How old is to old?

[Wilbilly]

Just wondering what the oldest cadets that used regularly? I'm thinking about getting another cadet to mow with but I really want something older like a 100 or something like that. But I'm really hesitate about mowing every week with one that old.

[Jackman]

Well the old ones are a ton more reliable and repairable than the new offerings , at my job there was a guy that mowed his lawn with a 1968 CC 104 he was the second owner, he bought it when it was 1 year old so I'll say he had started mowing his lawn with it in 1969, four years ago he bought a new CC and gave me the 104 , his new CC is tempermental but good , when it works good its good and when it has an issue it goes to the shop for a switch or spindle , btw the owner is 90 years old and still mows his lawn , he could have kept the old 104 but the steering was loose as in 6 inches of steering wheel slop and the shifter went wet noodle, wet noodle shifter was easy fix but the steering as far as I can tell there is no fix its worn out needs a replacement

[Eugene]

I have 3 narrow framed Cub Cadets in mowing condition and one waiting to be parted out. They were manufactured in the late 1960s and still in use.

Wife mows almost daily with a 105 on the acreage. Daughter and son in-law mow weekly with a manual transmission CC.

I have owned narrow framed Cub Cadets for around 35 years. They are tough as nails. Parts are readily available.

If you get one, don't be afraid to use it.

Reference Jackman's post. Parts to repair the Ross type steering sector are available. The repair is easy, it takes a bit of time to remove the sector from the tractor.

Edit: There is a rounded over stud on the side of the steering sector. This stud fits into a worm shaped slot. Typically the stud is worn out and either needs to be replaced or reshaped. The worn stud is the cause of most of the steering wheel slop.

[T-Mo]

I mowed with both a 104 and a 125, and I can tell you the older ones aren't as efficient mowing as the newer ones. My 2006 John Deere X320 can mow circles around the old ones. The newer ones have tighter turn radius, more efficient method to translate power to the blades, better designed decks, etc. If you can avoid the cheaper made new ones, like MTD, the cheaper Cub Cadets and John Deeres, and go with the more expensive ones, they will last a long, long time.

[staninlowerAL]

I have a MTD CC LT1050 w/26hp Kohler engine, made in 2005 to mow about 2 hours every week, April through October. Never replaced the drive belt, 2nd mower deck drive belt.

[Wilbilly]

I guess I'll explain. I'm mowing know with a b allis chalmers and a 6ft woods belly mower. It we are thinking about moving and I think the Allis will be to big for the new yard. So my hair brain idea is that iv got a 67 ford f 350 and a 67 farmall 806. I though I would get rid of the Allis and get a 67 cub and a 67 cadet. I though the ol ford with a cadet and a cub would make a pretty good show peace. And I could use them to mow with so to justify it with the boss around here. I use to have a 1200 cadet, I really loved it but it got to the point that the quick attach mule drive in the front wouldn't stay on so it got traded off.

[BigBill]

These older cadets run better than anything new. Anything can be repaired once you understand how it works. Most of the time with a used cadet I find it needs a headgasket, a throttle / choke cable, a clutch throw out bearing, carb cleaned, points cleaned. Maybe a belt it two. I been mowing with a 1200 cc for years now, my 100 cc with the tiller tills spring and fall and sleeps the rest of the time.

[Eugene]

I would wait until I moved in to my new residence to see what I needed for a "lawn" mower.

I use to mow our lawn and the 104 year old neighbor ladies lawn with a narrow framed Cub Cadet. Neighbor lady died, property sold, wife put in flowers, I put in asparagus patches and a small garden. Now more efficient to mow with a push mower.

[BigBill]

I picked up a 104 and when I got it home I removed the head. It's been sitting since it was a few years old because of bad gas. The orginal honing stone cross hatch was still in the cylinder. Other than a stuck exhaust valve and the usual carb cleaning, cleaned the points she runs like new. A mower deck and snowplow it was $150 well spent. You can some great buys there still out there. Remember these are garden tractors not just lawn mowers. They have cast iron geared transmissions, with steel frames not sheet metal.

[T-Mo]

I picked up a 104 and when I got it home I removed the head. It's been sitting since it was a few years old because of bad gas. The orginal honing stone cross hatch was still in the cylinder. Other than a stuck exhaust valve and the usual carb cleaning, cleaned the points she runs like new. A mower deck and snowplow it was $150 well spent. You can some great buys there still out there. Remember these are garden tractors not just lawn mowers. They have cast iron geared transmissions, with steel frames not sheet metal.

