Newbie in CA

[Dutch 1960]

Greetings from sunny, somewhat locked down Southern California!

Recently purchased a new XT1 with the 42" deck, after deliberating for a long time over it. My first small tractor of any sort. The way it operates and makes noise, I call it the "Disneyland Autopia car with a deck stuffed under it" (but I can go where I want, and I don't have to stay on the tracks).

I have about three hilltop acres in a high inland valley, just below the tree line. The weeds grow high in the spring. For ten years, I have been knocking them down with lawn mowers, first with my ancient Craftsman, an old-school Tecumseh powered heavy-metal carbureted self-propelled. Recently with a new plastic-infused low end MTD box store special. I bring this up because it informed my tractor purchase.

The Craftsman was a beast, and easy to tear down and clean out. The MTD feels flimsy and fragile, and is pretty much hands-off from a teardown or repair standpoint. The Craftsman finally wore out, stem to stern, and I have been using the MTD. But the MTD does what I ask of it, and I try to maintain it properly and not abuse it. It simply works.

With upgrading to a tractor in mind, I have been lurking the Cub and Cub Cadet sites. Given my experiences, I decided not to go old school quite yet, and simply go new and learn more. One reason is that there are so many CC variants, and I don't want to buy the wrong one. I also want to learn what I like and don't like in a tractor. Also what to look for in the ones I choose to shop for (though in CA there is not that much to choose from). So I will shop for the right vintage machine, while I use the new one in the meantime. I like to tinker with my machines, and the new one ain't up for that!

I realized the low end models of the various brands use a lot of the same critical parts, so I decided to go with CC because of the community support and variety of vintage to choose from, rather than some sort of current model features or brand advantage (like pickup trucks, they are mostly the same and well thought out). I expect the XT1 to be like my MTD mower--flimsy and a lot of plastic, but does what it was designed to do. And I will probably use it only 10 hours a year or so. My personal opinion is that new machines will work fine if they are treated and maintained appropriately--we'll see!

With all of that, the first exercise of weed whacking was not entirely a success. Venturing out into the easement along the property, where I don't know where the rocks and holes are, I hung the left front on a big hidden bush stump, caught between the front wheel and the deck. A slow leaker LF tire, and now I need to make sure the front is aligned and right My takeaway? I need to be pretty careful with the machine. It isn't any kind of a beast.

The only question I have for the forum, at this point: The front wheels have a bit of wobble and free play to them, more than a car or truck. I plan to grease the zerks after repairing the tire, and I assume some play is how these things roll. Am I right?

Thanks! Mark