Craftsman, John Deere, Cub cadet , or Husqvuarna?

[SGRIM]

Its not mine, my best friend and neighbor owns it but this almost just like what we cut with:biggrin: Pulling a 17ft mower

 

[turbo39151]

I bought a 20 HP Husk at the local Tractor Supply. $1k No isssues. Pretty quick too...

 

[Raymond Bunch]

I like my Cub cadet, not one issue in over 2 years now.

Also make a good tow vehicle for when I blow transmission's and headgasket's:wink:

 

[aminga]

Sounds like somebody has had some experience with that

Yea hook a brotha up with some parts

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Me too..

I have a 50" Coatsville classic by Dixie Chopper (6 years old) with a 20hp Kohler and I also have a 60" Dixie (2 years old) with a 27hp Generac. My yard is 2 acres and the 50" will cut it in 45 mins (32 tress to go around) and the 60" will do it in around 35. The best thing is they are built like a tank and very simple, no maintenance required, I have done nothing to them except replace the blades on the 50". Not cheap but they will take a beating and last forever.

I have switched from a 15 yr old TORO, 38", to a Hustler 54", zero turn.[21HP Kawasaki twin]
Like Bill, I cut quite a bit of yard, and do it in <1/2 the time, since getting the Hustler. [Very similar to the Dixie].
The deck is warranteed forever. The rest of the mower is 4yrs. Not cheap, but I've yet to talk w/ another Hustler owner thats had problems like the Deere owners are telling of.
NOT CHEAP, but won't have the grief, either.[I paid less than many of the Deere owners have spent on just repairs!]

 

[BobbyBuick]

I have a 1960 cub I bought in 83 I use it for snow


STILL GOING

I have a 69 cub I bought in 98 for 125 bucks rebuild the motor


STILL GOING



and a 67 Deere for my daughter I bought when she was younger



STILL GOING

OLDER IS BETTER

 

[Clark6]

I have a 1960 cub I bought in 83 I use it for snow


STILL GOING

I have a 69 cub I bought in 98 for 125 bucks rebuild the motor


STILL GOING



and a 67 Deere for my daughter I bought when she was younger



STILL GOING

OLDER IS BETTER

WOW.

 

[Quiky One]

I have a Hustler with the Honda mower that I love. I did a lot of research and found the MTD mowers WILL not last. Spend money the first time around.

Jason

 

[Clark6]

Well ive narrowed it down to JD ( which does have a thick deck) or Cub Cadet by the way (which has a tight 14inch turning radius) compared to the 18 on the others.
I still have 2 more days to make the decision.
All the companies has the finance option even though my credit is good, my wife is not working so im the only bread winner here and have to be careful with this purchase. Just basically need a mower to last from 10-15 yrs hopefuly then id get bored with it & buy another anyway....

Have learned a few things though; i emailed a couple of members & the lower line models like some say are made by the cheapest makers of the product but at least its in the USA. The way i look at it is it takes a human to make the part be it an off brand company or not, but (to use inferior parts is something to think about too though, quality issue.) but the higher end models are made by the direct manufacturer. Pretty sure something could go wrong with either. but hopefully out of the hundreds of thousands i'd get a good one no matter which way it goes, so far ive been pretty fortunate on things like that.lol.

 

[GNBRETT]

Buy a Honda and be done with it. It will outlast you.

 

[need boost]

Ray, buy a john deere but a real one, not the lowes one. Make sure it has the kawasaki motor on it. I have one here a gt345 I think , anyway its 54in cut and I was cutting my grandmothers place after she passed away and my uncle came down to help on his JD that he bought from lowes, I was cutting a wider swat than him , cutting it better, cleaner, and was walking away from him. You get what you pay for man. Check the JD site, a lot of times they run specials that you don't have to pay anything for months and months and if you get it payed off before then it is like paying cash for it. Thats what I did, no payments for a year when I got mine but I went on and payed on it before my payments started and got it payed off so it was the same price as paying cash for it. Daniel Ray

 

[aminga]

Ray, buy a john deere but a real one, not the lowes one. Make sure it has the kawasaki motor on it. I have one here a gt345 I think , anyway its 54in cut and I was cutting my grandmothers place after she passed away and my uncle came down to help on his JD that he bought from lowes, I was cutting a wider swat than him , cutting it better, cleaner, and was walking away from him. You get what you pay for man. Check the JD site, a lot of times they run specials that you don't have to pay anything for months and months and if you get it payed off before then it is like paying cash for it. Thats what I did, no payments for a year when I got mine but I went on and payed on it before my payments started and got it payed off so it was the same price as paying cash for it. Daniel Ray

I have the GT345. And oddly enough the Kawa engine is the least reliable part of the thing. I'd much rather have a kohler.