Their gear drives have the same transmission as the Farmall Cubs do. Back in the '60s and early '70s, all the garden tractors, no matter what brand, were made with heavy, welded steel frames with a lot of metal, hardly any plastic. Cub Cadet, John Deere, Simplicity, Case, Wheel Horse, Sears, etc., all were made to last a lifetime and then some. A lot are still in use today. But, they had massive turning radius, had less efficient methods of getting power to the mower decks, and had some safety issues. But, they're cool and they're durable, and they're made to last.

[Matt Kirsch]

Only issue I see is wear and rust on the mowing decks. No matter how thorough you are about cleaning, the decks eventually wear through and rust out. You can only weld on them so much.

In my travels at consignment auctions and flea markets the older cub cadet decks seem to command a premium price if they look usable.

[Wilbilly]

I would wait until I moved in to my new residence to see what I needed for a "lawn" mower.

I use to mow our lawn and the 104 year old neighbor ladies lawn with a narrow framed Cub Cadet. Neighbor lady died, property sold, wife put in flowers, I put in asparagus patches and a small garden. Now more efficient to mow with a push mower.

We already own the property, that why I know the 67 in mower not going to work out well. We are going from mowing almost 2 acres to a little less than 1 acre ,and it going to be more stuff in the way. I was thinking of a cub tractor with a cc for geting the small areas spots hard to get to.

[Eugene]

Son purchased a Cub Cadet zero turn mower almost 2 years ago. It's way faster than the narrow framed Cub Cadets and gets in tight spaces. The tight spaces that the zero turn can not get into, weed eater.

I use a CC for mowing around black walnut trees in preparation for harvest. The CC's turning radius in tighter than a standard Cub tractor. but not tight enough to circle a tree.

[BigBill]

How long will the zero turn last when compared to the old cc garden tractors. My 70 8hp cadet pulls my trailer with a 1/4 cord of firewood in it. All winter long it feeds my wood stove, I added disc brakes on it. These older garden tractors are work horses.

My cc,

100 with a creeper, 42" deck and tiller
70 with the 38" deck, trailer and snowplow
1200 with the 44" deck and seeder, added disc brakes
104 with the 38" deck
122 with the 42" deck
108 with the 42" deck and creeper. (Backup for the tiller.) disc brakes.
108 parts tractor w/creeper.

I purchased the parts to change the pto from the button to the disc.

Three int154's and one fcub

[gitractorman]

This gets down to more of personal preference, and allowable time than anything else. If I had my choice, and was retired or had all the time in the world to mow, I'd gladly use an older Cub Cadet or Farmall Cub to mow. I truly do enjoy riding and mowing on those tractors, I like tinkering around with them, and figuring out their quirky needs. However, with two kids in school, 4 sports at a time going on, and 2 acres to mow, I can tell you that nothing will beat a new machine at efficiency! I can mow my 2 acres in about 40-minutes with my Simplicity Legacy with a 60-inch mower deck. Most times I don't even need to get the push mower out to trim around things because this cuts so close and turns so tight. I can literally mow right around trees and obsticles, and the foot controlled hydrostatic drive makes it effortless.

I also have a Cub Cadet original now, with a 38" mower deck, and while it's fun to play with, there's no way I'd spend a half a day on it doing what I can do on the Simplicity in 40 minutes. The old Cub Cadets are great machines, and I've owned, rebuilt, used, more than most people on this forum combined. I've worked on nearly every model Cub Cadet, and at my most recent count I've personally owned over 40 different Cub Cadets, so I'm pretty familiar with their strengths and weaknesses.

Again, this gets down to what do you want to do, and how much time do you want to spend doing it? Also, how much time do you want to spend working on it? My Simplicity Legacy is a 2007 model, and has a little over 600-hours on it. My annual ritual is in the spring, change oil and service the tractor, clean/grease/mount the mower deck, and that's it for the year. Maybe in late summer, if we've had a wet year (like this year) I'll get under it and clean the mower deck, but that's it. It's 10 years old now, has dug 2 ponds with the front end loader, has tilled countless acres of virgin land, and has literally mowed 2 to 3 acres of grass every week during the summer for 10 years, and I've never done a thing to it other than the annual service. Having said that, the Simplicity tractor is one of the best built machines on the market, and definitely in the higer price category, but you know what, tonight when I have an hour and want to get the lawn done before it rains, I can hop on it and be done in less than an hour, without thinking about it.

I've also worked on the zero turn mowers, and truely you get what you pay for. If you want to only spend the money on a Home Depot/Lowes Cub Cadet/John Deere zero turn, plan on replacing it in less than 10 years. If you want to make an investment and have something that will last a long time, plan to spend some $$ and get a high end Cub Cadet, Toro, Exmark, or Ferris from a dealer! The stuff the professionals use is really good equipment, and if it can hold up to a kid driving it off of a trailer or curb 10-times a day, it will last any homeowner a lifetime!