Lawn Tractor

[Ashful]

My neighbor has a 48" Scag walk-behind, and seems to have nothing but trouble with it. Then again, he's not too handy, so much of it may be self-inflicted.

He's mowing 6 acres with that little thing. Nuts!

 

[MasterMech]

My neighbor has a 48" Scag walk-behind, .......

He's mowing 6 acres with that little thing. Nuts!

The machine should be up to it but unless there is a sulky involved, that is pretty insane to walk a 6 acre lawn.

Not a fan of the scag walk units. Especially with the Advantage deck and even less so for the 52" units. Serious durability issues where the deck attaches to the traction frame. Floating deck units were worse yet, broken frames galore. Best thing you can do for the fixed deck machines is weld the two halves together permanently.

IIRC the axles were welded in on many of those too. Seems legit until a commercial cutter bends/breaks one and you have to replace it. Other brands had a bolted in axle assembly.

Getting their beloved cast iron sheaves off the spindle shafts was more often than not, much more fun than I signed up for.

 

[wesessiah]

The machine should be up to it but unless there is a sulky involved, that is pretty insane to walk a 6 acre lawn.

Not a fan of the scag walk units. Especially with the Advantage deck and even less so for the 52" units. Serious durability issues where the deck attaches to the traction frame. Floating deck units were worse yet, broken frames galore. Best thing you can do for the fixed deck machines is weld the two halves together permanently.

IIRC the axles were welded in on many of those too. Seems legit until a commercial cutter bends/breaks one and you have to replace it. Other brands had a bolted in axle assembly.

Getting their beloved cast iron sheaves off the spindle shafts was more often than not, much more fun than I signed up for.

with these mower threads running around, i think you take the crown for being the knowledge base of the forum, lol. i consider myself good for an amateur, but i have to wonder if you do it as a profession or side job, lol.

 

[Ashful]

MasterMech is an OPE mechanic. Used to work for a Deere dealer.

Okay... that's all I know.

 

[MasterMech]

I'm just a wannabe OPE mechanic now. I had to be a big boy and move on to a job that would pay more than the rent on my tiny 1 bedroom apt. Bummer. But on the bright side, my garage and driveway are jam packed with all kinds of OPE treasure now.

 

[HittinSteel]

Opinion on a cub/international 1000?

 

[nate379]

If your looking for a mower this late in the game a golf course is not in your future......

My mower is still in storage. Might need to cut the lawn in a few weeks though, it's starting to turn green.

 

[MasterMech]

Opinion on a cub/international 1000?

Gonna be like mowing with a Sherman Tank. Good garden tractor but I thought you wanted a mowing machine for tight areas? Use www.tractordata.com for rudimentary specs. Pay particular attention to turning radius. I would focus on late 80's and newer lawn tractors with hydro transmissions or small commercial walk-behinds.

 

[HittinSteel]

True, but I may not be able to pass up the price......guy wants to trade for my craigslist score 281XP

 

[Flatbedford]

The Cub 1000 is a gear drive. Also be sure that the motor mounts are in good shape. That vintage Cub has a rather complex engine mounting system that does wear out and can be kinda pricey to repair.

 

[HittinSteel]

Just to finish up this thread, I got an old cub IH 1000 (probably a late 70's).

It was just too clean and well taken care of to pass on. Mowed with it last night and it will do a fine job for what I need it to do. May not be the most nimble tractor, but I like older stuff and this thing is just COOL!

Once the mowing season is done, a buddy and I are going to paint the deck and the other white parts.

Thanks to everyone for their input in this thread.

 

[Flatbedford]

I think I saw that picture over at onlycubcadets.com . Congrats on the new to you IH Cub. You now have a machine that could last your lifetime.