Cub Cadet 3000-series -- newby question!

[Dockhead]

Hi guys:

I've never used a garden tractor since my dad's ancient Craftsman way back in the 1960's. So I am pretty clueless.

I've got a one hectare (2 1/2 acre) lot in a cold climate -- Moscow, Russia. Maybe an acre of that is lawn, smooth, with a very gentle slope. There are a fair number of obstacles -- trees, plantings, bushes, and so forth, and there are three buildings on the lot, so the lawn is not that wide open.

I have been looking at a CC 3235 -- It's horribly expensive but I love the idea that it is a heavy duty, quality machine, that I could also use for plowing and blowing snow in the winter (optional task).

But I've been lurking around here and have read a lot of advice not to buy more tractor than you really need. An acre of lawn is not so much, I guess, so maybe the 3235 is really overkill? Also, with the obstacles in my lawn, maybe a big tractor like this is not optimal, from the point of view of maneuverability?

What do you guys think? The only CC's they sell here are the 3235 and the 1223. There's a good choice of Husqvarnas. Maybe with the obstacles in my lawn, I would be better off with something which articulates, or which has front-mounted mower deck, like the Stiga Villa?
(Stiga official UK manufacturers lawnmowers and garden equipment direct Stiga UK (GGP UK Ltd))

I don't absolutely need to move snow with it; it could be a dedicated mower, although I would like to do some fertilizer spreading, aerating, other lawn maintenace kind of stuff, maybe haul compost in a trailer.

I would be really grateful for your advice!

 

[ducati996]

Im glad you joined us from so far away - I think the 3000 series are excellent machines. Lots of posts on this forum about them and lots of good feedback along with pictures....

I hope you have much success with your decisions and overall 2 1/2 acres is a perfect size for this type of machime IMHO

 

[JTKub]

If I could squeeze my 1.5 acres to 2.5, I'd definately have a 3K series!

Joel

 

[Dockhead]

Im glad you joined us from so far away - I think the 3000 series are excellent machines. Lots of posts on this forum about them and lots of good feedback along with pictures....

I hope you have much success with your decisions and overall 2 1/2 acres is a perfect size for this type of machime IMHO

If I read your username right, we share another mechanical passion -- Ducati Motorcycles. I recently sold a Monster 900.

Loving fine machines like Ducatis (and BMW's, and Ski Doo snowmobiles), of course I'm drawn to the CC 3000 series but I'm just concerned that it's overkill with only an acre or so of actual lawn and maybe too big and unmaneuverable with all my trees and bushes and such.

On the other hand, I have owned MTD mowers and am well aware of what miserable crap their consumer-grade gear is. I've read all the complaints about the 1000-series Cub Cadet with its slipping belts and such. The 2000-series is not available in Russia, but there are Husqvarnas (if those are better) and Stigas (maybe more maneuverable).


What do you guys think?

 

[Bob_Bainbridge]

Dockhead, like you I have 1 acre of grass with shrubs and trees to mow around. I had a IH Cub 1450, purchased new in 1978. I had previously had experience with a small 25 inch rider which held up fairly well - I even made a snow plow for it out of 1/4 inch steel plate. I then bought a 34 inch rider from Penney's with an 8hp Tecumseh engine. The engine burned an excessive amount of oil from day one and one day an internal pin punched through the aluminum differential housing. I epoxied it and pedaled it at 471 hours. The 1450 was around $2600 which was a lot of money in 1978 but it held up like I expected it would.I traded it in in 2004 with 1100 hours and still running well. My one main criteria was that the new mower had to have a cast iron differential. Later 2500's would have satisfied that but the power steering and ruggedness of the 3000 series tempted me. I ended up trading for a 2004 3235 with 54 inch deck and triple bagger. It was about $7k out the door minus $400 trade-in. I have been competely happy with it The 1450 required removing the 44 inch deck several times a season to clean underneath.I removed the 54 inch deck the first time last summer to clean after 2 seasons of mowing. It's actually easier to trim with the larger deck since it sticks out further from the tractor. The only negative is there's a couple places too narrow to get in and I have to trim with the hand mower.I disbaled the reverse no-mow switch the second week since the 2004 didn't have the disable switch on the ignition switch. It hasn't been back to the dealer for anything since purchase and has 130 plus hours on it. I don't have the Ducati in common with you but I do have a vintage 1958 Harley Duo-Glide purchased by me in 1963.

