I think I narrowed down my tractor choice

tbarnett

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Ok. So now I'm down to the cub cadet and the craftsman. Very similar in price with what I want as far as accessories. (Bagger, bumper, cart and or extended warranty) The Cub Cadet is about the same price as the Craftsman. I drove to the JD dealer, looked at the D140 and 130. Nice units, not impressed with the plastic hoods and the way the gas tank shakes around. Just looks like problems. I was talking to the salesman and he advised the JD's I was looking at have great trannys, the Craftsman's have a plastic tranny. Not sure WTF he was talking about. Anyway left the JD dealer and drove to our Sears store that has the exact mower I'm thinking about. I liked how sturdy it felt. Also liked the tight turn feature. Now the Cub Cadet keeps popping up in this conversation. When I looked at the JD and CC at our Home Depot they both shared the flimsy hood, but the CC was a bit less money. Anyway, I was really wanting a JD but it just seems to be inferior to the other two units. Gonna rely on you good folks and your advise/insight and do massive amounts of further research this weekend. Man, ADD is exhausting, lol. Gonna order up Monday.
Keep the advise flying please, I REALLY appreciate it.

Bob

The Craftsman Model you are looking at Pro-Series 247-20442 is made by MTD, (The 247-XXXXX denotes MTD, whereas 917-XXXXX is Husqvarna). As I mentioned before, Cub Cadet is owned by MTD. However, some of the Cub Cadets have a safety device where you cannot mow in reverse and is a PITA! I believe the Craftsman Pro-Series however, allows for reverse mowing. Just another thing to check out. . .
 

Alaguy

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Cub Cadet has a system to mow in reverse. You turn the key 1 notch to the left, press a button, and the mower will stay in that mode until you shut the mower off. It works really well.
 

RJL1

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The Craftsman Model you are looking at Pro-Series 247-20442 is made by MTD, (The 247-XXXXX denotes MTD, whereas 917-XXXXX is Husqvarna). As I mentioned before, Cub Cadet is owned by MTD. However, some of the Cub Cadets have a safety device where you cannot mow in reverse and is a PITA! I believe the Craftsman Pro-Series however, allows for reverse mowing. Just another thing to check out. . .


In regards to the MTD vs. Husky should I stick with one or the other? I hate that I'm gonna say this but if I should stick with say the Husky, should I add that to my mania of research?
 

Carscw

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Mtd is owned by cub cadet.

I have used just about every brand riding mower.
I take care of foreclosed homes. So I abuse my mowers. Some yards that have not been cut in years the weeds are 4 foot tall.
A couple years ago I was 3 hours from home and broke my mower. Went to tractor supply and got a $1500 cub 42 in cut. I used it for a year put 950 hours on it. And sold it for $750 it still ran and cut like new.
Only thing I ever did to was change the oil and filters and blades. Changed the spindle bearings and deck belt twice.
Never had to change the drive belt.
The cub was the only mower to handle the abuse. And will now hills very easy.
And they all will mow in reverse.
If I was to buy a new riding mower today it would be a cub.
 

Mikel1

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I would like crapsman better if they didn't discontinue parts so fast. Surprised Sears hasn't sold that line yet.
I really don't see a problem with plastic/composite hood unless you like running into stuff.
Also remember some of our members on here are commercial lawn cutters. So it's apples to oranges comparison. Going to look for friction puck for a 7 year old crapsman that's nla.
 

RJL1

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I drove to our local Husqvarna dealer and talked to one of the salesman there. He priced my two quotes. One was on the YTH line with a 46" deck at 1850 and another quote on the upper end GT line on a GT 48LXSi with a 48" deck for 3000. I really liked the build quality of the GT, particularly the heavy duty deck and the grease fittings on most moving parts. All of the others I looked at had sealed bearings and the like. Any intel on the GT?

Bob
 

Alaguy

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You might want to go to the Husqvarna site, and check some of the reviews for that GT, some are a couple years old, and some are pretty recent. Good Luck
 

Carscw

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They all have sealed bearings. The grease zerks are so you feel you are getting a better build mower. It actually does more harm then good to pump grease into the spindle.
 

RJL1

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Thanks Carcs. That's good info I didn't know.
 

RJL1

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Well, I made up my mind. Thanks for all of the input. I really appreciate it. I was going into this thing determined to get a John Deere and being done with Craftsman, only because that's the only mower I ever used in my 50 years. After consulting with you good folks and visiting the JD and Husky dealer as well as Home Depot for the Cub Cadet and Sears for the Craftsman and sitting on and messing with all of the machines I was interested in I decided on the Craftsman Pro series. Just seems more sturdy than the JD and CC as well as substantially less expensive than the Husqvarna. I visited a million sites for reviews, comparisons etc. Just makes sense. Anyway thanks again.

Bob
 
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