7000 series. How many hours do you have?

[Fordlords]

In contrast I have a 2072 Stretch Cub Cadet with a Kohler engine. What a jewel. This baby has over 1080 hours on it with hard use. I take care of all of my toys, and this tractor is my favorite. I have a Hustler zero turn, but I still perfer the Cub Cadet. What a fantastic ride, smooth and comfortable. It was a sorry day when MTD bought them out in 1983. The quality of these machines has been in a freefall for the worse since that day.

Actually, the 2072 SGT was built by MTD. The last of the International Harvester built Cub Cadets were '82' series made in June, 1981 when IH/CC was bought out by Cub Cadet Corporation of Cleveland, a subsidary of Modern Tool and Die (MTD). The 2072 was an earlier high end MTD/CC produced between 1987 and 1989 and is about what a CC 3000 series is now, still excellent yard tractors IMHO. There is a lot of good info on this site Relocate for those Cub history buffs out there

-Fordlords-

 

[Fordlords]

A little off the subject, but I guess we will see in October who Cub's new SCUT/CUT builder will be, my guess is Mahindra of India as they have established a very good reputation in the USA with their tractors and there is already a good dealer network of parts and service availability here. Anyway, Mitsubishi is gone from the picture.

-Fordlords-

 

[MajMac392]

Interesting Fordlords, about Mitsu. being out of the picture. I believe I heard that in another year or so Mahindra was going to drop the Mitsu. line because they were developing their own home grown CUT models. I didn't realize that Cub was dropping the Mit. line as well.

 

[MDM]

I read somewhere of rumors that Yanmar will be making Cub CUTs. This can get confusing. Kubota is the only manufacter that does not outsource their tractors to someone else. My father in law has a Mahindra 2810HST. He believes its an old International with a Daewoo engine and the tractor is made by Mahindra. I think the dealer told him all of this. I don't have the heart to tell him it is not either. Its a TYM made in Korea with a Daedong engine. He loves his Mahindra and thinks Mahindra is the best out there. All the while, he never looked at any other brands when he was buying.

The same dealer told me last week that the Farmtracs he is selling have Ford motors in them. I knew the model he was referencing had a Daedong engine. I'm sure he was getting the "Ford" from Long Agibusiness and the Escort made Ford 3000's and the like.

Thanks to TBN and the internet, I think I know more about some of these lesser known brands than the dealers who are selling them.

 

[JimR]

This reminds me of the old days when GM sold Oldsmobiles with a Chevy motor in them. That pissed off anyone that bought one because they wanted the Olds Rocket engine, not a Chevy motor. It seems like whatever you buy these days is a toss in the pan as to who made it and what country it came from. I remember when GM was having their 350 blocks cast in Mexico. The castings were so bad that they had to machine them off center. They were considered to be low mileage motors and non rebuilable due to thin cylinder walls on one side. Canadien castings of the same motor were top notch.

 

[Bob_Bainbridge]

And now they are selling Buicks with Cadillac Northstar engines. I doubt if anyone will complain about that.

Bob B.

 

[Fordlords]

I'll tell you that it would really-really surprise me if the supplier will be Yanmar. JD has a lot of power to dictate, and I doubt if they would be happy with Cub Cadet selling cloned CUT's to their own lineups. I just can't see it happening with the relationship JD and Yanmar have had for that market for the past couple of decades.

Kawasaki planned on offering up lawn and garden equipment about the same time Honda and Yamaha (for a short period of time) did. JD's answer to avoid foreign takeover of that market was to approach Kawasaki as a contract engine supplier if they would not make or market L+G equipment in the USA. This tactic worked well, as Yamaha quickly dropped out of the L+G market and even Honda has dropped their L+G tractor line recently to exclusively supply engines. JD has supplier leverage due to the volume of machines they sell.

One thing with Yanmar and Misubishi as suppliers has also been the strength of the Japanese Yen. With it's dollar comparison, it almost makes no sense to outsource compact tractor manufaturing to Japanese companies as the cost of building and importing the Japanese machines is now right on par with simply building them in the USA. This puts Chinese, Korean, and Indian tractor manufacturing companies in the strongest running as overseas builders for Cub Cadet SCUT/CUT's that can beat the prices of JD/Yanmars, but as witnessed by many the quality just won't be there for the cheaper price. If Cub got the leverage against JD with Yanmar to build a quality tractor at a fair price under their badge, I think it would make many ecstatic.

As so much of the USA computer software and engineering work is heading over to India these days, and yes Mahindra is building their own tractor designs under their own roof now and has USA establishment and a decent dealer reputation, I'm putting my cards on the new Cub compacts with them. Anyway, we get to see the newbies in a few weeks From Mahindra compact tractor site:

"The division's plant at Kandivili (a suburb in Mumbai) is today the single largest facility in the world with all tractor-manufacturing activities under one roof. The division has been the market leader for over 20 years in the highly competitive domestic market and is, currently, the fourth largest in the world in terms of units sold."




-Fordlords-

 

[MDM]

Well, John Deere and Yanmar's relationship is a bit rocky as of late. I can't see how Mahindra is going to produce CUTs for Cub Cadet when they don't even make their own line. Only time will tell I guess.

I am in the process of buy a Kubota. I have researched every brand and tractor to death. My conclusion was there are no bad new tractors. All are good, so drive em and get the one you like best.