N80
Super Member
I bought this mower about 3 years ago and it was my first Z turn and really my first riding mower purchase of any sort. I think it was about $4000.
I got this particular model for the specs, price and availability at a local dealer/repair shop.
It is one step above their base homeowner lineup which is the ZT1 line.
You can see the specs on the Cub Cadet web site.
The standout specs for me are the 24 hp Kawasaki engine and the fabricated (not stamped) mower deck. That fabricated deck meant nothing to me when I bought it but it has proved to be very beefy, very durable and has good discharge.
I also like the 'exo-skeleton' design and the general lack of extraneous plastic crap all over the mower. It makes maintenance and cleaning very easy.
This unit gets pretty rough treatment. I have a 'lawn' area of less than an acre but then about 2-3 acres of not-quite-lawn but not-quite-field. The only care these areas get is mowing. Combination of 50% fescue and 50% weeds. These areas are rough. They also tend to have fire ant mounds. Mostly flat but some hills.
Cut quality is excellent in the 'lawn' areas even if the grass is deep. In the fields the cut quality is not as good especially with tall or wispy weeds as it leaves the stalks standing. Also, if the fescue has gone to seed stalks the cut is very poor and generally requires two passes to get all the missed stalks. I have heard this is true with most mowers so it may not be unique to this unit.
Power and handling have been fine for my needs. Seat is adjustable, has arms and is comfortable.
There have been three problems. One was my fault and one was someone else's (probably the dealer) and the third one is on Cub Cadet.
1. When I first got it the traction was terrible, slipping and sliding when turning even on flat dry ground. Just spinning tires on slopes. The problem was the tire pressure in the rear tires. It was at 35 pounds. It was supposed to he 10. At 10 traction is fine.
2. The blade belt kept coming off. I really thought I'd bought a dud. Took it back to the dealer and it never came off for him. The problem was that I was engaging the belt at mid throttle which just seemed like the right way. The manual says to engage at full throttle. Doing that, it has not been a problem since. I actually videoed belt engagement at half and full throttle. At full throttle it is violent but it snaps into place. At half throttle the belt flops all over the place.
3. The OEM blades that came on it were garbage. They cut just fine initially but they wore out fast. Chipped, scalloped and dished and they did not hit much other than grass. A few sticks and a few pine cones. I replaced them with a set of Cub Cadet 'sand blades' which have held up just fine. They have hit quite a few ant hills too. They need sharpening but otherwise have worn as expected.
Another related issue is that the hub on the spindles only accepts Cub Cadet brand blades which is pretty crappy of them. Fortunately the sand blades are good. If I ever need to replace a spindle I will replace all three with a standard blade mount spindle.
One thing I don't like is that it is hard to see how much fuel is left or when it is full when filling it.
Other than these minor issues there have been no mechanical or quality issues after 3 summers of mowing and it has been used hard and probably above its intended purpose. As a brand I am fairly impressed with Cub Cadet.
Would I buy it again? Probably not. This is for several reasons. The first is that I had no experience with zero turn mowers and just wasn't ready to spend a bunch on a commercial unit. Now that I know how useful they are and perfect for my purposes I would get a bigger unit with a bigger deck. That is no fault of this current unit. Second, the fields are bumpy. I would probably buy a unit that at least had suspension on the front caster wheels.
If I had a very large lawn and no fields to mow I would buy this unit again in a heartbeat. Even as is it is getting the job done just fine and nothing has broken.
Would I buy a commercial grade Cub Cadet? I don't know. I don't think I've ever seen a pro using Cub Cadet but based on my experience with this model I certainly might. Maybe this 60" model:
