I thought I'd post a few thoughts on my new purchase of a 2554 which replaced my 2185.
First of all, I bought the 2185 the first year it came out. Even though it survived 15 years - and 680 hours, it was not without issues. I replaced the entire engine (18 hp Kohler Command) about 10 years and perhaps 450 hours into it. Probably my bad for not doing a great job on oil changes. A couple of years later the relatively new replacement motor needed to be rebuilt due to a camshaft lobe wearing prematurely - probably not my bad as I did a better job on maintaining the replacement motor. Of course Kohler said it wasn't their problem.
The only other major bothersome issue over those 15 years was at least 3 replacements of the electric PTO. I think the first one went under warranty but the next several were on my dime. Toward the end there were a number of little things that began wearing out. Safety switch on the brake pedal which caused a no start issue, parking brake latch broke, coil went bad and last summer it started with an overheating problem which was resolved by removing the side panels entirely.
Never once had any problem with the cast aluminum (why cast iron now I don't know-cost?) hydrostatic trans. This in my opinion is what makes the 2000/now 2500 series a great value.
A couple of weeks ago I was hauling mulch and without warning the motor puked oil everwhere and I decided enough was enough. Over the 15 years of all the frustrations of the 2185 I told myself I'd not buy another Cub. But when I started looking at the comparable Green Machine I decided I'd cross my fingers and hope that Cub has refined and massaged this unit sufficiently in 15 years that at least some of the 2185's previous issues won't be a problem with the replacement. It also helped that my plow, chains and home made weight bracket could be used on the 2554 and save me at least a grand in accessories that I wouldn't need to replace.
Local Cub dealer gave me $400 on my useless 2185 and with the sale prices going on at the moment the 2554 cost me a mere 4k. I decided to spring for the 2554 due to the larger deck, which is built exactly like the old 48 inch deck which had been mainly trouble free for me.
I've mowed 3 times so far and I have to report I'm pleased with the new ride. The steering seems lighter and I'm fairly sure looking underneath that Cub must have went to a different steering mechanism as I do not remember the large steering cog under the 2185. The cut of the 54" deck looks good and I think the bigger deck saved me 15-20 minutes on my 1 1/2 acre lot.
My only complaint thus far is not so much with Cub as the dealer.
The unit was delivered to me "ready to go". There was .3 hours on the hour meter yet the manual states you should run the motor at 3/4 throttle with no load for 1 full hour. Not a big deal, but I mowed the evening the unit got delivered right off the truck prior to studying the manual since my grass needed a cut. Makes me wonder if they did the burnishing(sp?) of the PTO as the manual also instructs. I did specifically ask that question and that's when I was given the "ready to go" quote.
Over the next week or so I started to give the new toy the once over. Checked the tire pressure to find that the front tires were at about 28 psi and rears at 16 psi. Double checked my manual as that seemed way too high and sure enough the manual states 14 on fronts and 10 on the rears. An easy enough fix but I'm beggining to have less confidence that my dealer is paying attention to detail.
The worst dealer offense in my opinion is when I really started to look closely I saw that one of the 2 deck pins that attach the mower to the tractor was not even engaged (locked through) in the hole of the deck lift. If I had not been experienced with this unit and known what to look for, I could easily see a new to Cub customer going an entire summer, or at least until they removed and reinstalled the deck, with this obviously poor set up mistake.
All in all I'm a happy with the changes Cub has made over the years, except 1 of the grease fittings has already popped off on the first greasing. I will be meticulous with the maintenance on this one and hope I have a little better luck than with the 2185 (fingers crossed).
First of all, I bought the 2185 the first year it came out. Even though it survived 15 years - and 680 hours, it was not without issues. I replaced the entire engine (18 hp Kohler Command) about 10 years and perhaps 450 hours into it. Probably my bad for not doing a great job on oil changes. A couple of years later the relatively new replacement motor needed to be rebuilt due to a camshaft lobe wearing prematurely - probably not my bad as I did a better job on maintaining the replacement motor. Of course Kohler said it wasn't their problem.
The only other major bothersome issue over those 15 years was at least 3 replacements of the electric PTO. I think the first one went under warranty but the next several were on my dime. Toward the end there were a number of little things that began wearing out. Safety switch on the brake pedal which caused a no start issue, parking brake latch broke, coil went bad and last summer it started with an overheating problem which was resolved by removing the side panels entirely.
Never once had any problem with the cast aluminum (why cast iron now I don't know-cost?) hydrostatic trans. This in my opinion is what makes the 2000/now 2500 series a great value.
A couple of weeks ago I was hauling mulch and without warning the motor puked oil everwhere and I decided enough was enough. Over the 15 years of all the frustrations of the 2185 I told myself I'd not buy another Cub. But when I started looking at the comparable Green Machine I decided I'd cross my fingers and hope that Cub has refined and massaged this unit sufficiently in 15 years that at least some of the 2185's previous issues won't be a problem with the replacement. It also helped that my plow, chains and home made weight bracket could be used on the 2554 and save me at least a grand in accessories that I wouldn't need to replace.
Local Cub dealer gave me $400 on my useless 2185 and with the sale prices going on at the moment the 2554 cost me a mere 4k. I decided to spring for the 2554 due to the larger deck, which is built exactly like the old 48 inch deck which had been mainly trouble free for me.
I've mowed 3 times so far and I have to report I'm pleased with the new ride. The steering seems lighter and I'm fairly sure looking underneath that Cub must have went to a different steering mechanism as I do not remember the large steering cog under the 2185. The cut of the 54" deck looks good and I think the bigger deck saved me 15-20 minutes on my 1 1/2 acre lot.
My only complaint thus far is not so much with Cub as the dealer.
The unit was delivered to me "ready to go". There was .3 hours on the hour meter yet the manual states you should run the motor at 3/4 throttle with no load for 1 full hour. Not a big deal, but I mowed the evening the unit got delivered right off the truck prior to studying the manual since my grass needed a cut. Makes me wonder if they did the burnishing(sp?) of the PTO as the manual also instructs. I did specifically ask that question and that's when I was given the "ready to go" quote.
Over the next week or so I started to give the new toy the once over. Checked the tire pressure to find that the front tires were at about 28 psi and rears at 16 psi. Double checked my manual as that seemed way too high and sure enough the manual states 14 on fronts and 10 on the rears. An easy enough fix but I'm beggining to have less confidence that my dealer is paying attention to detail.
The worst dealer offense in my opinion is when I really started to look closely I saw that one of the 2 deck pins that attach the mower to the tractor was not even engaged (locked through) in the hole of the deck lift. If I had not been experienced with this unit and known what to look for, I could easily see a new to Cub customer going an entire summer, or at least until they removed and reinstalled the deck, with this obviously poor set up mistake.
All in all I'm a happy with the changes Cub has made over the years, except 1 of the grease fittings has already popped off on the first greasing. I will be meticulous with the maintenance on this one and hope I have a little better luck than with the 2185 (fingers crossed).
