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Looking at buying a self propelled mower and I've been looking at a Cub cadet CC-94M and it has a 173cc Cub Cadet OHV engine. Apparently Cub Cadet is making there own engine and I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with these engines, good or bad.:anyone:

CubCadte is owned by MTD. MtTD started making their own engines in 2008 after a spat with B&S and Tecumseh going out of business. Cub used to have a deal with B&S to put the CubCadet name on the engines.

I also believe Yanmar and CubCadet merged and make CUTs.Don't know how good they are and how long the realationship will last. russ

173abn said:

I also believe Yanmar and CubCadet merged and make CUTs.Don't know how good they are and how long the realationship will last. russ

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That was the sub compact utility, diesel models... the few people I have known that got them were very disappointed with the tractor... not with the yanmar diesel engine. KennyV

i had a cub with a brigs motor on it but it had the cub sticker on the engine ..I would get the model number off the motor and see who makes the motor ...

The 173cc Cub Cadet engine in made in China.

I would be very surprised if MTD is actually tooling up or manufacturing "thier own engines". It's more likely that they have contracted with a chinese manufacturer to build engines for them.
Not necessarily a bad thing as most of the "American Made" tractors use imported engines. It's time to understand just how far you have to go to avoid chinese products. It's really an issue when you think about parts and parts networks. The more engines out there implies a bigger demand for parts, a bigger demand means an rising market and hopefully supplies will follow. You don't want to get caught in the void that may arise when Briggs see's the light and works out the cost issue's with the mower manufacturers and your stuck the "bastard model" with the "wang sung" engine. (I just made that name up...wang sung:laughing.
It might be a great engine...and it might not, why take a chance?

That 173cc Cub Cadet engine is used on a lot of the CC walk behind mowers...
They are most likely turning out a "bagillion" of those engines...
I'm sure it's going to be around for quite some time... The Chinese market is improving faster than any industrial change in modern time...

Those older may remember a time when made in Japan was a very bad thing... almost was assured to be junk... That turned around, and for a long time now "Japanese made" is equated with very high quality...
The same is happening with Chinese manufactured goods only quicker... There is a lot of very high quality Chinese hardware showing up... I would not be afraid of Chinese replacement parts on current manufactured goods.
I do know you can still buy junk made in China... BUT you can also still find junk made from almost anywhere...
:smile:KennyV

KennyV said:

That 173cc Cub Cadet engine is used on a lot of the CC walk behind mowers...
They are most likely turning out a "bagillion" of those engines...
I'm sure it's going to be around for quite some time... The Chinese market is improving faster than any industrial change in modern time...

Those older may remember a time when made in Japan was a very bad thing... almost was assured to be junk... That turned around, and for a long time now "Japanese made" is equated with very high quality...
The same is happening with Chinese manufactured goods only quicker... There is a lot of very high quality Chinese hardware showing up... I would not be afraid of Chinese replacement parts on current manufactured goods.
I do know you can still buy junk made in China... BUT you can also still find junk made from almost anywhere...
:smile:KennyV

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yes i do agree with you on this ...very well said ....I like Honda and Kawasaki myself last for a long time if taken care of properly

RobertBrown said:

I would be very surprised if MTD is actually tooling up or manufacturing "thier own engines". It's more likely that they have contracted with a chinese manufacturer to build engines for them.
Not necessarily a bad thing as most of the "American Made" tractors use imported engines. It's time to understand just how far you have to go to avoid chinese products. It's really an issue when you think about parts and parts networks. The more engines out there implies a bigger demand for parts, a bigger demand means an rising market and hopefully supplies will follow. You don't want to get caught in the void that may arise when Briggs see's the light and works out the cost issue's with the mower manufacturers and your stuck the "bastard model" with the "wang sung" engine. (I just made that name up...wang sung:laughing.
It might be a great engine...and it might not, why take a chance?

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.....LOL at the wang -sung

RobertBrown said:

I would be very surprised if MTD is actually tooling up or manufacturing "thier own engines". It's more likely that they have contracted with a chinese manufacturer to build engines for them.
Not necessarily a bad thing as most of the "American Made" tractors use imported engines. It's time to understand just how far you have to go to avoid Chinese products. It's really an issue when you think about parts and parts networks. The more engines out there implies a bigger demand for parts, a bigger demand means an rising market and hopefully supplies will follow. You don't want to get caught in the void that may arise when Briggs see's the light and works out the cost issue's with the mower manufacturers and your stuck the "bastard model" with the "wang sung" engine. (I just made that name up...wang sung:laughing.
It might be a great engine...and it might not, why take a chance?

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I started this thread and I guess that the Chinese engines are low on the list from what I've been reading here,at the same time you say

You don't want to get caught in the void that may arise when Briggs see's the light and works out the cost issue's with the mower manufacturers and your stuck the "bastard model" with the "wang sung" engine

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So what's the difference?

I know my Cub Cadet engine is original. I built it myself from parts of 4 donor Kohler K-series engines. Mathematically, this former K-241 10HP will not put out 23HP, but I live in a real world, so my first approximation is around 15 to 16HP.

