New guy with a TB Mustang50 RZT

[MustangRZT]

New guy to the forums here. I just picked up a TB Mustang 50 RZT from a guy that I work with. It's a 2007 and can anybody tell me any known problems with these machines? I already know about the deck spindles breaking out. That's how I acquired this machine. It appears to run really well. Any know issues with the driveline? This is my first zero turn. I have quite a few garden tractors Cub Cadet 149,782,1050,1641,1711 a JD 140H3.

 

[MustangRZT]

Gee 53 views and not one bit of info or welcome. Guess I joined the wrong forum.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Gee 53 views and not one bit of info or welcome. Guess I joined the wrong forum.

First this is an open public forum, not instagram nor Farce Book so there is no requirement for responces to happen within 5 nano seconds.
Then there is the number of Mustang owners on here past or present.
People usually come here to get help fixing their mower not to sing it's praises.

However there is a search button, right under the words Lawn Mower Forum
Click on it then type in your mower .
IF people have come here seeking help with a problem then your search will bring them up.

It is a long stretch to assume that there are dozens of people here with an encyclopedic knowledge of every mower make style model & variant.
That is why search functions were invented in the first place.

Then there is the actual title of your thread.
One that expresses what you really wanted to know like "Known issues with a TB Mustang 50 " would make every one know exactly what you were looking for.

There would be near 100 mower techs , full & part time who post regularly, myself being one of them.
We log on then use the "new posts" search to see what has been posted and if we don't view ALL NEW POST then the ones we did not look at will keep coming up, so we look at them all.

IF you really want to know why you should not have bought your mower then go to a complaint web site like Whirlpool or Not Good Enough ,or Product Review etc etc etc.

Finally there is a nice little polite emojie in the "more section " :anyone: put there specifically for people wondering why they have not seen any replies.
OTOH there might not be any known problems.
So if there is no known problems then no one would be posting a known problem would they.

Now if you had asked "what do mutang owners feel about their mowers & are there any problems I should be looking for ?" then you are inviting owners to tell you how much they love their mowers & what irritates them about it.

And there is only 1 forum.
it has a lots of sub forums to make it more convienant for users, particularly first time uses to navigate around it.
On average there are around 80 or so posts a day, each & every day 365 days a year so you have to use some sort of organization


And may you have many happy hours riding your Mustang.

 

[MustangRZT]

Well bertsmobile1 someone obviously peed in your corn flakes before you typed all that BS. Must be not putting the correct heading on my initial post really put a bee in your bonnet. I'm OK with that. Kind of humorous to let something as simple as that irritate you. I really don't need anyone's help fixing anything I own. Simply asked a simple question about any known drivetrain issues. I've been a journeyman Millwright for over 30 years. Maybe when I grow up I can be a mower tech. LMAO Probably get banned but that's OK Have a great day my friend across the big pond.

 

[NorthBama]

:drink: peace

 

[bertsmobile1]

I could tell you there is an Adcock & Shippley No 9 under the office + a 84" Servian gearhead drop bed late with a 48" face plate , a shaper + 2 smaller lathes & a surface grinder.
But it would not tell you much about your mower.
I could tell you I am a graduate metallurgist , specializing in tertiary metallurgy & non-ferrous foundry
But that will not tell you much about your mower
I could tell you there are 5 postgraduate diplomas that go on top of that degree
But that would not tell you much about your mower.
I could tell you that I ended up in transport as a sub-contractor, contractor , supervisor & warehouse manager.
But it will not tell you much about your mower

or

I could be an 8 year old girl getting my jollies by fooling people into thinking I am a 67 year old mower technician
But that will not tell you much about your mower

or

I could just be trying to help you to find the information that you seek and how to use this forum more effectively.
And this might just help you find out more about your mower.

So as previously mentioned.
Patience is required because reading this forum is not compulsory & most of the posts are of the "how to fix variety"
Thus a lack of TB Mustang posts would suggest no systemic problems with them to date.

We speak a bit more direct down here.
Americans seem to consider strait talking to be blunt & rude.
How you take it is up to you.
If I really wanted to abuse people I would be on Faeces Book with all of the other cowards.

