3206 Cub,the 3000 may have a bad rap.

[rustyoldjunk]

I almost always stick to antique and vintage garden tractors. I love the classics from the 60's and older. I have owned a lot of vintage garden tractors ( probably 300-400) over the years. I used to be a top rated Ebay power seller with a Ebay store and a local buy/sell/trade/repair antique/vintage shop. I have been in clubs and on forums for 15 years or so and I run a few fairly big Garden tractor groups on FaceBook now. I like the old 900 series MTD's from the late 60's until the early 80's ( they continued up until a few years ago but in cheapened up more complicated versions,IMHO),but I do not like any of the newer cheap MTD tractors. But having recently drug in a 3206 Cub,they may get a bad rap just because they are MTD machines. This machine is as heavy built as most and 70's garden tractor. It weighs 900 plus pounds without the deck. Heavy duty cast iron front axle with 1 inch spindles,front wheels with bearings,heavy duty twin rail frame with cross members,22 HP Kohler Command v twin,shaft driven to a cast iron transaxle,all steel sheetmetal,no plastic,option 4 way hydraulic front blade,optional CAT.0 3 point hitch,etc. Plus foot controlled hydro,diff lock,power steering,tilt wheel,cruise control,shaft driven attachments,etc. Granted some things like switches and controls are kind of cheap but go look at a new high dollar Simplicity garden tractor and you will find some cheap there too,it's the way of the manufactures today. I have to say as a GT and comparing it to my old school GT's I am fairly impressed and from MTD to boot,I would never have thought. This tractor is far off caliber of my Simplicity Sunstar and if you are familiar with the Sunstar "super GT's" then you know I think this is a pretty good solid GT overall. I was just surprised at the build of this 3206. I do realize that the have common weak spots after researching them some but every brand that I have ever owned and researched have had common weak spots.Anyway here is the 3206 that I recently drug in. It was parked in a barn by the original owners because after changing the blades it didn't mow good. They put the new blades on upside down. They paid close to $6000 for it new in 2002-2003. I have mowed with it once and I really like how it runs drives and mows. My only concern is,is the Kohler Command up to the longevity of the older engines. This tractor has about 340 hours on the meter. A friend picked it up from the original owner and I traded a antique 1 wheel garden tractor that I had about $10 in and a Winch that I had nothing in that I had used for years along with a set of Economy Power King front hubs and wheels with tri ribs on them that I had nothing in either. So I have about $10 in it so far. I had to fix the fuel shuoff valve on the carburetor,turn the blades over and I went and mowed. Now I have to replace the front PTO belts and fix a cracked PTO bracket and the biggie.... I need to replace or rebuild the hydraulic lift control valve. Mice got in it while it was parked in the barn and the urine has rusted the control valve completely stuck. Did I mention that these tractors also came with option extra spools of hydraulics ?...OK,I said on to the pictures so without further yacking.

[jimbob200521]

Not sure if there was a question in there or not I'm glad you got a good machine there, looks like with a little TLC, it'll be a keeper. As far as the Command engines go, I feel they are a solid engine. Given proper care and maintenance, I hear anywhere from 1500 - 2000 hours can be expected. Since you got it young, if you keep it clean and with fresh oil/filter, I think you'll be happy with how long it lasts you. Good luck, and keep us posted!

[Tacosteelersman]

I was also supprised at these 3000 series GTs. When I was commercial roofing (flat roofs like on walmart) the company I was with used these MTDs to move all the tear off on 4 wheel carts, and if they got a flat well job must go on and they would drag them around even with the flat. Believe it or not, they are work horses and the command is a good engine. The Kohler courage on the other hand POS.

[Oak]

Nice machine Rusty. Those were the last true garden tractors built but they get a bad rap for some reason. The valve issue is pretty common along with the o rings leaking on the lines. They use the same spool vale as the cyclops tractors and you just stack them to add up to 3 on the left and 3 on the right if your creative. Like Jimbob & Tacosteeler said, the Kohler Command is a good engine and I have a 3240 with 1550 hours that runs well. Do you have any pics of your cracked pto bracket? I have not seen that problem yet. Oh ya, welcome to OCC....the best Cub Cadet site on the net!

[CADplans]

Who could not like a Cub Cadet with a drink holder!!??

[rustyoldjunk]

Thanks for the replies guys. Oak I will get a picture or three of the cracked PTO bracket.

[rustyoldjunk]

Oak here is the cracked PTO bracket. You have to look close to see the crack. This is the bracket that has the idler pulley attached to it that the vacuum PTO pulls to move the idler pulley to tension the PTO belts. I really like how fast the side panels detach. Takes about 10 seconds to take one off. You can see the crack best in the 3rd picture. The "fuze all over everything is from one of the two PTO belts that self destructed as I finished up mowing.

[Oak]

Thanks for the pics Rusty. I'll keep a close watch on mine to see if the same thing happens.

[rustyoldjunk]

You are welcome Oak. What other models have the same spool valve ?

[RR1862CC]

Welcome to OCC! Nice 3000 series you have there!