Pulling a trailmower -- is powershaft a must?

[Stephen_Byers]

I am about to buy a tractor and strongly thinking about a Cub Cadet with a power shaft. A lot of my mowing is on slopes and I have a trailmower that I want to pull behind at an offset to give me a huge (80") swath together with the tractor. 250 pounds fulltime while mowing.

The CC dealer in my area has a few 2004's left and he is selling a GT2521 48" 21 HP B&S for $3200. This sounds pretty good to me but I really was hoping for a Kohler. Is it worth just buying the 2005 at full price to get the Kohler?

Do you feel I'm in the right ballpark (2500 series mower) for my application? I feel like steering clear of belt drives. Anyone ever had a shaft drive break on them?

Is this model (2004 GT2521) the equivalent of a 2005 GT2550 or a GT2554? The GT2550 is $3500 in my area, and the GT2554 is $4000

Thanks!

 

[JTKub]

I wouldn't say shaft from engine to trans is a must. MANY well designed belt drives go 10+ years on the same drive belt.
I would not sweat the briggs vanguard vs. kohler command thing either. They are both excellent engines. $3200 for a leftover 2521 doesn't sound like a give-away, but not too bad either given the larger deck. I paid MSRP for my 2005 2544 ($2999) which came to $3240 with tax. I havent had a chance to mow with it yet, but i'm loving it so far!
G/luck
Joel

 

[gamble77]

I always tell customers if they are going to be cutting up hills often and pulling loads that the 2000 series is almost a must have. The shaft drive just makes sense in these type of applications. I don't care how much hp a machine has belts slip, wear, and break...drive shafts don't. Good luck shopping!

P.S. that does sound like a fair deal on the '04 model.

 

[DmansPadge]

I would go with the shaft drive for what you plan to do with it. Most people probably don't need it, but, pulling a trail mower and having hills sounds like a combo cut out for a shaft drive.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy the 04. The Briggs engine is the Vangaurd and they are great engines. I would take one over a Kohler myself.