Du-All loader:
Bird's eye view.
All strapped up.
Lifted.
Drive the pickup out.
Ready to uncrate.
Unloading the Cub Cadet/MTD GT1554 from the pickup using a Massey Ferguson MF-65 with Du-All loader:
Bird's eye view.
All strapped up.
Lifted.
Drive the pickup out.
Ready to uncrate.
Well, it sure works better and faster than the old one:
I need to do some experimenting with the deck rollers, I think they are too low. I also think that the seat safety switch is too sensitive. Sometimes a little bump when you are turning will trigger the seat safety, which then shuts off the blades. No big deal to re-engage them, but it is annoying.
I love the hydro transmission compared to the belt drive I had on the last one. When the grass gets thick, it is nice to be able to slow down to a crawl.
The big motor is nice too. I can push through some pretty thick grass without bogging it. I was worried about the 54” being too much for my mowing, and while I still would rather have a 48”, the 54” seems to work well.
It does not get stuck as often as the old one (good) but when it does get stuck, it is bigger and heavier and more difficult to get un-stuck.
There does seem to be one silly design flaw: the zerk for the right hand spindle appears to be completely inaccessible
. It looks like I'll have to take the shield off and rotate the mount, or notch the shield so the grease gun can get in there.
I have thought many times about modifying the deck outlet on my old mower so there is no bar across the outlet at the bottom. If you go through too heavy of grass too quickly, it can build up in that area, exacerbated by the bar.
I think by removing the bar and restoring the lost strength by using an inverted "U" shaped reinforcement around the tow vertical sides and top of the opening the strength would be kept, while making the opening less likely to plug.
I need to do some experimenting with the deck rollers, I think they are too low. I also think that the seat safety switch is too sensitive. Sometimes a little bump when you are turning will trigger the seat safety, which then shuts off the blades. No big deal to re-engage them, but it is annoying.
I love the hydro transmission compared to the belt drive I had on the last one. When the grass gets thick, it is nice to be able to slow down to a crawl.
The big motor is nice too. I can push through some pretty thick grass without bogging it. I was worried about the 54” being too much for my mowing, and while I still would rather have a 48”, the 54” seems to work well.
It does not get stuck as often as the old one (good) but when it does get stuck, it is bigger and heavier and more difficult to get un-stuck.
There does seem to be one silly design flaw: the zerk for the right hand spindle appears to be completely inaccessible
I have thought many times about modifying the deck outlet on my old mower so there is no bar across the outlet at the bottom. If you go through too heavy of grass too quickly, it can build up in that area, exacerbated by the bar.
I think by removing the bar and restoring the lost strength by using an inverted "U" shaped reinforcement around the tow vertical sides and top of the opening the strength would be kept, while making the opening less likely to plug.
newcountry
Silver Member
Those sure are pretty views you've got on your own little piece of heaven. What part of the country are you from? (BTW, this is when we all remind you to fill out your profile so we know a little bit more about you)
I want your Ford pickup. That's exactly what I'm looking for to move stuff around!
I want your Ford pickup. That's exactly what I'm looking for to move stuff around!
This is the "Palouse", just south of Spokane, WA.
Bought that truck from a farmer neighbor for $300. Then proceeded to put about 6x that into it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif It had experienced a hard life.
Another neighbor has a nicer one for sale, let me know if you want to come pick it up from NE. In fact, you can have mine, and I'll take his!
Bought that truck from a farmer neighbor for $300. Then proceeded to put about 6x that into it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif It had experienced a hard life.
Another neighbor has a nicer one for sale, let me know if you want to come pick it up from NE. In fact, you can have mine, and I'll take his!
newcountry
Silver Member
I would love to drive up there and visit, but don't think the accountant in the family would say that's very cost-effective /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif. I'll just have to keep looking for my 'beater truck' around these parts. Boy, really do like that Ford, though. Reminds me of my Grandpa's old truck, was that same color but think it was mid-60's.
Update. Well, the hour meter now reads 3.5 hours and I have had only two breakdowns
:
And as much as I would like to make some people's days by admitting that I was pressing the mower too hard, I do not think that is the case.
Failure #1 is the spring that holds tension on the serpentine belt that drives the three blades. Just mowing along happily and the blades stopped. Poked around a bit and found that the hooked end was broken off the spring. A couple of minutes with the vise grips, and I had formed a new hook. Put the spring back into place and away I go. Bad spring? I dono. That spring is pretty darn tight. Maybe the spring has extra tension to make sure the big motor does not slip the belt.