Bob B.

Bob B.

 

[Dockhead]

Dockhead, like you I have 1 acre of grass with shrubs and trees to mow around. I had a IH Cub 1450, purchased new in 1978. I had previously had experience with a small 25 inch rider which held up fairly well - I even made a snow plow for it out of 1/4 inch steel plate. I then bought a 34 inch rider from Penney's with an 8hp Tecumseh engine. The engine burned an excessive amount of oil from day one and one day an internal pin punched through the aluminum differential housing. I epoxied it and pedaled it at 471 hours. The 1450 was around $2600 which was a lot of money in 1978 but it held up like I expected it would.I traded it in in 2004 with 1100 hours and still running well. My one main criteria was that the new mower had to have a cast iron differential. Later 2500's would have satisfied that but the power steering and ruggedness of the 3000 series tempted me. I ended up trading for a 2004 3235 with 54 inch deck and triple bagger. It was about $7k out the door minus $400 trade-in. I have been competely happy with it The 1450 required removing the 44 inch deck several times a season to clean underneath.I removed the 54 inch deck the first time last summer to clean after 2 seasons of mowing. It's actually easier to trim with the larger deck since it sticks out further from the tractor. The only negative is there's a couple places too narrow to get in and I have to trim with the hand mower.I disbaled the reverse no-mow switch the second week since the 2004 didn't have the disable switch on the ignition switch. It hasn't been back to the dealer for anything since purchase and has 130 plus hours on it. I don't have the Ducati in common with you but I do have a vintage 1958 Harley Duo-Glide purchased by me in 1963.

Bob B.

Bob B.

Thanks, that's really useful information. So you don't find yourself wishing for something more maneuverable on your lot? That is an interesting comment about the wider mower deck sticking out.

That's also very interesting that a 1000-series tractor cost $2600 in 1978 (probably equivalent to about $10,000 today) -- I think there were new cars you could buy for that in those days. No wonder the tractors you can get for the same price today are so cheap in so many ways -- they have to be, I guess, to meet that price point.

That actually makes me feel better about the price of the 3000 series today which is actually less in real money than what you paid for your 1450 30-odd years ago. Over here we pay 25% import duty and 18% VAT so the gear is much more expensive. The 3235 costs about $7500 here without a mowing deck. With a deck, hydraulic hitch, snow blade, snow thrower, and grass catcher I'm looking at like $14,000 -- ouch!

But I'm starting to think it's a good investment in quality equipment which will last and hold its value, as opposed to buying some junk which will be worn out and worthless in a few years. The Germans have a saying -- I can't afford cheap shoes.

 

[Bob_Bainbridge]

Back in 1978 the 1000 series wasn't a big box store special. The tractors were built by International Harvester and sold by their dealers. I don't know if there were any other series in lawn & garden tractors other than moving up to the smaller farm tractors.

Bob B.

 

[Dockhead]

I see what you mean. Does this look your old machine?

International Cub Cadet 1450

Cub Cadet 1450 Photo Gallery

Looks like a really great, heavy duty machine.

 

[Fordlords]

The 1000's were actual garden tractors 30 years ago, although International made light lawn tractor models just called "Cadets," (No Cub in front of the name) that were the equal to what the 1000 series are today. -Fordlords-

 

[Bob_Bainbridge]

I see what you mean. Does this look your old machine?

International Cub Cadet 1450

Cub Cadet 1450 Photo Gallery

Looks like a really great, heavy duty machine.

Yep, that's it.The gallery of pictures looks like the owner had the same problem I did. The single cylinder 14hp Kohler engine vibrated a lot and all 4 mounting bolts came loose and fell out. The only indication I had was a loss of belt tension caused by the engine sinking down between the mounting rails. The belt went from the engine pulley, on the front, around 2 idler pulleys and then around the deck spindle pulley. I had to replace the engine mounts and also the aluminum oil pan which bolted to the mounts. The vibration and lowered engine position caused the pan to wear a big bevel on both sides. Had to hoist the engine out.

Bob B.