Lawn Tractor - JD vs Craftsman

[artfull dodger]

I have gotten many requests to fix up older IH built cub cadets and John Deere's for folks to use, this is usualy after they have killed a newer box store brand tractor. I have done many John Deere 100 and 200 series for folks. Most just need a hone and rering on the motor to solve oil burning, rebuild the carb and replace all belts and anything else rubber under the hood. Sometimes we have to find a better mower deck or have the old one reworked with a welder then I sand, putty and repaint it. The newer tractors will never hold a flame to the older machines from the 60's thru the late 70's. The double belt/gear drive variator system that John Deere used beginning with the 110rf in the early 60's is a very nice system, combining a solid gear drive transmission, with the flexabilty of a hydro drive. Sometimes 2nd is to slow and 3rd is a bit to fast, but then you have that variator handle on the side of the dash to speed up or slow down without clutching or stopping the tractor. The later hydro drives are very awsome for mowing, cub cadet 149 and 169, JD 316 onan and 318 are considered by many to be the best built. Only down side is the Onan engine is no longer produced and both rebuilding the original motor or replacement isnt a cheap date. The cubs used the solid as a rock, K series Kohler motors as did many of the older JD tractors. I am currently mowing with a 1965 John Deere 110rf. Having sold and repaired some of the new stuff, from both sears, JD and CC/MTD, I dont care for any of it. just my 2 cents. Cheers Mike

 

[artfull dodger]

I know many folks that will slowly restore a cub like that while using another mower, once restored to like new, that cub would out last us all. Mike

 

[DreaminGreen]

Shanty Coke is not the only 1 wrong on this . somebody else posted the same thing awhile back.

I am suprised they (MTD) don't make the "Box Store" JD tractors. I was just at MTD's web site and counted 39 names they sell under. I found those names without much effort. I wonder what you could find if you really dug deeper. HMMM

 

[Shantycoke]

Shanty Coke is not the only 1 wrong on this . somebody else posted the same thing awhile back.

I was under the impression from others that J.D. did have some tractors built by MTD, but was wrong. Thanks for straightening me out, guys.
Merry Christmas,
Pat

 

[NEFirewood]

Years ago in the late 90's, I bought my first tractor a Troy Bilt GTX16. It always ran nice for me and without putting much in terms of maintenance, it always started right up and never gave me any trouble whatsoever. With the bagger on it, my lawn looked so good that it honestly looked like it had been done with a vacuum cleaner. I decided over one winter that I no longer needed the tractor and wanted to push mow (about 2 hilly acres). I sold the tractor to an older couple that wanted it and purchased the top of the line self-propelled honda mower. The first time I used it took me 8 hours and on average around 6+ hours of pushing the mower and I would be exhausted afterwards. I realized that there was no way to do my lawn with pushing, I needed a tractor or standby reservations at the nearest cardiac clinic. I bought an old simplicity tractor (I think it was made in the early 1970's) that was for sale in someone's yard. I still have this tractor today. It always starts right up, even if it's been sitting all winter. The only problem is, because of it's age, the deck broke a few years ago, and I was told it wasn't fixable. So I used it to haul firewood. It mowed okay, but had some problems going up the hills, because I needed to shift it. It gave me a few scares when I thought it would tip over.

When a sale came up at Sears, I decided to buy a good quality Craftsman tractor. One of thier garden tractors. I wanted the bigger tires for the traction on the hills. From day one, that tractor was nothing but trouble and the cut quality wasn't even that good. I would never own another Sears tractor even if I was paid to own it. It was broken more than it was running. I got so frustrated that before the summer was out, I put a for sale sign on it just to get rid of it. If I could have driven that tractor to a car crusher, I would have paid just to push the button and put that thing out of it's misery.

I broke down and bought the cub cadet that I have now. It has turned out to be the only tractor that I have owned of all 4 that can mow every square inch of yard, in fact even more. I have been able to clear picker bushes and other areas in the woods behind my home. The only complaint I have is the deck belt breaks at least several times per year and usually at the worst time. I don't know if it's the shaft drive on it, or what, but it definitely goes up and down the hills easily with no feeling of being tippy. In fact of all 4 machines I have owned it seems to be the most likely to stay on the ground. With the bagger on it, the quality of the cut is almost but not quite as good as the troy bilt machine I had years ago, but it's pretty close.

The only problem with the Cub Cadet is that it may be called a garden tractor, but it looks like attachments take too much mechnical know how to get on and off, and the types of attachments are somewhat limited to what can be mounted on a sleeve hitch, which can only be used if the bagger isn't on it. That's too much aggravation for me on the weekends.

After breaking my fair share of mower belts on the cub cadet, I got sick and tired of owning tractors that only seem to last a year or two. In the fall I made arrangements and finally purchased the Mahindra 2015 I have today. I will know by next fall if it was worth the money I paid for it. Trying to compare the other 4 tractors to this one isn't fair because this one is so much bigger and sturdier, and at least 3 or more times more expensive than anything else I have owned. So that's how I ended up on this forum.

