Along those lines I worked on a Cub Z that was 1 year old the other day. It had the 48" fab deck and I was just bringing the maintenance up to date. I think the design was pretty decent, though the bean counters got a hold of it and made it less of a good machine. Assembly too was sketchy in a couple spots. IE they faced the grease fitting for the center spindle in the only direction that you couldn't grease with a normal end on the gun, 1 wheel inverted etc. Just PIA stuff that could have been averted. Built on a Monday I'd guess... Glad to hear that you have him cutting again with his familiar machine.