SO please enjoy your mower & your mowing.

 

[Southland]

Congrats on your mower! I have the 2008 version of this mower with 360 hours on it. Mine has a Kohler Courage 22 hp V-Twin. Overall, I really like the mower. Here's some of the things that I've seen with this mower.

The Good: I've had zero issues with the engine and Hydro-Gear transmissions. The mower body has been mostly trouble free - I've replaced the PTO switch and the two parking brake switches. Only one of the parking brake switches was bad, but since they were hard to get to and the switches were cheap, I just replaced both while I was at it. The muffler also fell off. The threaded holes in the muffler rusted out and I had to reattach it. If this happens to yours, there is an easy way to fix this without buying a new muffler. Also, I did have a stick pop up into one of the Hydro-Gear transmission fans and break off the blades, so I replaced the fan. Since Troy-Bilt is just a MTD brand, they sold a lot of these under the Troy Bilt, Cub Cadet, White Outdoor, and maybe other brands names. Parts are still available.

The Bad: The weak part of the mower is the deck. The plate welded to the top of the deck came off and had to be welded back on. One of the anti-scalping wheel bracket come off and had to be welded also. However, in the mower's defense, I mow about 3 acres, part of which was planted in crops in the past. That and the constant fire ant mounds that appear, along with it being hard red clay dirt, makes for a very rough, bumpy ground. The mower takes a beating, I'd say much worst than most homeowners put a mower thru. One thing you have to watch out for is rust on the deck. When I find any, I remove it and paint the spot. In fact, I usually paint the underside each winter. It will wear off over time, but spray paint is cheap. One good thing about red clay soil is it's not sandy, so there's not much metal erosion on the underside of the deck. Another thing that happened was the bolt to level the deck side to side came out and I replaced it. But when the deck dropped down, it pulled the middle spindle loose from the deck and destroyed the two bearings in it. This also caused the threads for the mounting bolts to strip out in the spindle. Sounds bad, but it was an easy repair. Maybe an hour or two to fix the spindle, replace the bearing, and mount it back to the deck.

As far as using the mower, it cuts well with sharp blades. I only use Oregon Gator Blades. They work great with this deck, just keep them sharp. And they are only around $30 - $35 for a set of three on Amazon. The mower starts every time, works like it should, the transmissions are still strong. I did pick up a Husqvarna MZT52 commercial mower a couple of years ago, so the TB doesn't get as much use now. My wife uses it while I use the Husqvarna to mow. If only I had known years ago that she liked to mow...

So, that's the 11 year history for one of these mowers. Stay on top of the maintenance (oil, oil filter, air filter), keep the deck clean (top and bottom), check the bolts and welds on the deck, and remove any rust you find on the deck. I do all of the maintenance and repairs myself, except for the welding. I have my brother do that. He's not a great welder, but it's free. :smile: During the winter, I do start it up every month or so and run it for a few minutes. I've never had any carburetor problems, even when using regular gas with 10% ethanol.

 

[MustangRZT]

Southland thanks for the good info on the RZT. I was already aware of the deck issues. The deck that came with it is rusted pretty bad around the spindle mounts . I bought a set of spindle braces off of ebay. Hopefully this winter I can get to the repairs on this deck. Sounds like these units are fairly well built. My main concern was the hydro gear trans in them. I've rode this around the yard a few times and the only issue I noticed was it pulled a little to the left when going full forward. A little adjustment on the forward lever stop and it runs true now in full forward. Maybe someday when I grow up I can be a mower tech.:laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

[Jake8131]

Well bertsmobile1 someone obviously peed in your corn flakes before you typed all that BS. Must be not putting the correct heading on my initial post really put a bee in your bonnet. I'm OK with that. Kind of humorous to let something as simple as that irritate you. I really don't need anyone's help fixing anything I own. Simply asked a simple question about any known drivetrain issues. I've been a journeyman Millwright for over 30 years. Maybe when I grow up I can be a mower tech. LMAO Probably get banned but that's OK Have a great day my friend across the big pond.

Ever think that maybe no one knows the answer???? Chill Out!