Cub Cadet
Reviews and Complaints

I bought a cub cadet enforcer. When i got it home i tested it out on my personal lawn and with in the firs five minutes the belt shredded! So i went on like and read about all the horror stories of similar problems. I took the mower to watermans farm and machinery. They are a local cub dealer in sabattus maine. They were verry helpful and the tech (Lee) that worked on my mower was a cub guru. He really new his stuff he adjusted the deck and tweaked here and adjusted there and the mower runs great. I mowed for 10 hours straight today with no problems. So dont give up on yo0ur enforcer all it needs is a good tech that knows what hes doing!

Purchased in early May 2010 new with a few hours registered?on odometer.
Screeching when engaging blade lever. Pulling power diminished gradually after mowing every 10 days. Final seasonmowing today 11/10/2010. Traction stops at full depression of forward pedal resumes at half pedal. Called local CubCadetDealer.Very helpful.Advise to check for stretched transmission belt. None shown in operators manual. Removed mower deck, 3 pins, one cotter pin, simple.
Inspected v- belt from engine to transmission. Reversed, flat side on pully, v-side to the outside. Slackend belt, twisted and prodded with tool, pulled through and repositioned correctly. Reassembled, no more screech, new "kick-###" torque. Better than first run back in May. OBVIOUSLY BELT WAS INSTALLED INCORRECTLY UPSIDE-DOWN. PROBLEM NOW IS BELT IS PREMATURELY WORN WITH A NICK FROM JAMMING AND STRETCHING. REPLACEMENT TAKE 2-3 HOURS AT SHOP, PRICE $165 PLUS PARTS. BELTS NOT COVERED UNDER MANUFACTURERS WARRANTY WHICH IS STILL ACTIVE PURCHASED EXTENDED AT HOME DEPOT. MANAGER WILL CHECK INTO IT, CALL BACK NEXT MONDAY. SO FAR HOME DEPOT HAS FIXED SUBSEQUENT PROBLEMS NO MATTER WHAT I BUY FROM THEM. THERE HAVE BEEN OTHER ITEMS AT OTHER STORES WITH SIMPLE MISTAKES BEARING EXPENSIVE CONSEQUENCE MORE OFTEN THAN I WOULD PREFER. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MANUFACTURING THESE DAYS, DOMESTIC OR FOREIGN? WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN THIS CASE IS FOR THE MANUFACTURER TO "OWN-UP" TO "SCREW-UPS". ALL TOO OFTEN EVERYBODY WANTS TO BLAME THE CUSTOMER FOR THE WRONG FUEL, THE WRONG GRASS, THE WRONG TIRE PRESSURE...IT IS ALL WRONG BS. BE PERSISTANT AND YOU WILL GET SERVICE. WHEN PERSISTANCE CEASES TO WORK, I WILL START NEGATIVE BLOGS AS I AM RETIRED AND HAVE THE TIME TO GATHER GROUPS OF DISSATISFIED CONSUMERS TO BAND TOGETHER WITH A GOOD LAWYER AS A LAST RESORT. CONSUMER RIGHTS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER IN A WORLD OF MARKETABLE "JUNK".

I just bought a cub cadet LTX 1045 and a bagger. The first time I tried to use the bagger I noticed a lot of grass and leaves were being thrown out from under the right front mower deck. With other mowers this usually means the chute is full. I mainly bought the bagger to vacuum up leaves and pine needles but nearly a forth of what I was mowing over was not going into the bag but being blown out into the yard. As for the pine needles the mower was "balling" them up and leaving them on the lawn. Another thing, after about 10 minutes of mowing the chute to the bagger came apart, shooting debris all over the lawn.
I called Costumer Service and guess what, It's not a bagger but a grass catcher, not meant for leaves and pine needles. WHAT! Also I was told grass is attached and not loose like leaves. Well grass doesn't go into the GRASS CATCHER any better than leaves.
So now I am stuck with a $2000 machine that mows and that is all. And those big heavy blades it comes with are already nicked and all I have is grass and leaves and pine needles that I have mowed for years. What a jip.

I just was told at your south haven michigan store that my business is no longer wanted or needed there by your not so helpfull employees.

just bought a cub cadet push mower last week, put oil and gas into mower, started to test mow a small patch.

the adjustable speed control was improperly assembled and didnt work at all, front left wheel was improperly installed, bolt was stripped out, ok fine...was willing to fix myself and forget about it.

