Not such a great start --

[bertsmobile1]

Well I bought that 1978 Wheel Horse used in excellent condition in 1986 (32 years ago) for $1100. We still have it.
My 2013 Hustler Super Z 72" (35 HP) with flex forks was just under $12,000 OTD. Certainly wasn't cheap.
But it is very well built and should last us many years. The thing still impresses me how fast it will mow.

And $ 1100 in 1986 was how many weeks wages 3 , 4 , 5 ? and that was for a used mower.
People regularly write here expecting to get a "good" new ride on for $ 1200 to $ 1500 which is just not going to happen.

 

[bullrider]

To a degree there has always been a difference in quality levels for items like lawn tractors etc. In 1968 when I was in about 6th grade my dad bought a floor model Sears Craftsman mower. Like this:

Our neighbors across the street had bought a 7hp Wheel Horse. Well the Craftsman is long long gone (yet I think it was a pretty cool looking machine). He replaced it in the late 70's with a 1972 Wheel Horse. I used it to cut my lawn 2x this year while the new Cub Cadet was getting its engine replaced.

The neighbor's 7hp Wheel Horse was sold with the house across the street to its new owners who died in a car accident. Their estate sold it to a friend of my dad's. My dad bought it off him and toyed with it a while. My dad sold it to me when it was already 19 years old and I used it for 12 years in Vermont where I had moved to, and 10 years in Indiana. It's still in my shed; if I took it in and got the ignition fixed it would still be running. I did replace the short block at one point because something was seriously wring with it by the time it was pushing 40 years old.

 

[cpurvis]

I remember when the Sears tractors were labeled "David Bradley." They had a horizontal shaft engine but it was mounted transversely on the frame with the output shaft outside of the frame rail.

Oh, how I wanted one of these. But they were an *infinite* multiple of the $0.00 my parents were paying me to mow our 1/2+ acre yard with an 18" push (not self propelled) mower.

 

[bullrider]

I remember when the Sears tractors were labeled "David Bradley." They had a horizontal shaft engine but it was mounted transversely on the frame with the output shaft outside of the frame rail.

Oh, how I wanted one of these. But they were an *infinite* multiple of the $0.00 my parents were paying me to mow our 1/2+ acre yard with an 18" push (not self propelled) mower.

Lots of the older tractors had a horizontal shaft engine mounted sideways. All three of my Wheel Horse tractors have that. It works well for running accessories via belt drive.

 

[bullrider]

Update on my EFI Cub Cadet

Well - since this started so long ago, I'll recap that I bought a new EFI Cub Cadet in Spring. With about 3 or 4 hours on it the engine blew - totally - and was replaced under warranty.
Ever since I got it back the Cub has been perfect in every way. It runs beautifully hot or cold, it starts up on the 2nd turn with the throttle at any position, there's no surging or any other of the numerous things that drive me nuts with carbureted engines. I'm totally satisfied with my choice of the EFI and would recommend it to anyone. It's not a new / untested system really, it's similar to what they started putting on cars over 30 years ago only adapted for the Cub engine.

I also think that once it got broken in, the replacement engine uses LESS fuel than my old 10hp Wheel Horse was using. It's been stated that the EFI engines save 25% on gasoline use and I can believe it, which just goes to show how inefficient carburetors are and what a poor job they do of metering fuel compared to an intelligent system that keeps constant track of what is going out the exhaust.

Some might say 'but I can fix a carburetor myself'. Yes, you can, and you can bet that you will need to. At least you will try. I've had my fill of tinkering with them, and governors - another diabolical Rube Goldberg contraption.

EFI - highly recommended.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Always remember.. If t says Cub Cadet or Troy Bilt on the name badge, it's MTD and MTD only builds landfill quality stuff despite what the advertisement say.

 

[bullrider]

Always remember.. If t says Cub Cadet or Troy Bilt on the name badge, it's MTD and MTD only builds landfill quality stuff despite what the advertisement say.

I've read that they build equipment at all quality levels, depending on spec. Not saying the Cub Cadet is all that much.
However - the EFI works great, and that was my point.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I've read that they build equipment at all quality levels, depending on spec. Not saying the Cub Cadet is all that much.
However - the EFI works great, and that was my point.

I'm here to tell you that I delivered hot rolled steel sheet and strip to MTD facilities in Cleveland, Ohio, Mansfield, Ohio and south of Toledo, Oho, for years and they never bought anything but the cheapest grade of secondary rejects available.

The facility in Mansfield (formerly Shiloh Industries) does most of the stamping while the facility south of Toledo does the assembly as well as the Cleveland facility which is also corporate headquarters. I'm real familiar with them. having said that I own a CC zero turn but an M60 tank which is the commercial version, a CC rear time tiller (RT series). Both are good but both share good and not so good components.

The frame on your CC tractor is HR secondary reject. Can tell you that. Expect the paint to flake off as well because their prep to paint is crude.

Like anything else, you get what you paid for and you are lucky in the fact that the local shop gave you good service. Usually a box store purchase and failure and getting the local shop to warrant it (because no box store warrants anything) usually is a crapshoot. Why I deal with the mom and pop places rather than a box store.

Lowes sells a pile of John Deere wannabe lawn tractors (built by MTD btw) and then pawns the warranty service off on a mom and pop shop. You could have paid the same fare at the local shop as the box store and had immediate peace of mind that the local shop would have handled any issue, which they did in your case, but sometimes it don't play that way.

 

[bullrider]

Very interesting. I can easily tell that my new CC is not built anything like my 1972 Wheel Horse which is much more a miniature tractor than a lawn machine. That said, the WH needed so much work and I was getting tired of having to fix it every time I needed to mow the lawn, and with the level of use the CC is going to get I expect it to last as long as I'll need it.

And that aside, EFI works GREAT and nobody will ever sell me another small engine with a carburetor.

 

[SidecarFlip]

When it's old and used up, everything needs work.... Including you... lol

EFI is nice but, keep in mind that just because it's EFI, don't mean you can leave e-gas sit in it all winter because phase seperation will impact EFI, just like a carb. One the e-gas seperates and gets nasty, your EFI will go south and EFI is much more costly to fix. Me, I'll stick with a carb. I can clean a carb and they are inexpensive to replace. EFI isn't.

I looked at the CC riders like you have for my wife who won't run a ZT and we mow 8 acres but after looking I decided all that plastic wasn't for me.