Saving Cub Cadet

[Hard]

Yanmar to buy Cub Cadet brand from MTD????

Yanmar will introduce a complete line of products from lawn & garden tractors, zero turns, SCUTs and CUTs under the Cub Cadet brand name. Products will not be sold through big box stores. Cub/Yanmar will only be sold through dealerships featuring Cub as their primary line of tractors with dedicated sales and service personel. All Cub products will be manufactured by Yanmar.

The above scenario, if it were to take place, could save a great brand like Cub Cadet. Current ownership will forever cheapen the brand.

My father always had Cub Cadet garden tractors but that was way back when International Harvester built them. They were well built, over engineered garden tractors. I would love to see Cub Cadet get back to building really top quality machines. I have been down the Cub Cadet road twice, recently, and they just don't stand up. And my tractors were not box store tractors, they were $10,000 plus SCUTs. Thank God I had one of the best dealers around to help resolve my problems.

Yanmar is supposed to be building the new CUTS for Cub in the near future. It would be great if they just bought the brand and built all the Cubs. They did a great job building my JD2320

 

[slowrev]

A foreign company buying a domestic brand from a domestic company is a good thing ?

 

[Hard]

A foreign company buying a domestic brand from a domestic company is a good thing ?

It doesn't have to be Yanmar. That's just an example. It could be any domestic manufacturer of high quality CUT's....oh, that's right, there aren't any (Mitsubishi and Kioti are already building the Cub CUT's). As far as the SUB-CUT's go, MTD has not got it right yet. I know from too much personal experience. Whatever company can get the CUT's and SUB-CUT's right they might as well build the lawn and garden tractors as well to ensure high quality throughout the entire lineup.

I would love for one domestic based manufacturer to build all of the Cub products and build them to a high level of quality but that does not seem possible at this time. Perhaps another solution would be for a US based manufacturer, say John Deere or Simplicity (which is owned by Briggs I believe) buy the Cub Cadet brand and have Cub become a quality, well made value priced brand and eliminate the JD or Simplicity value price tractors. That keeps the Cub Cadet brand in control of a US based manufacturer and may ensure a higher level of quality for those attractively priced lawn and garden tractors. Eliminate the Cub CUT's and SCUT's all together.

 

[Fordlords]

I can't comment on MTD/Cub Cadet CUT's and SCUT's, but as far as the Cub Cadet lawn and garden tractor line goes, it is very much on par with that of all the other manufacturers. I've seen the problems with MTD/CC's on the forum, and most of the ongoing issues with CC 1000 LT's were solved by CC, and short of a few owners voicing complaints about a lemon here and there, the vast majority of Cub Cadet LGT purchasers are very satisfied with their tractors. For the few problems that they have, I certainly don't think that this USA owned company can't solve those issues without having to be under ownership from Yanmar or any other foreign company. And the fact Cub Cadet (and the others) CAN do it right is evidenced in the fact that Consumer Reports hyped companies Honda and Yamaha are no longer selling LGT's in the USA. This, "Saving Cub Cadet," like it is a company in jeopardy is not the case at all, and the fact that they are taking the right measures to improve their product lines shows their dedication to the Cub Cadet name. How some say it's a shame MTD bought Cub Cadet from International in 1981 and they bought Troy Bilt and McCulloch and others is rediculous, as if they had not, those companies and their people employed in the USA building those machines would be long gone.

-Fordlords-

 

[Hard]

Troy-Bilt tillers and McCulloch Chainsaws are not quite what they used to be either, check out a Bolens tractor at Lowes as well...While MTD is not in "jeopardy" as you said ford, and I do agree with you, it's my opinion that the Cub Cadet brand may be in jeopardy due to MTD's cost/quality cutting techniques once it has acquired a once premium brand.

MTD/Cub is doing the right thing by having Yanmar build the Cub CUT's, now if they would just get them to build the SUB-CUT's and look into contracting out the manufacturing of the Cub lawn and garden tractors.

 

[slowrev]

MTD's quality has risen in the last couple of years. Lots heavier decks and such. Actually the yardman I bought last spring has the identical HD deck with washout option as the CC ones. I feel I got a good little riding mower for under $900. Cut about 1.5 acres all last year with it and zero problems.
The little booger will climb hills that no other rider I have tried other than my old gravely would climb.
Ben

 

[canEHdian]

I think this is true. Well, the Yanmar/Cub Cadet part anyway. They are joining together, as I saw it advertised in their booth at the Kentucky Farm Equipment show in Louisville several weeks back.

As far as sturdiness goes, I believe their new line (the 6000 series perhaps? I don't remember, but there's some new line that's being designed) is supposed to have a better base and frame. They're expecting the new line to be a huge hit. With that said, I'm thinking it's a bigger tractor than what you're talking about here, but all in all, it'll probably be a step in the right direction.

I'm also curious as to whether their colours will be changing. They had a display at their booth that had a merged Yanmar/Cub Cadet logo, and a modelled tractor (not an actual one..just a display) that had black/white colours rather than Cub Cadet's white/yellow. Anyone know more about that?

 

[mfd480]

A quick google search for Yanmar/Cub Cadet:

Yanmar Tractors return to the US

 

[Hard]

A great step in the right direction! Yanmar won't let MTD wrap a sub-par tractor around their rock solid engine. If MTD is smart, they'll contract Yanmar to build the entire tractor line. The whole tractor, not just the engine.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

If MTD is smart,

I don't think you get to be a multi-million dollar company by being stupid so I am sure they have some smart guys there that know what they are doing.