Buy a new cub or try and fix up my 129 hydrostatic?

[three4re]

Fix up your 129. Cubs now are POS.

LOL...talk about telling it "like it is"! Tempted to go for the rebuilt. A guy on another forum also told me that he has no love for MTD, which, of course, now makes Cubs along with a crapload of other brands. I had no idea. IH stopped making Cubs back in '81 already.

In all seriousness, what makes you say that? I mean, I've been hearing from others that the quality is no longer there. Is it an issue with MTD in general, or something specific to how the new Cubs are made that is of much lower quality, or perhaps both?

 

[cpurvis]

Cub Cadet went through a renaissance in the 1990's with the 2000 Series. They had horizontal shaft engines and shaft drive, which you won't find in today's Cub Cadets.

That was then. Obviously, the commitment to durable design and construction has been jettisoned in favor of one thing--low cost.

 

[three4re]

Cub Cadet went through a renaissance in the 1990's with the 2000 Series. They had horizontal shaft engines and shaft drive, which you won't find in today's Cub Cadets.

That was then. Obviously, the commitment to durable design and construction has been jettisoned in favor of one thing--low cost.

This statement says it all I suppose. Unfortunate. My dad, even decades ago, used to lament the very type of thing you're referring to, always saying "the junky stuff you buy nowadays"!!

 

[bertsmobile1]

It is the down side of a market economy with an uninformed market.
We have transitioned from a population of mechanically well informed to a population motivated by greed or brand loyality without the knowledge to make informed decisions.

Thus he who makes the cheapest mower / car / fridge / etc etc etc prospers and he who makes a top quality consumer durable ends in the poor house.
Walk around Walmart & Harbour Freight and have a good look at what is for sale & who is buying it.
Watch what they look at and it will be obvious they have less than no idea how to evaluate it.

So the market gets what purchase numbers demand, progressively cheaper goods in more ways than one.
The makers of high quality long life equipment go broke unless they can create & maintain a "mythical" status about their brand or product
Snap On is the perfect example of this marketing, good tools elevated to god like status through marketing to the point that the public will happily pay 3 times what they are worth for them.

International tractors made Cubs as a genuine sub compact tractor, built to last, built to do the job not look the part and built to be repaired.
unfortunately IH did not know how to market so Cub was not profitable and eventually ended up with MTD.

I have just repaired a 2155 that was in a grass fire ( it started it ) and when you get underneath you see the quality.
For example the brake & direction control pedals are on shafts that go completely across the mower, in fact just about every lawn tractor has a similar set up.
The Cub has a removable mounting plate on both sides with plastic bushes in them
The Deers have holes with bushes pushed directly through the pressings
The Craftsman have shafts that can not be removed and run directly on a hole which is not supported or reinforced pressed through thinner steel.

Now not all old stuff is good stuff, but at least if it is still running after 20 + years then if nothing else it is a good one.

 

[three4re]

It is the down side of a market economy with an uninformed market.
We have transitioned from a population of mechanically well informed to a population motivated by greed or brand loyality without the knowledge to make informed decisions.

Thus he who makes the cheapest mower / car / fridge / etc etc etc prospers and he who makes a top quality consumer durable ends in the poor house.
Walk around Walmart & Harbour Freight and have a good look at what is for sale & who is buying it.
Watch what they look at and it will be obvious they have less than no idea how to evaluate it.

So the market gets what purchase numbers demand, progressively cheaper goods in more ways than one.
The makers of high quality long life equipment go broke unless they can create & maintain a "mythical" status about their brand or product
Snap On is the perfect example of this marketing, good tools elevated to god like status through marketing to the point that the public will happily pay 3 times what they are worth for them.

International tractors made Cubs as a genuine sub compact tractor, built to last, built to do the job not look the part and built to be repaired.
unfortunately IH did not know how to market so Cub was not profitable and eventually ended up with MTD.

I have just repaired a 2155 that was in a grass fire ( it started it ) and when you get underneath you see the quality.
For example the brake & direction control pedals are on shafts that go completely across the mower, in fact just about every lawn tractor has a similar set up.
The Cub has a removable mounting plate on both sides with plastic bushes in them
The Deers have holes with bushes pushed directly through the pressings
The Craftsman have shafts that can not be removed and run directly on a hole which is not supported or reinforced pressed through thinner steel.

Now not all old stuff is good stuff, but at least if it is still running after 20 + years then if nothing else it is a good one.

In that case, mine was among the REAL good ones being that it's been running for twice that long. I'm fairly certain the 2155 was made between '96 and '99, so it would seem the quality was still reasonably intact back then from what you're saying. I've been reading through consumer affairs complaints about the newer Cubs. While there are some good reviews, there are sure alot of bad ones - the most horrific being tales of the machines actually catching fire. Somewhat less appalling but still deeply disturbing stories are from owners who report constantly ripping belts, various parts simply breaking off while driving, all manner of things simply not working....on and on....reports of having to take them back to the dealers repeatedly for warranty work. One in particular sticks in my memory - where the Cub rep told the owner that an acre of lawn is probably too much to mow for his cub (that has a 54" deck!) Seriously? Or that he's going around turns too fast, etc. And another where an owner was told that 100 hours is "alot of usage" on his new tractor. Gotta be kidding me. So, the deeper I go into the research on the newer Cubs, the more I'm drawn to the idea of putting the rebuilt engine in mine.