Maybe it's our gas but the carb gets gummed up awful easy

 

[TurboTodd]

Lots of info in this thread, I'll add a couple of thoughts-

Craftsman- OPE manufacturers are starting to look to other retailers to sell to, fearing Sears is circling the drain.

JD from a bigbox retailer- built by Scotts.. if you want a Deere, go to an actual JD house.

Cub Cadet- built by MTD, many units available with both Briggs and Kohler engines available, lots of deck sizes, tighter turning radius this year. Better warranty (3/5) than others. Yard machines, Huskee (TSC) etc are built by MTD as well.

Husqvarna- Built by HOP (used to be AYP), also produces Poulan. Only issues I've seen is difficulty getting replacement parts from a normal retail outlet. HOP has a restricted list of stuff that is only available through a service center. In '06 there was an engine issue with the Briggs powerplant in the 54" rider, but that's history.

Todd

 

[need boost]

I have the GT345. And oddly enough the Kawa engine is the least reliable part of the thing. I'd much rather have a kohler.

Maybe it's our gas but the carb gets gummed up awful easy

It may be your gas, I had that problem the other year and it was doing it with my mower as well as my 4 wheeler was running rough as well. I went and got a can of seafoam and started putting some in both on them when I filled them up with gas and didn't have anymore problems after that. Give that a try, you can use it with the buick to clean the injectors as well :biggrin: Daniel Ray

 

[Chuck Leeper]

A bit of Stabil in a can of gas won't hurt, either.

 

[scojack_2001]

Our old Simplicity 44" is still going. I think its a '90 or '91 model, I cant remember. 16hp Briggs Vangaurd on her, and it just keeps going. A few minor problems over the years, a starter I know of and a PTO clutch too I think. I just got new blades for it, and will be bringing it out to get it ready here in a few weeks. Cant say anything bad about it. All of our stuff is old. The only new thing we got is a string trimmer, as our 25+ year old Echo finally died two seasons ago...

 

[Rubicon 327]

I have an older John Deere GT 275 with a 17hp Kawasaki engine and a 48" Deck with the power flow bagger unit that I bought new from a JD dealer and have had no problems with it for the past 8-9 years I have owned it. Oil/Air/Fuel Filters/Blades/One Plug/One Belt/One Battery, all maintenance stuff and always stored in a shed!

I loved that machine from the day I got it and never regretted the payments for the little time I had to make payments on it.Get on it and get the yard done with more time for other things.....I'd like to say the Buick but I'd be lying

Cant go wrong with JD or a Cub, just get it from a real dealer not a crackerjack-in the box store.

Good Luck!

 

[aminga]

A bit of Stabil in a can of gas won't hurt, either.

Always used stabil in it.

 

[c1tobor]

You right, John Deere does not make the cheap models.... say under $2,000..... they are just competing in a price point market...

They do however still make their premium line...

John Deere makes John Deere...I dont know where this rumor got started but it is just not true. Lowes and Home Depot JD's are EXACTLY the same as the Dealers

Go to consumer reports and read complaints about "all" OEM's....You'll find unhappy consumers for all brands but to me the John Deere's don't seem to be as serious as some others, also, JD sold about 350,000 LA series last year and I would imagine the vast majority are very pleased...as am I......JMHO

 

[INEEDAGN]

That grill guard is a good idea. Because if you're parking next to a camper and you hit the wrong hydrostatic drive pedal. It will bust the hood all to pieces.

:frown:

Yeah I did that to my uncle's mower. He has the fancy upper end liquid cooled 4 wheel steer blah blah blah and I wrecked the hood on it because on MY mower that pedal runs the brakes. Still owe him a hood. Never again will I get on a mower that is worth more than my truck. :redface: The grill guards make it a pain to get close to anything though, and I only weedeat about twice a year, so I will do without.

I've been thinking about getting a hydrostat. My LX 172 takes a licking and keeps on ticking but I fear that the way I treat the transmission is going to kill it soon. Trying to find a 178 so it won't cost me much to switch. Based on other local people's experiences, if I bought a NEW mower, it'd be a cub cadet. (sorry TY).