wHAT WOULD YOU DO?

[papaglide]

Here is my dilemma:

A 2004 LT1018 needing approx $625 worth of servicing, new belts, blade sharpening, new tires, new battery etc.

A chance to buy a CC 149 with 48" deck and snow plow for $650. The tractor is in very good condition.

My wife thinks that I'm nuts for wanting to get the 149 and not fix up the 1018!

What would you do?

 

[diesel_nut]

The 149 will probably still out-last the 1018 by many years.

 

[CCinCT]

The 149 is a better machine, but I'm kind of puzzled as to what servicing you need done that costs $650. Can you elaborate? For instance, why new tires? Most people get more than 10 years out of a set of turfs on a mower. Is most of the cost dealer labor?

 

[papaglide]

$55 an hour for labor and they estimate that the service will take approx 3 hours. Some of the deck belts have cracks in them. The rear tires have cracks in them and the right rear has a slow leak so I am getting new tires with tubes. Here's the rundown:
oil change $25.00
new belts $120.00
sharpen blades and balance $50.00
new air filter $10.00
new tires $210.00(all 4)
pick up/ del'v $50.00
3 hrs @ $55.00/hr $165.00 labor could be 2 to 3 hours
battery $28.00
total (estimate) $658.00

 

[ewilliams]

Definitely the 149. I own two of them and they are great tractors. I have 12 IH cub cadets and the 149 is my favorite. I posted a reply to your early thread, take a look at it.

Earl

 

[JTKub]

..Here's the rundown:
oil change $25.00
new belts $120.00
sharpen blades and balance $50.00
new air filter $10.00
new tires $210.00(all 4)
pick up/ del'v $50.00
3 hrs @ $55.00/hr $165.00 labor could be 2 to 3 hours
battery $28.00
total (estimate) $658.00

That is absolutely insane. I know dealers need to keep the lights on, but things like $25 for an OC and $50 to sharpen 3 blades?!? Most of this is all super easy DIY things. Tires can be had for much less thru a tire shop. If this is the type of work you need a dealer to do, I highly suggest you skip buying the old Cub.

Joel

 

[greenmule]

Well,I would[and do] all of those simple little things my self,the new tires part put some slime in each one and your good to go probably 5-6 more years,just cause they got a few weather cracks in them don't mean anything unless they are leaking and if they do have a small leak,the slime will take care of that.

you could probably do the rest your self for 100 bucks.

 

[CCinCT]

oil change $25.00

That's not a bad price at all, especially if dealing with the used oil is an issue, like it is for me.

new belts $120.00

I believe you have three belts: transmission, deck, and PTO. Considering most of them are the kevlar type, that price seems about on par with anyone else.

sharpen blades and balance $50.00

Blade sharpening should be about $5-$8 per blade. If you don't have the ability to remove the blades from the deck, then you're kind of at the mercy of the dealer on this one. If that $50 includes the labor to remove the blades from the deck, then I can see why he's charging that. It's expensive though, might want to consider getting an air compressor and an impact driver to do this yourself. Will take about 6 years to pay for itself just in blade removal/installation costs.

new air filter $10.00

Seems about right.

new tires $210.00(all 4)

Also seems about average, though you could possibly save up to $40 or so if you shop around.

pick up/ del'v $50.00

Don't know how far you are from your dealer, but I'm about 16 miles and that's about what my dealer would charge me.

3 hrs @ $55.00/hr $165.00 labor could be 2 to 3 hours

Wow, I wish we had rates that low around here. We are in the $70's and $80's here.

battery $28.00

Seems about right too.

The thing you should consider is that the 149 isn't going to be any less maintenance prone to what you have now. It'll last longer in the end, but it'll still require work. If the work listed above is not things you are comfortable doing yourself, or don't have the tools to do yourself, then the 149 isn't going to save you any money year-to-year. What it will probably save you from having to do though is buy a new tractor in 5-10 years, depending on how your 1018 holds up.

But, if you're looking to get into doing these tasks yourself, then the 149 is a good tractor to start with. It's rugged, simple, and will give you some exposure to hydraulics. Plus parts are still readily available.

 

[papaglide]

Guys I really appreciate all of the input on this one. As far as doing things myself, I like to do things but I get cold feet when it comes to doing things I've never done before. Like removing the blades and putting new tires on the rims. The oil change and belt replacing I could myself. Obviously the battery too. If I had someone to guide me on the other things I could very well do them but.

CCinCT: But, if you're looking to get into doing these tasks yourself, then the 149 is a good tractor to start with. It's rugged, simple, and will give you some exposure to hydraulics. Plus parts are still readily available.

The 149 would be the tractor that I would like to learn to tinker with.

greenmule:put some slime in each one and your good to go

What is slime?

Also, how do you mount your own tires?

 

[diesel_nut]

I agree with someone above. If you can't do most of those items yourself, you ain't gonna like having an older tractor. While they may last longer they also seemingly need CONSTANT small fixes and repairs. If you can't do them, then the shop is gonna make a TON off of you.

 

[greenmule]

Does your tires leak now? or do they just have small weather cracks in them? slime is this stuff you buy that you put in your tires to stop leaks,its sold every where,if you just got a small leak in one,get some and follow directions,it works.

If you need new tires,order them someplace,take the wheels and old tires off,and go to a tire place and have them put them on for you,would probably be cheaper.

My tires on one lawnmower are about 15 years old and on another about 12 years old,original tires,all are cracked and full of slime.


