I have restored three Cub Cadet tractors in the last several years. When disassembling the tractors, I often find that many of the bolts and nuts have begun to rust or are chipped and damaged somewhat from use. Occasionally, I save the leftover hardware that is still in good condition for use on other projects.
I prefer to go to the Tractor Supply store and purchase their grade 8 bolts, nuts, washers and lock washers by the pound to use when I reassemble a tractor that has been torn down, cleaned, blasted and painted to look like new. The gold color plating of the grade 8 hardware looks great with the Cub Cadet yellow paint and makes for a top notch restoration. I haven't always achieved long lasting results when lightly blasting rusty bolts where the plating is damaged. You can prime and paint them, however from my experience, they don't last and are a disappointment on a freshly restored tractor.
Sometimes you have to reuse old hardware due the length of the bolts, because the bolts from Tractor supply aren't always available to match the exact, specified length bolts that are often critical to the assembly.
I occasionally use stainless steel hardware where necessary, for example: attaching the spindle housings to the deck shell or to attach the pulleys on the mule drive to make disassembly easier if those parts need attention.
