New member here

piniongear

Forum Newbie
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Dec 30, 2017
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My name is Perry and I just joined this forum.
I recently moved to a rural home in Texas and the house sits on 3/4 acre and the side lot is 1/2 acre.

Time to cut the grass and weeds for the first time, so I did that using a self propelled walk behind lawn mower that I used in the big city where I came from.
It took me 2 days to do the mowing! I told my wife there has to be a better way.

What I wound up deciding to buy was a new Cub Cadet RZT S46.
Speaking with my brother-in-law who works at a lawn mower and snowmobile service center in Green Bay WI about what to purchase, he warned me against buying anything with control bars.
I asked him why and he replied 50% of the buyers do not like the bars because they can be difficult to control the mower.

OK, then I will look for one with a steering wheel, and it turned out to be the Cub Cadet.
With regard to choosing a size I picked one that I thought was in the middle. I did not want a large one, nor one that was too small.
As it turned out the 46" was just perfect!
I have over 100 live oak and juniper trees in the front yard of both lots and they are collected in groups of 3 or 4 trees.
The 46" Cub goes nicely between these trees and making a left turn I can lightly rub the bark giving me a mowed area right up to the tree.
I realized I had made the perfect choice (no forethought from me) for getting between the trees.
The steering wheel is very nice and I can guide the mower around using a single hand, or at times...Look Ma, no hands!

So I contacted my brother-in-law Jim to let him know what I had bought and found he had since bought himself a zero turn mower too.
His is a 50 inch and he has 5 acres to mow.
But his machine has the control bars. I asked him about giving me advice not to buy a control bar machine, but yet he bought one himself?
A bit sheepishly he replied that control bar use inside his shop was a problem, but out on the lawn they were easy to use.
Ha-Ha, so much for personal professional advice!

That is my tale of what I bought and I am very pleased with the Cub Cadet.
The only complaint I find is I wish it were a bit quieter. I think a better muffler would be a great improvement.
Perry
 

Boobala

Lawn Pro
Joined
Feb 15, 2015
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Welcome to LMF Perry, happy to have another new member, glad, that you're pleased with your new machine .

welcome-smileys.png

as for your BIL, well..... next time you visit at his place, if you can get a few minutes ALONE with his mower, pull the "spark-plug(s)" and rap the center eloctrode down to ground out the plug, he'll have a fit when it won't start until you tell him what you did , WARNING !! be alert for thrown objects !! ..:laughing:..:laughing:
 

Catherine

LawnWorld Support
Staff member
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Jun 13, 2015
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Hi Perry. Welcome to the forum!

Congrats on your Cub Cadet. We love stories around here :smile:
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
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:welcome:

Your advice was correct, sort of.
Most people who buy zero turns with lap bars have troubles with them for a while.
Generally the older the person, the longer it takes and in this period they can do big damage to the lawns.
However once the muscle memory has been created most will never go back to tractor style mower .

As for size my general advice is limit it to the size trailer you have , unless you have a flat tray.
This then allows you to take the mower to the service place of your choice.
On site servicing can be very expensive for very trivial repairs.

As for your yard, the trees will grow anything up to 1" bigger in the trunk every year so at some point in time the mower will not fit between them.
Keep this in mind because when you are confident with the machine you could find yourself running between them at speed but not fitting.
This can do a lot of damage to the mower.

With this particular model and your oak trees you will need to remove the cover plate over the pedals and clear out acorns & nuts.
It is a bit tricky cause you need to remove some of the pedals and quite a few bolts, but it is not difficult to do, more fiddly than any thing.

Lastly do not use the wash out port and never wash off the mower with a hose.
Get a long dusting gun and blow the mower clean using compressed air.
The deck pulley set up on the Cubs I see make them prone to water seeping into the spindles and rusting out the bearings.

Enjoy your mower.
All of my customers who bought them love them and most took the advice on blowing over washing although some did have to replace the idlers more than once before they cottoned on.
 

7394

Lawn Addict
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
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4,608
Welcome & Congrats on the New Rider.

Now ya need to add a Brody knob to the steering wheel, then you can whip it like P/S. This was my previous 46" mower, right before buyer arrived. note the knob on steering wheel.
I have Lap Bars since Aug, 20 2014 as well. Never go back.

And agree with Bert, Never use water on any of my mowers. Blow them off with air, & if Ur fussy, then use a California Duster..
 

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Themplealke

Forum Newbie
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Feb 21, 2018
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Hi there! I'm Themplealke, have John Deer Z425 with a 54 inch deck and 23 horse Briggs Stratton. Looking forward to being useful here:)
 
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