Just made the plunge....

KJO · May 18, 2006

By the way....where you will really appreciate that 3100 over the 2554 will be when you have to remove the deck. The 3100 deck has a driveshaft instead of a belt. Unlike some PTO shafts, the Cub Cadet drive shaft is a breeze to remove. A note...you can't slide the deck out of the RH side of the mower. Unless you jack up the front of the tractor, you have to remove it from the LH side. The gearbox on the deck will not clear the lift arm on the RH side. The LH lift arm is specially designed to swing up and out of the way, making it possible to remove the deck out that side without jacking up the tractor. Removing the deck from the LH side is the opposite of what you would normally do because the discharge from the deck is on the RH side....so...seems odd, but it works and once you know the trick to getting it out, it is not bad. Hope you have some muscles...the deck weighs close to 300 pounds! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

KJO · May 18, 2006

By the way....where you will really appreciate that 3100 over the 2554 will be when you have to remove the deck. The 3100 deck has a driveshaft instead of a belt. Unlike some PTO shafts, the Cub Cadet drive shaft is a breeze to remove. A note...you can't slide the deck out of the RH side of the mower. Unless you jack up the front of the tractor, you have to remove it from the LH side. The gearbox on the deck will not clear the lift arm on the RH side. The LH lift arm is specially designed to swing up and out of the way, making it possible to remove the deck out that side without jacking up the tractor. Removing the deck from the LH side is the opposite of what you would normally do because the discharge from the deck is on the RH side....so...seems odd, but it works and once you know the trick to getting it out, it is not bad. Hope you have some muscles...the deck weighs close to 300 pounds! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Bob_Bainbridge · May 18, 2006

I didn't realize the deck could come out the left side. I jacked up the tractor and pulled it out the right, like I had to do with the 1450. I'll try that next time (probably next summer). Thanks,

Bob B.

Bob_Bainbridge · May 18, 2006

I didn't realize the deck could come out the left side. I jacked up the tractor and pulled it out the right, like I had to do with the 1450. I'll try that next time (probably next summer). Thanks,

Bob B.

Bob_Bainbridge · May 18, 2006

( Congrats on the new tractor, I am certain you will like it. My wife and I purchased a new 05 3100 this spring. It has about 9 hours on it now. So far we really like it. The steering is entirely effortless and the extremely tight turning radius makes mowing a lot easier and faster /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. It is large enough so that even on our rough ground it rides decent. The only problem we have had so far is the mower deck builds up grass badly. More due to our grass here than the mower I think. The grease zerks on the swivels on the front wheels on the mower deck are recessed so that a standard grease gun will not fit them. Another 3100 owner on this forum removed the press fit zerks, drilled and tapped for a larger zerk which protrudes further and solved the problem. I have not done that mod on mine yet. I am not going to buy another grease gun! As FORDLORDS stated...the decals come off. The Cub Cadet decal on the RH side of the hood continually pops up in two places. I gave up pushing it back on there and will be contacting the dealership and ordering a new one. Also..on the plastic battery cover/shield...there is a clip on each side which holds the shield in place. The clips on mine were broken off when we got the tractor. I believe someone at the dealership did not know how to get the shield off and broken the clips while attempting to get at the battery. They gave us a new one free of charge.....$18.00 otherwise. The Kohler has all kinds of power and has easily handled the tall, thick grass I have run it through. I wish the hydro could be adjusted to increase the speed both forward and reverse. Other Cub hydros I have run are faster in both directions. Reverse is just too slow, for safety reasons I suppose, or it could be that mine is out of adjustment. Not sure at this point.
We mow about three acres a week with the 3100 which we used to mow with our JD 112 and it has definitely been an improvement.
Have fun! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

What size deck do you have? I have the 54 inch deck and have very very wet grass (I'm probably looking a 2-3 weeks right now before I'll be able to mow the back 2/3 acre). I mowed all last season and just removed the deck to clean it a couple weeks ago. It doesn't clog up any where near the amount my 44R did. If it's very wet and tall I remove the catcher chute since it does clog up often. You can probably adjust the hydro pedal linkage to gain a little more reverse speed but it will result in loss of some forward speed. I drilled, tapped and installed threaded zerk fittings. I have no problem greasing the deck now. Didn't take more than 30 minutes.

Bob B.