1 week later was going to actually use the mower for first time.

after running a few minutes, engine started to choke sputter and backfire..few minutes later engine died and started to blow black smoke.

now i am UN-happy.

called store and talked to store "manager" leah.

she said "sure, bring it right on in".

ok.

when arrived at store with mower "leah"

grabbed mower from me, and i started to explain what was happening with it, she said didnt want to hear anything yet, and pushed mower into backroom to "try" a couple of "things".

hmm ok..

comes back out with another employee, and he states there is "nothing" wrong with mower.

procceds to start it up, it sputters on start, it is still smoking and barely running.

then states that it must be an "operator" error and that i didnt have the safety lever fully engaged and the mower was "fine" and they werent going to do anything...no return, no exchange, mower was "used" and to have a nice day. goodbye!

"now i am mad" no explanation to what was the problem he "fixed", and wanted no input from me whatsoever on what mower was really doing.

to-bad so-sad have a nice day!

i procceded to tell "leah" and the other guy that i had spent about 8 thousand dollars at this particular store over the past six months on various pneumatic tools/animal feed, fencing and welding equipment and that was a pretty crappy way to deal with a loyal customer about a $299 push mower that was basiclly broken before i even had gotten it home and that and i was going to contact TSC corporate and Cub-Cadet about this complete failure to even "attempt" to stand by the product that they were selling.

manager "leah" then told me, FINE you can have your money back, and so much as told me my business was no longer wanted or appreciated at TSC and here is your money, GET out!

i am not one to fire off cranky complaining emails on a whim, but in my personal experience with over 10 years of customer service, i have NEVER seen a as such a poor example of on how to handle a customer with a legitimate problem with such a seriously defective product..

was really just told it was fine and nothing was wrong with mower and maybe i was too dumb to use it and we were actually just lying about the wheel and speed adjustment problem, and the backfiring and smoke was just imaginary!

a totally-unbelievable and embarrassing experience in front of other store staff and shoppers.

so in ending,

i would jst like to say that up until this point that i was a very happy and loyal TSC customer/shopper and spent a large part of my farming and equipment budget at your store annually.

but due to this incident with manager "leah" and the other rude employee that speculated on my "imaginary" problems with this mower, that this will regrettably no longer be the case.

Purchased at Lowes for $3, 000. Mowed 3 acres for four seasons. Drive shaft broke, got it fixed at authorized dealer. Very expensive! Now it is in the shop because of the left transmission. After $500 worth of parts, it is running as bad as it did when i took it in to them. They haven't determined how much labor they are going to charge me yet...
They continued to tell me 'it is a throw away mower'. I said $3, 000 and the name Cub Cadet never indicated to me that it was a 'throw away'. I wish they had told me that is was a "throw away" before I spent $800 in March and now awaiting the next bill for a mower that won't mow!
I can't AFFORD to just throw away $3, 000 plus ...
Now I researched, and they aren't even making this mower anymore. Cub Cadet you failed me.

Cub Cadets are nothing but a money pit. We purchased our RZT 50 three years ago from Lowes. Like most people it was at the end of the mowing season so we did not use it much the first year. About half way through the second year, one of the transmissions went out on it. Of course that was after the manufacturer warranty was out. Luckily, we had also purchased an extended warranty. This turned out to be a hassle of its own. The approved repair shop supposedly fixed the transmission, but it still did not work properly. Shortly after the extended warranty went out, the other transmission started acting up. Our intention was to get it fixed during off season, which did not happen. But this was a good thing because now the mower will not even crank up. Cub Cadet says its the engine and it will cost at least $1500.00 to fix. Talk about a waste of your hard earned money. Whatever you do, DO NOT BUY A CUB CADET!

I have been trying to resolve my issue with Cub Cadet and Carns Equipment of Clearfield, PA for years. Tow weeks ago a representative called me to discuss the problem and promised to call in two days with a resolution offer. I have not heard from them since. They are playing games to try to stop me from complaining about poor product and service. Their intentionally minimally designed products and cowardly customer service are disgraceful. Anyone I contact regarding my complaint uses deception and psychological manipulation to blow people off, in an attempt to discourage people from proceeding with a complaint or problem. They have been running away from me ever since I bought my crappy tractor. Cub Cadet used to be a good company and now they are silver tongued two-faced lying con-artists.

Sincerely,
Noel Dueker

I have a Cub Cadet RZT 50 zero turn mower that I bought new in August 2006. I only use it to cut my own lawn. I have 3 acres of grass, no rocks, and no problems with my lawn. I noticed 2 weeks ago that I had "scalped" the grass when I cut it. I pulled out the owners manual and read about the deck adjustment. I tried that, but noticed when I went to measure distance from blade to ground on right side that the blade wobled. I took off the pully cover and low and behold, the deck itself has stress cracks on the right side, and one of the legs that bolt onto the deck had also broken off. Has anyone else had a problem with stress cracks?