Now sharpening the blades,you take deck off,you remove blades,you get you a small bench grinder,or use a hand grinder or you could even use a file,you sharpen them,[check into how to make sure they are balenced] and you put them back on same way they came off,maybe a 2 hour job. You should sharpen lawnmower blades at least once a year,guess you have never done this? no wonder they need sharpening,might have to buy new ones but bet I could get them sharp.

 

[JSharp]

I agree with someone above. If you can't do most of those items yourself, you ain't gonna like having an older tractor. While they may last longer they also seemingly need CONSTANT small fixes and repairs. If you can't do them, then the shop is gonna make a TON off of you.

+1.

Older stuff is fine but can quickly turn into major $ if you can't do the work yourself.

 

[Dave01]

You don't mention the price of the 1018, what are they asking?

I'd go with the 149. For $650 if its really in good condition with nothing needed to start it up and mow you'll have a great tractor for short money, thats in the right price range for a good 149, particularly with the plow. You can learn a bit from maintaining it, easy to do routine maintenance on that style tractor.

Didn't you buy the 1882 a week or so ago? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for having multiple tractors, but why are you looking for more so quickly after buying the first?

 

[papaglide]

You don't mention the price of the 1018, what are they asking?

The 1018 is mine and my brother in law wanted to buy it from me for $800. It runs great but only has a 42" deck and it takes me around 2 plus hrs to mow my yard.

I'd go with the 149. For $650 if its really in good condition with nothing needed to start it up and mow you'll have a great tractor for short money, thats in the right price range for a good 149, particularly with the plow. You can learn a bit from maintaining it, easy to do routine maintenance on that style tractor.

Didn't you buy the 1882 a week or so ago? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for having multiple tractors, but why are you looking for more so quickly after buying the first?

Yes, I bought the 1882 took the FEL off, attached the deck and mowed. It roughly took around an hour and a half. My thinking for having another tractor is twofold. The 1882 is 19 years old and I don't want to run it twice a week mowing. I thought of it as a utility tractor. Plus I'm going to plow up a garden with it and plow the driveway in winter. The 149 has a 48" deck and hydro lift and hydro trans. I think that it would be the perfect mowing tractor. Plus I'll pocket $200 from selling my smaller 1018.

BTW the 1882 mowed like a freakin tank! It is an awesome ride.

 

[papaglide]

Here's another possible scenario: my neighbor down the street offered to buy my LT1018 for $300 and give me his CC109 which he uses semi-regularly (and looks pretty decent too). Problem is that the deck is a 42", yup same small one that I have on the 1018. Here's my question: is it possible that the 50" deck from the 1882 will fit on the 109?

 

[Dave01]

The 1x9 series is older than your 1882 by 10 or more years. No, the deck from the 1882 won't fit, and the 109 has 10 HP while the 149, from the same series of tractor, has 14 HP and will be better suited to spin a 50" deck, though I can't remember if 50" was offered for a 149, I think so.

I don't follow your comment about the 1882 being 19 years old so you don't want to run it twice a week. That is a great tractor, strong and capable, I'm assuming it has a 48" deck and will cut great. I do understand if you just want to leave the loader on it and use another tractor for mowing. But, if you want to decrease your mowing time you need enough power to spin a 50" or 54" deck while moving at decent speed, and the 1882 with 18 HP will probably mow faster than the 149.

I hope this helps, bottom line is you need a big deck with power to spin it, so I'd say 14 HP single is minimum on the older Cubs, 18 HP twin is minimum on the newer Cubs.

 

[papaglide]

Thanks Dave for the insight. The 1882 has a 50" and it mowed great. My only fear is that I don't want to over work it with it being 19 years old. I original thought of it as a " utility tractor" and not necessarily a "lawn mower". Do you think that it could handle the twice weekly mowings? I just thought that it was "too" big a tractor to be a twice a week mower.
Along the lines of horse power, to spin a 48"-50" deck, do you think that I would need at least 16 to 18 h.p.? A 782 or 1600 series tractor would fit that.

 

[Dave01]

Here's my opinion on mowing with the 1882 - if you use it to mow twice a week, it will probably last longer than if you just use it once every few weeks! The twice a week mowing adds up to 3 hours per week, and in Buffalo you might mow 16-20 weeks, so maybe 60 hours max per year. You should be able to put 1,500 plus hours on the tractor with good routine maintenance, so that's a lot of years (I don't know how many hours are on it now).

I answered the HP question in my last post, hopefully I made sense.

I think you mix up the Cub series a bit, which tractors are older or newer. Take a look at one of the Cub reference sites to get an idea of what was built when.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of you having several tractors for different tasks. I'm not surprised the 1882 mows so well, the Super Garden Tractors, which the 1882 is, are very solid and strong tractors.

 

[papaglide]

Maybe I have to just rethink things a little. The 149 that I was looking at is form circa 1970-75 I think. After reading all the opinions regarding it on this thread and others it just seemed like a nice strong tractor that would fit the bill nicely as far as mowing my 2.0 acres. To be honest with you the 1882 did a great job mowing and was fun to drive. I am just afraid that I don't want to beat on it too much as far as snow plowing and mowing go. I understand your point regarding mowing and it made sense. Now as far as plowing goes, I might only use it about 6 -10 times a winter. I guess that that wouldn't be beating on it now would it?
Maybe I am just trying to rationalize a way to "collect" a great looking older tractor( 149) and have a use for it!
BTW the 1882 only has 335 hours on it, that might not be accurate but I'm about 75% sure it is.
Thanks again for your thoughts.

 

[diesel_nut]

Or will the 109 cut at a higher forward speed?


My GT2554 goes pretty fast by today's standards(actually about the right speed) but I could go MUCH faster yet with my old 1872. I'm working on a Murray right now an it is down right a slug in it's forward speed.