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I was just looking at different mowers, and I came across these mowers, each having a 33 in. cut. They look exactly the same! Are they all made by the same company or something?? They are the Cub Cadet, Troy-Bilt, and Craftsman. (Pictures attached.)

lawn mower fanatic said:

I was just looking at different mowers, and I came across these mowers, each having a 33 in. cut. They look exactly the same! Are they all made by the same company or something?? They are the Cub Cadet, Troy-Bilt, and Craftsman. (Pictures attached.)
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Yes there made by the same company. The original unit is the Cub Cadet I believe.

Great deal of difference. One mower has lot of red handles. One mower does not have red wires. And they all have a different sticker on them. Not to mention the paint. Just kidding. They all come from the same place. Snow blowers, weed whackers, lawn tractors, push mowers, all do pretty much the same deal. The most obvious was one time in Sears a clerk told me a mini tiller was made by Craftsman and the unit had a Yard Machine sticker in big and bold right on it.

lawn mower fanatic said:

I was just looking at different mowers, and I came across these mowers, each having a 33 in. cut. They look exactly the same! Are they all made by the same company or something?? They are the Cub Cadet, Troy-Bilt, and Craftsman.

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Yes they are all made by the Modern Tool & Die company or MTD

Here are MTD's brands not including some private brands they also produce for.
Bolens, Columbia, Craftsman, Cub Cadet, Cub Cadet Commercial, Cub Cadet Yanmar (joint with Yanmar), Farm King, GardenWay, Gold Series, Gutbrod, Gutbrod-Kehrer, Lawnflite, Mastercut, Mow Master, Mow Master Mastercut, MTD, MTD Black Edition, MTD Silver Edition, MTD Gold, MTD Mowmaster, MTD Platinum Pro, MTD Platinum SD, MTD Pro, MTD Super, MTD Taral, MTD Tradesman, MTD Turbomax, MTD 2000 Elite, Novotrac, Rasentrac, Remington, Ryobi (sold at Costco), Troy-Bilt, Ventzki, Ventzki MTD, White Outdoor, Yard Machines, Yard-Man, Yard-Man Elite, Yard-Man Select and YardWorks. :confused2:

HUH! we were looking for a newer push mower but were disappointed in the all same versions of a mower we didn't want. It's like someones trying to trick you into thinking there is a real difference between them.

I want a mower that will idle and operate at a way higher rpm when needed. Is a throttle too much to ask now a days?

Another manufacturer of multiple brands is Husqvarna.
Husqvarna is the world's largest producer of chainsaws, lawn and garden equipment--
Brands Owned by Husqvarna
AYP (American Yard Products), Bradley (as in David Bradley. Roper purch. company from Sears and began building tractors for Sears), Flymo, Gardena AG, Husqvarna, Jonsered, Komatsu Zenhoa, Lawn King , Lawn King Rally, McCulloch, McCulloch Pro, Partner, Partner Pro, Pioneer chainsaws, Poulan, Poulan Pro, Rally, Rally Plus, Rodeo, Roper, Roper Rally, Talon, Weed Eater and Yard Pro.

Private Label Brands Produced
Agrasamit, BERNARD Loisirs, Bestgreen, Bestgreen Comfort, Bestgreen Serie Or, Central Park, Columbia, Companion (for Sears), Craftsman (for Sears), Talon, Fleurelle, Gardol, Handy Power, Hurricane, Huskee (for Tractor Supply Company), Klippo, Lazer, Mr. Bricolage, Performance Power, Predator, Prestige, Prim, Royal, SARP, Sentar (for Univert), Statesman (for Southern States Cooperative), TAGA, Uniropa, Val Garden, Verts Loisirs, Westfalia, Wizard (for Western Auto) and last but not least Zenoah.

savageactor7 said:

HUH! we were looking for a newer push mower but were disappointed in the all same versions of a mower we didn't want. It's like someones trying to trick you into thinking there is a real difference between them.

I want a mower that will idle and operate at a way higher rpm when needed. Is a throttle too much to ask now a days?

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I would recommend a Honda HRX217HYA (best choice!!!), HRX217VKA (Smart Drive drive system), or HRX217HZA (electric start--I wouldn't get this becausee it is $100 more just for the electric start). They all have the 190cc engine....SUPER POWERFUL!! Honda Lawn Mowers - HRX Mowers

Oh that's good to know...thank you for the recommendations.

Toro (consumer) is in that big list of brands. In fact, I have the IPB for my Toro with Toro AND MTD part numbers right in the chart!

bbrown said:

Toro (consumer) is in that big list of brands. In fact, I have the IPB for my Toro with Toro AND MTD part numbers right in the chart!