Bob_Bainbridge · May 18, 2006

( Congrats on the new tractor, I am certain you will like it. My wife and I purchased a new 05 3100 this spring. It has about 9 hours on it now. So far we really like it. The steering is entirely effortless and the extremely tight turning radius makes mowing a lot easier and faster /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. It is large enough so that even on our rough ground it rides decent. The only problem we have had so far is the mower deck builds up grass badly. More due to our grass here than the mower I think. The grease zerks on the swivels on the front wheels on the mower deck are recessed so that a standard grease gun will not fit them. Another 3100 owner on this forum removed the press fit zerks, drilled and tapped for a larger zerk which protrudes further and solved the problem. I have not done that mod on mine yet. I am not going to buy another grease gun! As FORDLORDS stated...the decals come off. The Cub Cadet decal on the RH side of the hood continually pops up in two places. I gave up pushing it back on there and will be contacting the dealership and ordering a new one. Also..on the plastic battery cover/shield...there is a clip on each side which holds the shield in place. The clips on mine were broken off when we got the tractor. I believe someone at the dealership did not know how to get the shield off and broken the clips while attempting to get at the battery. They gave us a new one free of charge.....$18.00 otherwise. The Kohler has all kinds of power and has easily handled the tall, thick grass I have run it through. I wish the hydro could be adjusted to increase the speed both forward and reverse. Other Cub hydros I have run are faster in both directions. Reverse is just too slow, for safety reasons I suppose, or it could be that mine is out of adjustment. Not sure at this point.
We mow about three acres a week with the 3100 which we used to mow with our JD 112 and it has definitely been an improvement.
Have fun! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

What size deck do you have? I have the 54 inch deck and have very very wet grass (I'm probably looking a 2-3 weeks right now before I'll be able to mow the back 2/3 acre). I mowed all last season and just removed the deck to clean it a couple weeks ago. It doesn't clog up any where near the amount my 44R did. If it's very wet and tall I remove the catcher chute since it does clog up often. You can probably adjust the hydro pedal linkage to gain a little more reverse speed but it will result in loss of some forward speed. I drilled, tapped and installed threaded zerk fittings. I have no problem greasing the deck now. Didn't take more than 30 minutes.

Bob B.

Grasswhacker · May 18, 2006

KJO - great to hear from a (so-far) satisfied 3000-series owner! And very good information on deck removal. I did see the deck weight on the specs.... /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I agree with Fordlords.....some of the petty details overlooked by MTD are just plain silly. It's common knowledge in the real estate business that when selling a home, the front door and door knob should be in excellent shape. They are relatively inexpensive items, but give the first - and one of the most lasting - impressions of the home. I feel the same about your comments regarding decals and wheels.....why would MTD give customers an easy opportunity to think of their products as less-than-stellar in quality by overlooking (or shaving) details that wouldn't change the effective cost of the machine? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

But still, at least we're talking details - MTD has certainly done a large percentage of things RIGHT on the upper-tier GTs, and done it for a very reasonable cost by comparison.

Grasswhacker · May 18, 2006

KJO - great to hear from a (so-far) satisfied 3000-series owner! And very good information on deck removal. I did see the deck weight on the specs.... /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I agree with Fordlords.....some of the petty details overlooked by MTD are just plain silly. It's common knowledge in the real estate business that when selling a home, the front door and door knob should be in excellent shape. They are relatively inexpensive items, but give the first - and one of the most lasting - impressions of the home. I feel the same about your comments regarding decals and wheels.....why would MTD give customers an easy opportunity to think of their products as less-than-stellar in quality by overlooking (or shaving) details that wouldn't change the effective cost of the machine? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

But still, at least we're talking details - MTD has certainly done a large percentage of things RIGHT on the upper-tier GTs, and done it for a very reasonable cost by comparison.

Fordlords · May 19, 2006

I think MTD's designs on the CC lineup are very sound, and the machines are well thought out and well built in general. The company just needs to hire more or better experienced personnel for their areas of quality assurance (forget the cheap college grads IMHO!) and the tractors need to be MUCH better inspected before leaving the assembly lines. John Deere has their act together in this respect, and the consumer reports prove it with initial quality ratings.

Yet dollar for dollar, I think the CC's are the better LGT of the two hands down. JD's X series machines after careful inspection IMHO look to be some of the cheesiest tractors JD has ever manufactured as far as design. It's like CC is using great puzzle pieces to make a nice puzzle but it's not going together quite right all the time, and JD is using thin puzzle pieces to make a not-so-nice puzzle but it fits together perfectly- If that makes sense /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Fordlords · May 19, 2006

I think MTD's designs on the CC lineup are very sound, and the machines are well thought out and well built in general. The company just needs to hire more or better experienced personnel for their areas of quality assurance (forget the cheap college grads IMHO!) and the tractors need to be MUCH better inspected before leaving the assembly lines. John Deere has their act together in this respect, and the consumer reports prove it with initial quality ratings.

Yet dollar for dollar, I think the CC's are the better LGT of the two hands down. JD's X series machines after careful inspection IMHO look to be some of the cheesiest tractors JD has ever manufactured as far as design. It's like CC is using great puzzle pieces to make a nice puzzle but it's not going together quite right all the time, and JD is using thin puzzle pieces to make a not-so-nice puzzle but it fits together perfectly- If that makes sense /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif