New Cub Cadet tractor.

[johncub7172]

Originally Posted by MinnesotaCadet

This was my thought process when I posted this. I love to see what Cub Cadet will come out with next.

I know. No one is telling me I have to go out and buy one. I mean, what manufactured in this day of age that can't be made better? Not saying there are not better choices, but come on......

I'd take a new Cub Cadet lawn tractor in my line up any day! So would a lot of folks who would rather buy new every so many years too. I see many folks on the new Cub Cadets. I would with out doubt, find a more pleasurable operation in a new Cub Cadet than an old-ash big-dummy garden tractor.

I find it hard to swallow opinions when I have not had the chance to operate a new Cub Cadet.

[jimbob200521]

Originally Posted by olds45512

The only one that has any eye appeal at all is the xt3, the other 2 look like total garbage. I'd never buy any of them but I would take the xt3 if it were given to me.

I beg to differ, good sir! I hate how Cub nowadays has made it a point to streeettccchhh there grills around to the side panels and make everything so...so round I actually think the looks of the XT1 and XT2 are growing on me (relatively speaking, of course). I like the flatter front end, looks stronger to me. Now the headlights, those are a mistake. They look like they're on the side panels!!

[rwairforce]

Johncub7172 said:
"I find it hard to swallow opinions when I have not had the chance to operate a new Cub Cadet. "

No need to swallow or accept another opinion.
An opinion is not a conclusion, may not even be factual, it's only a view that another person has tossed in the arena of conversation. Many times a conversation is fueled by opinions but that's all it is.
In my opinion I could buy a very capable 20 year old Cub that could swing a 54" mower deck, provide power steering, hydro transmission and drag one of these new Cubs around like a lawn roller all the same time for half the money or less. That's just my opinion and I may not even be able to do it but it sure adds to the conversation....

[Shotgun Wedding]

99% of the response on here are sooooo predictable.

It's Ok guys, everyone loves your old stuff, no one is putting that down. Why the "junk" comments? The box store machines are what they are, and are intended for that. But man, that XT3 aka GTX will run circles around most of yours! And that is the truth.

I guess everyone is driving 60's trucks everyday too. Technology is not stuck in the Cretaceous Period! Robotic welded GTX frame is very robust, it may not stand up if chained to a 982 but who does stupid stuff like that anyway?

Rant over, flame away.

[rwairforce]

I like new stuff. I'm sure most people on here would enjoy new stuff but not for the ridiculous price for said new stuff and for the lack of lasting quality of same new stuff. One probably doesn't need a lawn tractor made from quarter inch steel but you shouldn't have to pay these prices for the plastic and lack of steel you get. The new stuff may last for 20 years but for the price you pay just to mow grass it's makes it a difficult purchase in my mind.
I submit that we all not take this stuff too seriously. It's just a freaking lawn mower! LOL!
After all it's your money, buy what you want.

[jimbob200521]

Originally Posted by Shotgun Wedding

99% of the response on here are sooooo predictable.

It's Ok guys, everyone loves your old stuff, no one is putting that down. Why the "junk" comments? The box store machines are what they are, and are intended for that. But man, that XT3 aka GTX will run circles around most of yours! And that is the truth.

I guess everyone is driving 60's trucks everyday too. Technology is not stuck in the Cretaceous Period! Robotic welded GTX frame is very robust, it may not stand up if chained to a 982 but who does stupid stuff like that anyway?

Rant over, flame away.

Flame on!

I doubt that XT3 could run circles around a solid, older machine. I'm not putting the new stuff down by any means, but the "junk" comments you are referring to about newer equipment are there for a reason; Cub HAS cheapened things up. It was really bad for a while, but it has gotten better. I still don't think the new machines are what the old ones were. The newer ones just feel...cheaper when compared. I'm not going to get into it because I don't want it to seem like I don't like the new ones at all. They are great at what they are designed to do; cut grass and pull a cart (and a tiller for some, snow blower, etc depending on model). But like so many older things, the older Cubs were overbuilt.

As for "it may not stand up if chained to a 982 but who does stupid stuff like that anyway?"; well, you're looking at one guy! Just for giggles one eve this summer, a friend and I chained two 1/2 Silverados together and hooked them to...you guessed it; my 2284. Pulled them without a hickup. Why? Just because we could. I don't know that I'd do that with a newer Cub, which I guess is my point; while they may be well build, robotically welded machines with shaft drive, etc., etc., they don't give a guy the confidence the classic Cub does. The confidence to do more than it was designed to do. But you're right, for 99% of the people, they will never do that kind of thing.

