JSUnlimited
Platinum Member
After pacing around the house for a little bit to cool down, I felt compelled to post a message here to share my experiences with a new GT3100 w/54" deck. My grandfather who lives next to me decided it was time to trade in his Cub 3240 for a new one. Having owned two prior Cubs without any issues, he felt that the new tractor should be a Cub as well.
Trying to make a long story short, I go with him to look at new ones.....
We both decided that a new GT3100 would be the one to get. He considered getting the 3200 but either one of us could justify the $1000 difference in price for simply getting a tilt wheel, diff lock (he does not use those features on his 3240 anyways), and a couple more HP. The local dealer (which is just a retail store front, no service dept., has a service dept. 45 minutes away at other office) was very friendly and took the time to explain things to my Grandfather. The salesman even came out to the house and appraised the 3240 for a trade value (we felt the trade amount was good!)
Monday morning, the salesman called and said that he was on the way with the new one. (Keep in mind that this was almost 3 weeks ago when we decided to get the 3100, they had to "order" the 54 deck as they only had 50" decks available.) About 15 minutes later he called back and said that when loading the tractor he noticed a "massive" hydraulic leak and he probably would not be bringing it that day. So yesterday, he calls and says that the leak was fixed (pinched o-ring on the junction block) and a service tech was on the way with it. It shows up when promised and the guy that brought it did not say two words that whole time he was there. He picked up the old 3240 and was gone.
Grandpa, not feeling to well asked me to do some mowing to "check her out". I put about a 1/2 hour on the clock and one of the first things I noticed is that the directional pedals were VERY difficult to move. The pedals were so stiff that my leg was tired in the first couple of minutes of trying to hold it down. I tried to use the "cruise control" but because the mechanism was so stiff it would not even hold. Everything else seemed fine, did a nice job mowing!
Today, grandpa loaded the tractor up and took it to the service center 45 minutes away. He had to because the local guy took the day off. While there, they had to "adjust" the pedals as the were binding together where they pass through the floorboard. This was done by adding some washers between the pedal mount and the levers going to the transmission....seemed like a cob job to me. So grandpa comes back today and off he goes mowing. The pedals worked great and still no hyd. oil leaks, but 5 minutes into mowing, there was a huge noise and some smoke that smelled like burning rubber. He immediately shut it off and we found that the rubber boot that goes between the engine and transmission had come loose and became wrapped around the driveshaft causing damage to the plastic firewall and part of the flywheel of the engine. Of couse, all of the people we needed to talk to today are off.
We ony have 1 hour on this machine and have had 3 problems all ready! Grandpa feels loyal to the Cub Cadet line but we are less than impressed!
He looked at and liked the JD X series but they would not take a non-JD on trade and he did not want to have to mess with trying to sell his 3240 via the advertiser, ebay, etc.. He did not like any of the Kubota series and the local NH dealer did not have anything to look at.
So I guess tommorrow, we'll see what happens. I told him he should demand a whole new GT3100 and start over or get his check, and 3240 back and go back to the JD dealer and get the one he liked there (x540 w/54" deck) and I'll try and sell his 3240. I imagine the engine will have to be pulled in order to repair the flywheel and boot. So much for made in the USA!
Trying to make a long story short, I go with him to look at new ones.....
We both decided that a new GT3100 would be the one to get. He considered getting the 3200 but either one of us could justify the $1000 difference in price for simply getting a tilt wheel, diff lock (he does not use those features on his 3240 anyways), and a couple more HP. The local dealer (which is just a retail store front, no service dept., has a service dept. 45 minutes away at other office) was very friendly and took the time to explain things to my Grandfather. The salesman even came out to the house and appraised the 3240 for a trade value (we felt the trade amount was good!)
Monday morning, the salesman called and said that he was on the way with the new one. (Keep in mind that this was almost 3 weeks ago when we decided to get the 3100, they had to "order" the 54 deck as they only had 50" decks available.) About 15 minutes later he called back and said that when loading the tractor he noticed a "massive" hydraulic leak and he probably would not be bringing it that day. So yesterday, he calls and says that the leak was fixed (pinched o-ring on the junction block) and a service tech was on the way with it. It shows up when promised and the guy that brought it did not say two words that whole time he was there. He picked up the old 3240 and was gone.
Grandpa, not feeling to well asked me to do some mowing to "check her out". I put about a 1/2 hour on the clock and one of the first things I noticed is that the directional pedals were VERY difficult to move. The pedals were so stiff that my leg was tired in the first couple of minutes of trying to hold it down. I tried to use the "cruise control" but because the mechanism was so stiff it would not even hold. Everything else seemed fine, did a nice job mowing!
Today, grandpa loaded the tractor up and took it to the service center 45 minutes away. He had to because the local guy took the day off. While there, they had to "adjust" the pedals as the were binding together where they pass through the floorboard. This was done by adding some washers between the pedal mount and the levers going to the transmission....seemed like a cob job to me. So grandpa comes back today and off he goes mowing. The pedals worked great and still no hyd. oil leaks, but 5 minutes into mowing, there was a huge noise and some smoke that smelled like burning rubber. He immediately shut it off and we found that the rubber boot that goes between the engine and transmission had come loose and became wrapped around the driveshaft causing damage to the plastic firewall and part of the flywheel of the engine. Of couse, all of the people we needed to talk to today are off.
We ony have 1 hour on this machine and have had 3 problems all ready! Grandpa feels loyal to the Cub Cadet line but we are less than impressed!
He looked at and liked the JD X series but they would not take a non-JD on trade and he did not want to have to mess with trying to sell his 3240 via the advertiser, ebay, etc.. He did not like any of the Kubota series and the local NH dealer did not have anything to look at.
So I guess tommorrow, we'll see what happens. I told him he should demand a whole new GT3100 and start over or get his check, and 3240 back and go back to the JD dealer and get the one he liked there (x540 w/54" deck) and I'll try and sell his 3240. I imagine the engine will have to be pulled in order to repair the flywheel and boot. So much for made in the USA!