8/3/2009

Where to begin... First is to warn all future Cub Cadet Purchasers!
To start out we have an acre of land so we decided to purchase a 42' Cub Cadet May 14, 2006. We have had NOTHING but problems since we bought it from the Tractor Supply CO. The first time we had a problem with this Cub Cadet lawn mower was on July 31, 2006, yes less than 2 1/2 months after purchasing (just the beginning). The problem was blowing smoke and oil from the front part of the motor, then backfiring & killing grass. After not having a lawn mower for approx 3-4 weeks and making other arraignments to cut our grass, we got it back. The repair shop said it was supposedly fixed by changing the valve cover gasket, yea right.
The second time it there was a problem was May 12, 2007 and it just so happened that it was blowing oil & smoke, backfiring & still killing grass. Now 2 times in a year we had it "serviced" again FOR THE SAME PROBLEM LESS THAN A YEAR BEFORE. Again the lawn mower was gone for approx 3-4 wks and again it was supposedly fixed by changing the valve cover gasket, yea right. Now mind you we live in Ohio and you can only use the lawn mower roughly 5-6 months out of the year so having less than 60 hrs on this Cub Cadet mower and the second time in for same problem.
Ok so now for the THIRD time would be NOV 5, 2008! Once again FOR THE SAME PROBLEM plus one more issue: now not starting and blowing smoke and oil, backfiring, KILLING grass. So they changed the valve cover gasket (AGAIN) and starter-alternator. Once again they said it was fixed after being gone and making other arraignments to cut our grass, we got it back for 3-4 weeks. This was all within having LESS than 100 hrs.
Now for this last time June 24, 2009. Our extended warrant ran out May 14, 2009, but of course having less that 15 hrs since it was "repaired or fixed" again it started to blow smoke and oil, backfire & kill my grass we had to call the extended warranty center, National Electronic Warranty. They were aware that our warranty ran out, but they authorized a service center to pick up our mower and started to repair it. Well after not hearing from the service center for over 2 weeks I called to get an update. They told me that they had been trying to contact N.E.W. for 2 wks but could NOT get a response to get the ok to fix the Cub Cadet lawn mower. I called N.E.W. myself & told the story that the service center was not getting a response. Basically I was called a liar until the phone rep called the service center direct. They couldn’t explain why no response was being given so he passed me on to a supervisor. The next day the service center received an e-mail that said “Extended Warranty expired, bill customer”! Now N.E.W. knew that the warranty expired but authorized everything anyway. We have been in contact with Cub Cadet & Kohler directly. Of course they kept passing it off to the other person. Kohlers solution to it blowing 4 valve cover gaskets in 3 YRS was to change the valve cover because it COULD be warped. Well I'm not a mechanic but I would think if it was warped it would leak all the time. Cub Cadet has been helpful but still CANNOT tell me why it is killing my grass. The answer to why the mower was killing the grass to the service center when they called MTD & Kohler was “It is what it is DON’T let the lawn mower set on the grass.” Now I don't know about anyone else but we DID NOT pay $1600+ to have a lawn mower KILL spots in our yard. NOT ACCEPTABLE! So since the mower has been gone since June 24, 2009 and making other arraignments to cut our grass. All we were asking was a replacement mower or our money back but both still to no avail. This has been a very LONG ON GOING problem that is extremely frustrating. Nobody is willing to say “we see you have a problem” (same problem at that) what can we do to dissolve this problem. Just a warning “DO NOT BUY CUB CADET” they DO NOT stand behind equipment, if so then I would think we would of had a new lawn mower or repair correctly by now! We liked the lawn mower but just NOT ALL the problems that came with it.

Sincerely
A Disappointed Customer Of a Cub Cadet Lawn Mower

Dear Cub Cadet,
We bought a new mower from Farm and Fleet about a month ago. After the first time mowing the battery went dead. Tried to charge it and that didn't work. Call Farm and Fleet about seeing if we could get another one . They told us that we would have to bring the mower back to them to see if there is something more than getting another battery. Well, a week went by and they first ordered a new wiring harness because there was a short in it. But that was after they called the company about the problem . Now this is week, week two and still don't have a mower. Farm and Fleet said they didn't know that they had to order the ends of something like that. Now the projected day we may get the mower back is Tuesday of this coming week. This just a little aggravating. The reason we bought a new mower is because we were tired of fixing the old one. Now our lawn is very high and very shaggy. It looks like we don't care about our home or buisness. Yes, I forgot to tell you that we own and operate a business at our home. We have a riding stable. Let me tell you it doesn't look very good for us to have people come here and seeing a messy surroundings. I have always had my lawns looking nice.
I guess all I want to know is did we make a bad choice in mowers by getting a Cub Cadet, for the service thus far has been very, very poor. For each day I have to look out my window and see the lawn not cut the more upset I am.
Now my question is since the mower is brand new and only mowed once with it, am I going to have bill for this repair especially after we had waited for almost 3 weeks to get it back and we still do not have it to use.
Sincerely,
Sandy