Well guys, I bought a CC LT1045 back in 2008 new. It has the Courage 20hp single cylinder. It is still running, but I have had issues but nothing catastrophic. Valve cover getting loose and leaking oil onto the muffler so every time I would start it, it would smoke like crazy for a couple minutes after it warmed up. Blown fuse. Hard starting after warmed up that was due to the solonoid that shuts down spark when you shut off the motor which is designed to keep it from backfiring.
So, the other day someone lists a curb alert CC LT1046. It has the Command 23HP V-Twin. I jump on it and bring it home. It ran and I thought pretty well, but it didn't seem to have as much power as I expected. Anyway, the next day, I take the shroud off and find it jam packed full of leaves, grass and dead mice. I spend an hour pulling poking and vacuuming the junk out of it. I iImmediately notice the left spark plug wire is completely severed, in fact the damn mice ate a good inch out of it since it was too short to even touch the ends. Other wires were stripped or exposed. I ordered two new coils and installed them. Now, it runs so nice and smooth compared to my single cylinder. I now am seriously considering to keep it and sell my LT1045. The LT1045 has 125 hours on it and the LT1046 has 183 hours so neither motor has been well used and should have many years left of life. I just love the smoothness and power of the 2 cylinder. The LT1045 has a 42" deck and the LT1046 has a 46" deck. Seems like benefit, but my yard is not that big with probably a little over 1/2 acre of mowable area and there are trees and other obstacles which makes the smaller deck a bit more desirable.
The LT1046 has some issues with the deck. Not sure if the spindles are bad or not. I haven't really looked at it yet. But, either way, I plan to fix up the deck and sell one of the mowers. I have a choice to make, I guess. What would you guys do?
Thanks,
Bruce
PS: Does anyone know if the deck from the LT1045 would fit on the LT1046?