 

[LBrown59]

1*I broke down and bought the cub cadet that I have now.
2*The problem with the Cub Cadet is that it looks like attachments take too much mechnical know how to get on and off,
3*That's too much aggravation for me .
4*In the fall I made arrangements and finally purchased the Mahindra 2015 I have today.

1* What year and model number is it?
I bought my new 2005 CC GT2554 last year with a 54'' deck front blade and rear tiller.
2* - 3* That's exactly why the blade and tiller have never been on mine.
4*Lsat month I replaced the CC gt2554 and mower deck with a new Kubota BX1500 with a new MMM.
At the same time I replaced the front blade and rear tiller with A new Kubota blade tiller and used BX1500.

 

[NEFirewood]

1* What year and model number is it?
I bought my new 2005 CC GT2554 last year with a 54'' deck front blade and rear tiller.
2* - 3* That's exactly why the blade and tiller have never been on mine.
4*Lsat month I replaced the CC gt2554 and mower deck with a new Kubota BX1500 with a new MMM.
At the same time I replaced the front blade and rear tiller with A new Kubota blade tiller and used BX1500.

I bought it in 2006. It is a GT2542. I think I paid around $3500 or so including the bagger and taxes. I still have the cub cadet and I am thinking of using it for mowing and doing things like seeding and feeding the lawn. I have a weird lot arrangement here and sort of share an unusable piece of land with my neighbor because of the hilly terrain and where the lot boundaries are located. Last summer we both cleaned it and I used the cub cadet to keep whatever was growing out of the soil down with the mower. That seemed to work pretty well. I wanted to try out the Mahindra on that basically open field that we both have right now. There is also a ton of trees back there to clear out and I am looking to use the log splitter in the spring.

 

[LBrown59]

I bought it in 2006. It is a GT2542. I think I paid around $3500 or so including the bagger and taxes. I still have the cub cadet and I am thinking of using it for mowing and doing things like seeding and feeding the lawn. I have a weird lot arrangement here and sort of share an unusable piece of land with my neighbor because of the hilly terrain and where the lot boundaries are located. Last summer we both cleaned it and I used the cub cadet to keep whatever was growing out of the soil down with the mower. That seemed to work pretty well. I wanted to try out the Mahindra on that basically open field that we both have right now. There is also a ton of trees back there to clear out and I am looking to use the log splitter in the spring.

The Cub Cadet 2500 series garden tractors are great little tractors.
Thing is I really wanted a Kubota BX1500 when I bought it; but bought the CC because I got a good deal on it making it quite a bit less costly than a BX1500.
I bought the CC to replace the MTD Riding mower that the motor had blown up on.
At the time I was also using a 1966 Bolens with a front bade and a 1967 Bolens with a rear tiller for tilling and grading task.
When I dealt on the CC I thought why not get the blade and tiller for it also and that way I can replace the MTD and the 2 Bolens tractors with the Cub Cadet.
As it turned out that never came to pass because I just didn't
want to get into always switching attachments around on the CC especially when I always had the Blade and Tiller on the 2 Bolens tractors ready to go.
The Front blade and tiller have never been on the Cub Cadet.
Well, last October I got a luck break on 2 Kubotas: A new BX1500 with a new MMM and a nice low hour used BX1500 with a used mmm so to complete the deal I ordered a new 60'' front blade and a New 48'' tiller.
The 2 BX1500s have enabled me to replace these 3 tractors.
1=MTD
2=66 Bolens
3=67 Bolens.
A side benefit is I was able to pitch the gas cans since all my tractors are diesels.
== L B ==

 

[montanaman]

Isn't comparing a JD to a Craftsman like comparing a BMW to a Kia?

I'm confused here? it the JD the BMW and the Craftsman the Kia because the Kia has a better warranty, much lower repair and operating cost, more fuel efficient, cheaper to insure, much lower purchase price, and the dealers tend to be less snotty than the BMW dealers........

Sorry but I couldn't help it. Seems if they do nothing else, JD sure has their name beaten into everyones heads!

If I needed a car, I would buy the Kia before a BMW if I wasn't buying a GM and if I was buying a lawn tractor, I would buy from who I felt most comfortable with and not worry so much about the brand name. In the under $2,000 range, a Deere is no better than anything else unless it is the dealer that makes it better and they closed most of them down around me because the "box stores" sell for them now.....

Is there a rider left that can only be bought at a servicing dealer??

If you do buy a Deere, I say buy it where you plan to get it serviced, even if the thing cost you $100 more than it would have at Lowes or Home Depot. You'll get much better and faster service from that dealer that is sick and tired of being the "box store" warranty center!

Just the opinion of a small dealer that makes it a point to NEVER sell anything that the "box stores" do.

Ken

 

[unit40]

Good analogy comparing the Deere to a BMW. The X700 series was designed by BMWs Designwurks.