Need to rant a little
 

Been a while since I posted, but I've read tons on here and thanks to everyone who lends their wisdoms on these ole tractors.

Well the right axle seal blew on my 1450, no big deal, I'll grab the parts and change them out with new bearings. Probably needs some fresh fluid and a filter anyway. I've been out this week rounding up parts, hit the local O'reillys for the bearings, seals and a filter. Drove to the Case/IH dealer and grabbed 2 gal of Hytran (didn't think to see if they had the cover gasket). So I go to the local Cub dealer to grab one.... $16.xx plus tax for a paper gasket!! And they said it would be 2-3 days before they got it. I was floored, I know any business that wants to keep the lights on has to make a profit margin, but dang. Maybe I'm just being a little to conservative on what I expect to pay for things. For that money I'll buy a roll of gasket material and make my own.

Thanks for listening to my rant!

I hear you, the dealers are getting to the point that they don't stock much. They can order it for you. Well I can order it too and for less than they will sell it so for me it's internet city.

Ya, sometimes it's hard to support "local" when they are pointing a gun at you... Amazon Prime!!!

I agree. My local dealer gives me about 20% off list price. I don't think they make a lot of money off the parts and I think only a couple hundred on a new machine. I buy what I can from him and I usually keep a couple gaskets here and reorder as I use them from him.

my local dealer stocks alot of parts for the narrow frames yet, he usually has what i need on hand, that dealer is in an old run down looking barn.

the newer fancy dealer in another nearby town only stocks parts for newer stuff, and when i do call to compare prices, they are usually 2-3 dollars more.....gotta pay for that fancy building!

also be glad it's still available, what about all the owners of garden tractor brands that folded up decades ago?

I try to go local first, then online. Shipping can be a PITA.

Oh yeah....tell me about it. That is another flaming issue. :angry:

Just my 2 cents, I used to try to buy from the local guy. We had a deal as long as the price was the same or a couple bucks less than Cub had or there web site I would buy form him. The I caught him jacking up the price, so see ya later. Now I dig up the part number, check it on Google and away we go. Oh Ya I used to give the local dealer a parts list of what I needed so he didn't even have to look anything up. :beatdeadhorse:

I'm with you Sam Mac. I saved almost $2000 on my zero turn by buying out of town. I went to my local dealer and asked him to price match or come in at a comparable (I said I would even pay him a couple hundred more than the price match just to support local business) amount and he flat out refused. Then he had the nerve to pitch a fit when I took my cub to him (an authorized dealer) to perform a recall (remove a septum from the seat safety switch), realizing that he lost a sale to me. For some reason though he stopped abruptly after I reminded him that it was still under warranty, I had the original sales receipt and all the paperwork, including the corporate phone number.

Cub Cadet 123