New Machine Cub Cadet commercial

[Toad]

After lots of reading, looking, talking to dealers , I made a choice to buy the new cub cadet 3660 with the 23 hp kawi motor. Now I know that this is an mtd product , but man it is built nice. 2 year waranty , 60'' deck, hydro over gear, 23 kawi , all for $6500. My other z is a scag , witch I like very much , But is now equipt with a trac-vac ,witch will be used on bagging jobs only, and clean-ups. Most of the machines I looked at were in the 7000, to 8000 range. I got such a good deal because the dealer is in my small hometown and knows me personally. They even held it for me for almost 2 months so I could pay it of. There service is very good . I am 50 miles from the nearest scag dealer , or any other type of commercial dealer. So the service will be important. I've put 10 hrs on it so far and love it, it cuts nice, handels great, climes walls ,and that kawi is so much more powerful and quitier than the kohler on my scag. I almost overlooked this machine, but am glad I took the time to visit my local dealer. I'll let you all know if I have any problems with this machine . Just some more info for you all. Dave

[dhicks]

There is a commercial site down the road from my house. I noticed the guy cutting was using a Cub Tank ZTR. The machine did an exceptional job cutting.

[crs]

I think that machine is the same one LESCO sells through thier stores. It looks to be the identical machine to me. I know a couple of guys with the LESCO version and they are happy with it. Let us know what you think down the road.

[Toad]

Where could I see a picture of this lesco machine? Do they have a web site,

[Eric ELM]

The last I looked at Lesco's website, there wasn't any machine pictures. Go to Lesco to see one or just imagine your machine Green. Green is Lesco, Red is MTD and you know your color is, but they are all the same basically. Lesco used Kawasaki and I think MTD advertised they use Kohler, so I guess your's would be closer to a Lesco Viper.

[David Gretzmier]

we have a cub dealer here- keep me informed on the long term use of your rig- we might get one! good luck dave g

[Toad]

Yes , I will keep you informed, and thanks for your replies.Eric, my machine is yellow. even better

[oneEXMARKfan]

My Shind. [Kubota/Cub/MTD/Ferris] dealer said the cubs and MTDs were the same, except some people like to pay more for the yellow paint. Don't know.....(yellow is a nice color, though)

[Lawn-Scapes]

I sat on the Tank the other day.. didn't drive it though. The seat was really comfortable. It didn't remind me of a Lesco at all. The 2 things the service guy pointed out about the machine were the 1. Artculating front axle pivot - You can take a pin out that allows the front of deck to pivot to the contour of the terrain or put it in and lock the deck for slopes and hills. 2. The Command Cut System - hardend Marbane blades and 1.7" blade overlap = 50% more than the competition.

If my mower goes down I'll take it for a test drive....

Oh yeah, and he stated the trans is nice with no hoses between pump and motor....

[Toad]

TSG Yeah the piviting front axel is nice, you wouldn't believe how much shock this takes out of rough terrain. The trany and pump on these machines is all on unit. This system is very tight and responsive.

[MrFikit]

Toad
You can get to the Cub Cadet Commercial website through www.mtd.com. And yes, Lesco Viper, Cub Cadet Tank and MTD Pro MMZ are all the same thing, pretty much.

[MrFikit]

Sorry about that!
I meant www.mtdproducts.com. You'll definetly find the info you're looking for there! I don't know what that other stuff was.:(

[awm]

let us know your evaluation. i looked at them but some locals
were using them at the time along with the wright stander.
at that time (last yr) they were saying they liked their standers better. machine looked par to me though.

[roscioli]

I hope that MTD commercial mowers are better than their wal-mart counterparts! That price sounds good, but I would be affraid of a company that also makes the amazing MTD YARD MACHINE 42" with 17.5 hp briggs that cant push tall dry grass through its catcher. 17.5 hp my arse. more like 7.5.... Good thing yours is a Kawi

[Richard Martin]

Before everyone gets all excited and sells their Dixies and Lazers to buy this rolling peice of crap I suggest that they do a search (available at the top of every page) for MTD. Make sure you click the "subject title" button.

Or if you want you can just click here to see one of the threads on MTD/Lesco/Cub Cadet/whatever other name they can come up with because real commercial operators won't buy it under the name of the month.

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=5400

[Eric ELM]

Rich, I still laugh :D when I read Lazer's reply to the thread you listed in your post. I sure do miss Lazer. I hope he has some time this winter to start posting again.

[lakegastonla]

Richard, you are F.O.S. I have personally tested one of the new Lesco models, and it is a completely redesigned model. (and quite nice) Therefore, the old posts you dredged up are virtually worthless. The deck, spindles, belts, blades and pullys are different now. The problems I heard about before dealt with the deck design and they have been FIXED. Now they use a fabricated steel deck(much like your precious lazer) of the same design as their walkbehind mowers. Solid deck with solid components. It lays down some mean stripes, too. :eek: I know you hate to hear that, but it is true! It's so easy to bash a whole line of equipment off of half the facts. Also it takes less effort than actually bothering to learn the truth.