Ok, flame over

Disclaimer: this was written in good spirits with no ill feelings towards anyone or any machine. There are personal opinions in there, but they are just that; personal OPINIONS. My opinions are based on seeing, sitting, and working on a couple newer machines, and those weren't very positive experiences, but I digress.

Cheers guys, love and peace and all that

[j4c11]

So what is this, a lawn tractor, a garden tractor? I see one of them has a snow plow, can you pull a Brinly plow with this thing? It seems to me the equivalent of an older Cub Cadet garden tractor, both price and quality wise, would be a sub-compact nowadays, not sure if we're comparing apples to apples. I would personally not buy one of these when I could get an IH built Cub for about what I would pay in taxes on the new one, but each to his own ultimately.

[CAO65]

I for one am glad Cub changed the lawn tractor look distinguishing it from the garden tractor. Some of the high end 1000 series looked liked the 2000 series giving people the perception they had a garden tractor when they did not.
Now, for "my opinion" on the old versus the new. It seems to me there are 4 major parts to a tractor: engine, transmission, deck, and frame.
Engine. I feel the Kohler Command engine is a better built engine compared to the single cylinder Kohler engines of yesteryear. I know many people with old Cubs with single cyclinder engines that have been rebuilt long before 500 hours was reached. I had a Command in a Sears Craftsman tractor with close to 700 hours that purred like a kitten and used NO oil. I would even say the Command is better than the Magnum. Command does not have the governor issue the Magnum has. Now, I love the sound of the old engines; I still feel Commands are better.
Transmissions. Old IH Cubs had cast iron and so do the new ones. I am not stupid, however, as I know IH Cubs had Sunstrand while the new ones have Hydrogear. I feel the old wins this one easily.
Decks. I have a fabricated 48" deck. I feel it tops anything of yesteryear hands down with the exception of the Haban decks. The fabricated deck is so thick and heavy I can't imagine the deck ever failing. Check them out for yourself.
Frames. I know frames of IH Cubs were likely built of heavier gauge material, but the new ones are designed and built with technological improvements--robotic welding and CAD. And, how well were the frames of IH Cubs in the Quietline series? Most of these tractors vibrated the operator and needed frame modifications to secure the engines. I'll give this a toss up, however.
That sort of leaves it up to plastic versus metal hoods, control panels and such. Metal scratches, but plastic doesn't. Plastic melts, but metal does not--I know it does in a blast furnace. Yet, I wonder how my plastic, less tough GT 2000 weighs ±1000 pounds when most IH Cubs made of manly steel and metal are around ±800 pounds?
This old versus new argument can be fun, but in the end, I would rather sit my a$$ on a Cub than anything else.
Hope, I didn't offend anyone in my writing. It really is all in fun. Have a good day.

[j4c11]

Originally Posted by CAO65

I for one am glad Cub changed the lawn tractor look distinguishing it from the garden tractor. Some of the high end 1000 series looked liked the 2000 series giving people the perception they had a garden tractor when they did not.
Now, for "my opinion" on the old versus the new. It seems to me there are 4 major parts to a tractor: engine, transmission, deck, and frame.
.....

You make some interesting points, but reliability and quality are determined in the field not with Superman vs Spiderman type arguments. I know a gentleman who's been making a living for the past 25 years tilling and plowing people's gardens with a 1650. He has replaced the engine about 10 years ago, but he's still using the same tractor. The question is, would any garden tractor that Cub Cadet produces today withstand that kind of abuse not for 25 but even 10 years? Will we see today's tractors happily mowing 40 years in the future like my 1450 mows today? Time will tell , but I am skeptical.

[CAO65]

Jc411,
You know one man with a Quietline that has done well with it. Percentage wise that is a low number compared to the many that had their a$$ vibrated and needed frame modifications. Superman versus Spiderman comparisons? There are many on this site who can weigh in on the engine comparison, but I hardly doubt those ironhorse engines with no filter or pressurized system of yesteryear have the reliability of the modern Command engine. I imagined when the Cyclops tractors came out people of IH Cub fandom felt those tractors were plastic junk and would never hold up over time. Some on here feel those style tractors were the best built tractors Cub ever made. As I have stated numerous times on this forum, it is too early to tell if these modern tractors will hold up as well, but I am going to find out.