Ric said:

Looking at buying a self propelled mower and I've been looking at a Cub cadet CC-94M and it has a 173cc Cub Cadet OHV engine. Apparently Cub Cadet is making there own engine and I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with these engines, good or bad.:anyone:

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Engine is made in China. Parts are not readily available for these engines. Small parts are not available at all like recoil spring cannot be purchased at all, you have to purchase complete assy. Carburetor parts same way. If you like the MTD mower you can get similar version with Troy Bilt and a Honda engine, which is a much better choice. I am a dealer for Cub Cadet products but I have refused selling the walk behind mowers with the China engine. 2 years ago they used Honda engines

fifthstring27030 said:

Engine is made in China. Parts are not readily available for these engines. Small parts are not available at all like recoil spring cannot be purchased at all, you have to purchase complete assy. Carburetor parts same way. If you like the MTD mower you can get similar version with Troy Bilt and a Honda engine, which is a much better choice. I am a dealer for Cub Cadet products but I have refused selling the walk behind mowers with the China engine. 2 years ago they used Honda engines

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Using a more economical priced engine is, in some cases good business... and on a low end mower it makes perfect sense..
They are good engines but may not have complete parts distribution yet...
BUT as more and more are used, the parts distributors will have that covered... even the after market parts vendors will step up with full parts availability... :smile:KennyV

KennyV said:

Using a more economical priced engine is, in some cases good business... and on a low end mower it makes perfect sense..
They are good engines but may not have complete parts distribution yet...
BUT as more and more are used, the parts distributors will have that covered... even the after market parts vendors will step up with full parts availability... :smile:KennyV

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MTD does offer all the parts needed to repair these Chinese engines, but they might not be available as piece parts, but can be bought as assemblies. (buy the carb, but not the throttle plate). It happens in almost any complex manufactured product; as the selling price, and replacement cost, goes down, the replacement part level goes up. Think of the electronic industry; right now, the minimum replacement level of a TV is the complete set. These Chinese engines seem to run good, and are much cheaper than the competition. I don't see a large incentive for after-market companies to get in this market: the engines were designed, and are, throw-aways.

I think that some customers are unrealistic in their expectations for a $250 push mower; they aren't designed to last 20 years, or even 10. I'd suspect that buying a new $250 mower every 5 years might be the cheapest way to get the grass cut.


BTW: A previous post asked about the Cub Cadet CUT, which is a Yanmar tractor. The Yanmar was rebranded and sold by Deere for several years, but made the move to Cub Cadet (MTD). I looked at them a couple years ago and they were identical to the Deere with a different paint job.

jhwentworth said:

... I don't see a large incentive for after-market companies to get in this market: the engines were designed, and are, throw-aways.

I think that some customers are unrealistic in their expectations for a $250 push mower; they aren't designed to last 20 years, or even 10. I'd suspect that buying a new $250 mower every 5 years might be the cheapest way to get the grass cut.


BTW: A previous post asked about the Cub Cadet CUT, which is a Yanmar tractor. The Yanmar was rebranded and sold by Deere for several years, but made the move to Cub Cadet (MTD). I looked at them a couple years ago and they were identical to the Deere with a different paint job.

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After market distributors are always going to pop up for old geezers like me that tend to never throw anything away... I have so many broken things stacked around my shop... it's getting hard finding things..:biggrin:

Heck I still think a $65 push mower from the 70's should still be cutting grass...:biggrin::biggrin:

Your observation of the Cub Cadet, Yanmar, John Deere, MTD... is true, quite a few things are the same only look different... reminds me of high school days ... "what 64 1/2 mustang is faster the blue or red one", never mind that they were identical in everything but color... :smile:KennyV

KennyV said:

After market distributors are always going to pop up for old geezers like me that tend to never throw anything away...

KennyV

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I don't know if doing so would be profitable for the aftermarket folks. When you can buy a new, complete, replacement engine for $150 it puts tremendous price pressure on parts manufacturers. The service model is changing, for better or worse. I don't think we'll see the long term parts availability for low end equipment that we have had in the past. Today, we'd be disappointed if we couldn't order replacement parts for a 20-year old B&S 5hp lawnmower motor. I'd be surprised if parts were available for the Chinese stuff in 5 years. But, that's OK, a replacement engine will probably cost around $50 by then.

That said, the Chinese engine in the Cub Cadet is fully supported by MTD, but maybe not in the way you might like.

BTW: You're not an old geezer; you simply have a wealth of life experiences. Much as I do. I didn't say they were all good experiences, but they were experiences.

jhwentworth said:

I didn't say they were all good experiences, but they were experiences.

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Ha ha ... some were definitely experiences:laughing:....

With the inter net today it becomes much more viable for the after market manufacturer to list and distribute their own parts and pieces...
I think that will increase the availability of component availability...

Many of the things that have been considered throwaway items in this country, have been repairable in other places... with direct shipping and easy access I think there will always be the potential for the small repair shop to make a BIG come back here... :smile:KennyV