[Fantasy Lawns]

opinions are like belly buttons .......everyones got one ........ except we DO own one of these "rolling pieces of crap" ......

not my words but I WILL say that OUR MTD 2560 ( the red one)cost us around $ 6800 out the door .......over 800 hrs in 10 months ........NEVER ..... NONE .... NOT ONE DAY of DOWN TIME ....... NEVER IN THE SHOP .........CUTS EXCELLENT .....Wet or dry .......ONLY issue has been a broken PTO belt (15 min fix in the field) n you have to do your maintance .... lube .... oil ....blades ....wash her down

This is the Only MTD Machine We use (I have a couple Walkers for our detail jobs) ....... I have an old back-up 54 Hydro WB CUB about 5 years old ....... n it is what Rich says.... I hate using that thing ... but it's got about 2 years dust on it ;->

Don't get me wrong the DC is an excellent machine ( had one about 3 years ago ) ....... our Cub Dealer use to Sell em ...... before he switched to Walker ...... but in our area most jobs are small ..... with LOTS of beds ....... overhanging Citrus Trees .......Small Gates ......n the 60" Deck is for Mainly Wide Open Larger Commercial Jobs or River Front Estates

[hubb]

I own a MTD pro 36" wb belt drive and I love it. Its what got me started in this business. Although I haven't been in this biz very long, I bought this machine because it was about $500 to 1000 dollars cheaper than any of its comparable counterparts. My other occupation is Mechanical Maintenance Tech at a large silicon production plant here in MO. I work on and maintain large high tech machines that run 24/7. I've been doing this for 12 years. I think I can look at most any type of machine and tell whether it will last or not. I based my purchase on my knowledge of machines, there workings and reliability as I know it. Not on others opinions. I believe that this machine will last as long as most of the machines out there. My other machine is Scag Tiger Cub. Also purchased under the assumption that my knowledge of machinery would superscede any and all other opinions. I can't guarentee that any of my machines will out last any of your machines. Just like I cant say my Dad can beat up your Dad. But I think I made 2 very good choices, even if I'm not an expert on mowers. I hope that all of the guys and gals out there doing this kind of work has great luck with their machines. They (we) deserve it! :cool:

[Richard Martin]

Lakegastonla wrote:
.......................................
Richard, you are F.O.S. I have personally tested one of the new Lesco models, and it is a completely redesigned model. (and quite nice) Therefore, the old posts you dredged up are virtually worthless. The deck, spindles, belts, blades and pullys are different now. The problems I heard about before dealt with the deck design and they have been FIXED.
.......................................

Then you didn't read any of the previous threads. The problems are not just with the decks as this thread says. I am not FOS. If you would actually notice the number of reports of trouble with these mowers you would see why myself and others (Eric Elm, Lazer, Southside etc.) do not recommend purchase of this line of mowers.

Here's another thread about them... http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=619&highlight=MTD

[Scag48]

Amen to Richard's post! I haven't used any of the Cub commercial stuff, but I've heard alot of bad stuff about them so I'm not going to venture that way. I use Toro right now, but next time it will be Exmark. I like the decks a little better and the Turf Tracer Hp ECS looks very nice. MTD makes all that crap that you can buy at Lowes and stuff, maybe crapsman too, but I'm not sure there. Yardman, Yard Machines, Yard whatver, MTD. I guess somebody is going to have to run these things to get them up there to 3,000 hours like on Eric's choppers to see how dependable they are. My Toro's are gonna run forever. My 21" gets used 5-6 hours a week and isn't a commercial and it's 7 years old and counting. Go Toro! (and all the other good brands!)

[SLS]

I have a MTD 'LawnFlite'. 20"pusher with a 3.5 B&S. Was my grandfathers mower...probably 15 years old or more.......

I use it everyday and work it hard in rough ditches and small manicured areas that my 60" Laser won't fit in.

Never a problem...always starts on the 1st pull. Did put new wheels on it this spring as it shows no signs of "giving up the ghost"...not yet anyhow.

I guess it don't count as far as the discussion of 'dependability' of MTD is concerned.......it's not "commercial" and I believe he bought it at Lowes. :D

[cantoo]

I also bought one of these MTD POS last Spring and what a pain it has been. My 13 year old drives it doing soccer fields, a cemetary and about 8 or 10 other properies every week around 25 acres total. My wife also uses it when we need to discharge instead of collecting with the Walker.
As for the long list of problems I have had with it there isn't one. My wife broke three deck belts on it before we figured out that we couldn't cut with the deck in the travel position, that has been it. We don't have alot of hours on it yet maybe 300 or so but I'm not worried, I don't have big dollars invested in this machine. It is saving alot of wear and tear on our expensive Walkers and that's why I bought it, so I'm happy. If I wanted another expensive durable front line mower I would have bought the Dixie.
I'm like the rest of the guys here, I get tired of guys who don't own the actual machines telling me how ****ty they are and how they are going to fall apart on me, it doesn't seem to matter what the brand is.