The most frustrating part of refurbing these Cub Cadet RZT 50s (2006-2012) are the decks and how quickly they rot from people not blowing off the grass after cutting. It's very difficult to find one and I'm hoping to identifying an alternate from another MTD model that can be substituted even with a little modification. Has anyone come across one?
wrldtvlr
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I wish the yard I cut was just grass that would blow off after cutting. The problem I have is enough dirt/dust and wet weeds that the glass clippings turn into concrete by the end of the mowing. To clean the deck I have to get a lift out and spend 30 minutes scraping the bottom of the deck. That gets gone at my end of year maintenance before going into storage.
ChrisBFRPKY
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Any MTD 50" zero turn deck will swap over. I have one from a White zero turn under one of my RZT50 mowers now. Red/maroon deck and a yellow Cub, cringe but it does a great job with the lawn. As long as I get those "Attaboys" from the wife when I'm finished with the yard, I don't care much what the mower looks like. The "lawn tractor" decks won't work without some ingenuity and that's a shame because everybody and his brother has a 1050 with a bad engine to almost give away. It is possible though. I was looking at an i1050 I bought for parts the other day and studied the deck a bit. You have to mount some of the zero turn deck goodies and add some extra idlers to route the belt to the back instead of the front, but it's doable. I have a 54" deck under a Cub SLT1554 also with a bad engine that got me to thinking. I'm still undecided whether to rebuild the SV740 on the 1554 or pull the deck and start fabricating a RZT-54. Just a suggestion, do what you want but when you get a good deck rebuilt and ready to go for yours drill some drain holes in the pond area they created on the deck next to the spindle mounts.
you can buy/install a deck washing kit (adapter) on any deck to clean the underside. Just buy from Amazon, drill a hole, snap on the adapter and hose and go, follow this link:
Amazon.com : Haiouus 2 Kit Lawn Mower Deck Wash Kit, for Riding Lawn Mower Cleaning Attachment Kit, Compatible with Cub Cadet, MTD, Troy-Bilt, Craftsman Lawn Mower Tractor, Deck Wash Adapter Accessories : Patio, Lawn & Garden
Amazon.com : Haiouus 2 Kit Lawn Mower Deck Wash Kit, for Riding Lawn Mower Cleaning Attachment Kit, Compatible with Cub Cadet, MTD, Troy-Bilt, Craftsman Lawn Mower Tractor, Deck Wash Adapter Accessories : Patio, Lawn & Garden
www.amazon.com
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thx for the reply, i've refurbed and sold about 35+ riding mowers but am mostly focusing on Zero turns, especially the Cub Cadets, Toro and JD. I see the RZTs all the time with bad decks and I have to do a lot of cutting and mig welding to get them right. The LT1050 decks look right but need an additional pulley and weld I think
wrldtvlr
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My RZT-S54 actually came with a wash port preinstalled. Unfortunately, I found it not very effective and unless I bypassed the seat switch, I had to have something heavy in the seat to keep the blades turning. It sort of worked around the blade where the port was located but the other two blades weren't affected. Making the remaining grass even wetter seemed to be a bad idea.
ChrisBFRPKY
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Yep, those outer spindle pulley covers are grass traps. Wet grass on those decks rots them away. Learned the hard way. My spindle covers are hanging on the garage wall and they'll stay there, I'll keep em around in case the next guy wants them. Those deck braces for the spindle area are awesome BTW, if you haven't got a set for your's it's a great upgrade. I buy those things everytime they go on sale. I think the last 3 pack of spindle braces I bought were just a bit over $20. I found if you have a rotten deck you can install another set of braces on top of the deck under the spindles as well.
Auto Doc's
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The original (cheap) factory paint is basically sprayed over bare metal, with very little surface prep work. It is then oven baked dry too quickly which hardens the paint and makes it brittle. Good for a couple of years, then it flakes and peels. Lawn equipment is not painted like a conventional automobile.
The paint is very poor quality on just about every CC that I have seen in recent years. I usually catch them before the rust get terrible and sand them down, then brush paint them with POR 15 (epoxy) restoration coating.
After that, spray them good ole' yellow Krylon paint that is close enough to CC yellow.
Blowing them off with shop air and a long wand works very well and avoids the excess water sitting too long. A leaf blower also works very well.
Tiger Small Engine
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Swapping decks other than the exact correct deck on any mower will involve lots of modification and time, unless you get lucky. The wash port is a total gimmick and doesn’t work.
Auto Doc's
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Most zero turn MTD decks with a center single front hanger rod should be adaptable. The Z-Force models have a double front hanger design, and it would take a total redesign to adapt.
If you have the design skills, a torch and a MIG welder, most anything can be fabricated. The only hurdle would be figuring out the belt routing and tension.
For a new replacement deck shell, Ebay:
CUB CADET 903-05121-4021 Yellow 50" Deck Shell RZT-L50 RZT-S50 Zero-Turn Mowers | eBay
OEM CUB CADET Part Number 903-05121-4021 Compatibile With: Cub Cadet: RZT-L50, RZT-S50.
www.ebay.com