 

[bertsmobile1]

In that case, mine was among the REAL good ones being that it's been running for twice that long. I'm fairly certain the 2155 was made between '96 and '99, so it would seem the quality was still reasonably intact back then from what you're saying. I've been reading through consumer affairs complaints about the newer Cubs. While there are some good reviews, there are sure alot of bad ones - the most horrific being tales of the machines actually catching fire. Somewhat less appalling but still deeply disturbing stories are from owners who report constantly ripping belts, various parts simply breaking off while driving, all manner of things simply not working....on and on....reports of having to take them back to the dealers repeatedly for warranty work. One in particular sticks in my memory - where the Cub rep told the owner that an acre of lawn is probably too much to mow for his cub (that has a 54" deck!) Seriously? Or that he's going around turns too fast, etc. And another where an owner was told that 100 hours is "alot of usage" on his new tractor. Gotta be kidding me. So, the deeper I go into the research on the newer Cubs, the more I'm drawn to the idea of putting the rebuilt engine in mine.

The 2000 series was a commercial line as is the 3000 series.
The change over from long life horizontal shaft engines to junk vertical shaft engines is a sure sign that the quality & longevity has been sacrificed on the alter of price.
Vertical shaft engines are only used on mowers and there is not a single one worth a pinch of horse poo now that Honda has exited the field.

It is always amusing reading the oft heated posts about how much better or worse one is over the other . Usually by people who have never pulled one to pieces.
Most of them are conversions of the durable & good quality horizontal shaft engines, to a cheap vertical shaft, most notable by the orientation of the oil filter.

Down here the service life is 300 hours ( 10 years @ 30 hrs/year ) on domestic grade mowers and a lot of them never get that far.

 

[three4re]

The 2000 series was a commercial line as is the 3000 series.
The change over from long life horizontal shaft engines to junk vertical shaft engines is a sure sign that the quality & longevity has been sacrificed on the alter of price.
Vertical shaft engines are only used on mowers and there is not a single one worth a pinch of horse poo now that Honda has exited the field.

It is always amusing reading the oft heated posts about how much better or worse one is over the other . Usually by people who have never pulled one to pieces.
Most of them are conversions of the durable & good quality horizontal shaft engines, to a cheap vertical shaft, most notable by the orientation of the oil filter.

Down here the service life is 300 hours ( 10 years @ 30 hrs/year ) on domestic grade mowers and a lot of them never get that far.

You're indicating that after approximately 300 hours the tractor is shot? Or at least in need of major repairs? Unreal. I must use mine on an average of 50-60 hours a year, probably more if you average in winters that necessitate significant snow plowing.

Getting off the tractor soapbox for a minute..... I'm considering visiting Australia and New Zealand in the next few years with one of the Collette tours and was thinking that October is a decent time? At any rate, fall suits my schedule for longer trips than does spring or summer. Hate to travel much in the winter due to the aforementioned instances where these nor'easters blow through here and deposit 4-feet of solidly packed snow nearly the entire length of my driveway. The cub really gets a workout following those - it'll sometimes take me 7-8 hours to open up and clear the driveway. My great-grandfather was born in Warrnambool, so I've always had an interest to visit Australia (not that I'd actually get to Warrnambool anyway during the tour).

 

[bertsmobile1]

Collette tours

OK you have me interested.
Only Collette I know down here makes undies.

You should go to Warnambool, in fact you should do the entire Great Ocean Road Tues to Thursday ( quiet days ), allocate a full day to it, take your time , stop at all the lookouts and visit a few of the eateries.
Some world beating wine & cheeses along the tourist track.
Australia will be a bit of a shock.
Same land mass as mainland USA
Same population ( and economy ) as California and 75 % live in 3 ( way too big) cities
October is a good time for south & central Aust however it is the tail end of the cyclone season ( hurricane to you ) in the north.:thumbsup:
I ride vintage, veteran & classic Pommie motorcycles and October is the start of the riding season for us.
We occasionally get some snow in October, but only in the south east.

Apart from driving on the opposite side of the road most Americans feel very much at home.
heck we even built some Starbucks just so you can get some bad coffee served in buckets. :laughing:

Big big big warning.
Australia is the melonoma capital of the world . The sun light is totally different down here so make sure you use a good sunscreen, particularly in the afternoons.
Even if you can run around Texas all day naked, you will end up painfully sunburned if you don't take care.
I used to look after fashion models and countless number of them spent most of there time in a sunburn ward of one of our hospitals and some it was so bad it ended their careers.

 

[DK35vince]

My opinion, skip the garden tractors and consider a small sub compact diesel tractor like a Kubota BX or John Deere, Massey, LS, Yanmar, Kioti, Etc., Etc.
Easily out work a garden tractor and last much longer.

 

[bertsmobile1]

My opinion, skip the garden tractors and consider a small sub compact diesel tractor like a Kubota BX or John Deere, Massey, LS, Yanmar, Kioti, Etc., Etc.
Easily out work a garden tractor and last much longer.

Very good advice