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Toro is one of the private brands that was not listed that MTD produces for.
In 2007, the low-end lawn and garden tractor product manufacturing for Toro was outsourced to MTD Products, to be sold at Home Depot stores.

Toro's products are marketed under several brands:
Toro professional and consumer mowers, irrigation systems, compact utility equipment, snow blowers, and handheld trimmers and leaf blowers
Exmark commercial mowers
Lawn-Boy consumer mowers
Irritrol Systems irrigation systems for residential and commercial landscapes
Lawn Genie consumer irrigation
Pope (Australia) garden maintenance solutions
Hayter (United Kingdom) consumer and professional mowers

lawn mower fanatic said:

I was just looking at different mowers, and I came across these mowers, each having a 33 in. cut. They look exactly the same! Are they all made by the same company or something?? They are the Cub Cadet, Troy-Bilt, and Craftsman. (Pictures attached.)
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IMHO, even though all three of the example mowers you listed come from the same base manufacturer and may "appear" to be the same mowers, the "difference" will be in the quality of the "components" used to build them. My guess would be that the Cub Cadet would be built with the highest quality materials(after all it's their name that is at stake here); the Troy-Bilt would be the next "step down" in the quality of materials(but still pretty good overall quality); and the "cheapest built" of the three would be the Craftsman(Sears is infamous for giving specs to all of their manufacturers...and we all know that Sears doesn't "manufacture" anything... to use the absolutely cheapest parts and materials available). This is based upon my experience purchasing a Craftsman lawn tractor(built by Husvarna) compared to my next door neighbor who bought a similar Husqvarna lawn tractor from a Husqvarna "dealer" and my purchasing a Troy-Bilt 4-Cycle String Trimmer(built by Ryobi) versus the quality of the previous 2-Cycle Ryobi string trimmer it replaced(the Troy-Bilt's drive shaft sheared at the trimmer head after 3 years and my son is still using the 10-year-old Ryobi without incident). Of course the difference in quality could be just a coincidence but I don't think so.

If you're looking for something different, the Honda is a good choice. Some other options are Ariens and Snapper. Hondas are a bit on the expensive side, but most people say it more than makes up for it in performance and reliability.

MowerTodd said:

If you're looking for something different, the Honda is a good choice. Some other options are Ariens and Snapper. Hondas are a bit on the expensive side, but most people say it more than makes up for it in performance and reliability.

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Yes I know, I have 2 Hondas. I LOVE THEM! I was just stating my opinion that the mowers don't look different, I am not in the market for a new mower. Well, I mean, I own a lawn care business, so I am ALWAYS in the market for a new mower, but you know what I mean! :laughing:

lawn mower fanatic said:

Yes I know, I have 2 Hondas. I LOVE THEM! I was just stating my opinion that the mowers don't look different, I am not in the market for a new mower. Well, I mean, I own a lawn care business, so I am ALWAYS in the market for a new mower, but you know what I mean! :laughing:

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lmf,
I know what you mean...and if you are like me, I'm ALWAYS comparing what I bought to what I coulda bought and sometimes discover what I shoulda bought!!

P.S.
Did you "price" those three identical mowers???? I gave you my opinion on the quality of each and without looking, my guess would be the prices would also reflect the same hierarchy(Cub Cadet the most expensive, the Troy-Bilt the next costly and the Craftsman the least expensive) for "basically the same mowers". That is........if.........the cheaper parts on the last two brands are not "major components" that could cause premature operational failure!!!!

djdicetn said:

lmf,
I know what you mean...and if you are like me, I'm ALWAYS comparing what I bought to what I coulda bought and sometimes discover what I shoulda bought!!

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haha yeah same with me!

djdicetn said:

lmf,
I know what you mean...and if you are like me, I'm ALWAYS comparing what I bought to what I coulda bought and sometimes discover what I shoulda bought!!

P.S.
Did you "price" those three identical mowers???? I gave you my opinion on the quality of each and without looking, my guess would be the prices would also reflect the same hierarchy(Cub Cadet the most expensive, the Troy-Bilt the next costly and the Craftsman the least expensive) for "basically the same mowers". That is........if.........the cheaper parts on the last two brands are not "major components" that could cause premature operational failure!!!!

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The biggest difference in the mowers are the engine sizes. The Cub Cadet would probably be the best of the three with a 420cc 12.5 hp B&S, they also offer the 344cc. The sears model is offered with a 12.5hp but it's only a 344cc and there 10.5hp is also 344cc both B&S. The Troy Built only comes with a 10.5 hp 344cc B&S. The CC 12.5hp is the most expensive and I believe is the only Electric Start. (I believe)