Failure #2 is that one of the pins that holds the front of the deck in place. Here is a "new" photo:
Those pins kind of worried me from the beginning, since the brackets were aligned such that there was a tension force on the pins against the keepers. Plus, the tension force allowed the two plates to separate, which then allows the pin to cock at an angle. Well, at some point, a pin came out. I assume that the keeper sheared from the tension force. I dug around the shop, and did not have anything that would work to replace it. Then I looked at the bumper and noticed that it had a pin that was the same size (except that the keeper on the bumper--which has no tension--was a heavier style /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif). That got me going. I still did not like idea of there being tension on the keeper. Those are made to keep the pin from vibrating out, but they are not intended to endure a tension force. I got some bolts with the intention of replacing the pin + keeper with a bolt & locknut, but the clearances were such that that approach was going to be a bunch of work. Then I noticed the "fixed" anchor point of the bumper. That is a 1/2" bolt stepped down to a 3/8" threaded portion. It turned out to be exactly what I needed. I replaced the pins with those bolts, tightening the nut down hard onto its shoulder to lock it. The joint can still rotate, but the two flat members are kept close together. I think this is a good solution:
The only issue might be if the nut gets loose. If that happens I'll have to use some thread locker next time.
As long as I was mucking with it, there were two annoying issues with the deck. One is that the right hand blade's bearing was mounted such that it was impossible to get at its grease fitting. The second was that the shields were attached with cheesy self-tapping screws. Not that the self-tapping is so bad, but the tips poke under the deck and that may be a factor in some of the clogging:
Since I had to remove one shield to rotate the bearing so the grease fitting would be accessible, I thought I would try to correct those while I was at it. So I put 1/4" carriage head bolts into the "self-tapped" 5/16" holes. The shoulders of the carriage-head bolt pulled nicely into the threads of the hole:
I used washers and nylon lock nuts up top. Perhaps one day I'll get ambitious and cut those off or find some shorter bolts:
So I need to get some replacement bumper mounting hardware and a spare spring, but at least it is still mowing.
And as much as I would like to make some people's days by admitting that I was pressing the mower too hard, I do not think that is the case.
Failure #1 is the spring that holds tension on the serpentine belt that drives the three blades. Just mowing along happily and the blades stopped. Poked around a bit and found that the hooked end was broken off the spring. A couple of minutes with the vise grips, and I had formed a new hook. Put the spring back into place and away I go. Bad spring? I dono. That spring is pretty darn tight. Maybe the spring has extra tension to make sure the big motor does not slip the belt.
Failure #2 is that one of the pins that holds the front of the deck in place. Here is a "new" photo:
Those pins kind of worried me from the beginning, since the brackets were aligned such that there was a tension force on the pins against the keepers. Plus, the tension force allowed the two plates to separate, which then allows the pin to cock at an angle. Well, at some point, a pin came out. I assume that the keeper sheared from the tension force. I dug around the shop, and did not have anything that would work to replace it. Then I looked at the bumper and noticed that it had a pin that was the same size (except that the keeper on the bumper--which has no tension--was a heavier style /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif). That got me going. I still did not like idea of there being tension on the keeper. Those are made to keep the pin from vibrating out, but they are not intended to endure a tension force. I got some bolts with the intention of replacing the pin + keeper with a bolt & locknut, but the clearances were such that that approach was going to be a bunch of work. Then I noticed the "fixed" anchor point of the bumper. That is a 1/2" bolt stepped down to a 3/8" threaded portion. It turned out to be exactly what I needed. I replaced the pins with those bolts, tightening the nut down hard onto its shoulder to lock it. The joint can still rotate, but the two flat members are kept close together. I think this is a good solution:
The only issue might be if the nut gets loose. If that happens I'll have to use some thread locker next time.
As long as I was mucking with it, there were two annoying issues with the deck. One is that the right hand blade's bearing was mounted such that it was impossible to get at its grease fitting. The second was that the shields were attached with cheesy self-tapping screws. Not that the self-tapping is so bad, but the tips poke under the deck and that may be a factor in some of the clogging:
Since I had to remove one shield to rotate the bearing so the grease fitting would be accessible, I thought I would try to correct those while I was at it. So I put 1/4" carriage head bolts into the "self-tapped" 5/16" holes. The shoulders of the carriage-head bolt pulled nicely into the threads of the hole:
I used washers and nylon lock nuts up top. Perhaps one day I'll get ambitious and cut those off or find some shorter bolts:
So I need to get some replacement bumper mounting hardware and a spare spring, but at least it is still mowing.
