Cub Cadet 2150 - Me and "My Cubbie"

Back in the spring of 2017, both of my boys decided to spend the then upcoming summer down at their respective colleges. So I wouldn't be spending the lion's share of my weekend time and energy mowing my modest third of an acre, I bought this Cub Cadet figuring buying it would be far less than paying a landscaper to cut my grass every week for 8-1/2 to 9-months. Good idea and a prudent use of funds, right? Only in hindsight do I see the warning signs that this thing had disaster written all over it from the get-go. 

First off, when I asked the guy I bought it from how old it was he said it was only ten-years old; it was more like twenty. During the first summer I had it the head gasket went and on occasion the starter solenoid wouldn't engage the pinion to crank the engine. $200 for a guy to replace the head gasket and a gentle tap with a hammer on the starter to get it to work and all was well. With a forty-two inch deck, I was able to knock my entire lawn down start-to-finish in less than fifteen-minutes; with my self-propelled, 21-inch walk-behind it was closer to an hour. That, as we say, was what I was talking about. 

During subsequent summers I had myriad issues with the mowing deck and the powered-takeoff-switch (PTO) that engages the mowing blades via an electric clutch; talk about over-engineering. I also eventually  replaced the failing starter motor. All in, though, I was still way ahead of the game. Financially at least although "time is money". 

During my fourth summer with what I affectionately referred to as "my Cubbie" (when it was working), one by one, the original and dry rotted tires stopped holding air and because replacing the tires (and rims they're on) was cost prohibitive, I put tubes in the tires. If you've ever wrestled with replacing a tube in a bicycle tire or putting one in a wheel barrow tire, you know what fun that can be. Best was, I overinflated the tubes and they eventually blew out. Rinse and repeat. 

My problems with this circa 1995 Cub Cadet weren't limited to its age and things wearing out  - my semi-carelessness at times was to blame as well. Over the years my lawn has sunk considerably leaving the top edge of the cast-iron water meter housing in the middle of my front yard sticking up like a proverbial middle finger. Once or twice I did the blades no favors as I ran the thing over it slicing a good chunk off the housing. Once, twice or three times I crashed directly into it. Doing so not only bent the deck but the the super heavy, thick and expensive to replace blades that struck said bent deck. To say I clobbered the damn thing is an understatement. This is a replacement meter housing replaced at no cost to me by the city. 

The big problem then became the very pricy belt that drove the mowing deck blades off the electric clutch on the engine. Crashing into the water meter housing bent the deck so badly it knocked the pully alignment off kilter and the belt would come off and get shredded. That happened twice at fifty-bucks a shot. It happened for the third time late last fall at the end of the mowing season and it was then I decided it was time to push "my Cubbie" into Lake Erie. Metaphorically, of course. 

Hope springing eternal, this past April I thought I'd give it the old college try again seeing how when the belt would shred, I deduced it was only when I had the deck lower than the highest setting. Fine. My lawn always looks more lush taller anyway. Thing was, the starter I replaced the original with started failing, the tube I put in the left rear tire had blown out over the winter and the right-side hinge on the hood broke off. Enough was enough. "My Cubbie" had to go. First things first, though, I had to find a replacement. 

Back when I found the Cub Cadet, Facebook Marketplace was in its infancy and Craigslist, where I found it, was the go-to for finding cheap stuff you used to find at garage sales. Marketplace has since long usurped CL and it didn't take me five minutes to find this 38-inch, 17.5-horsepower, 2011 Craftsman with an asking price of $750. Perhaps more than I wanted to spend but you do get what you pay for. That and inflation has jacked the price up on everything. Have you seen the price of what these go for new these days? This would run you about $2,200 and that's not including the "bagger system" that'll run you nearly $400. Insanity. BTW, I never even looked at Craigslist.

My wife and I took the 40-minute or so drive south to look it over and were pleasantly surprised. It was relatively clean and didn't have any of the rolled-over, exploded and burned zest of the Cub Cadet. However, on my test drive or mow on the guy's lawn, the engine started surging. Me being gun shy after the Cub Cadet, at first I wanted out of there ASAP. The guy swore it was the first time it ever did that and he seemed particularly dismayed since he had just put a new carburetor on the engine. My wife  believed him and she read my mind that I didn't think the surging was a big deal but I didn't want the thing at $750. She pounced asking him if he was willing to part with it for less and he asked sheepishly, "four-hundred?". Sold. He even dropped it off at my house. Such a deal.  

I listed the Cub Cadet for sale on Marketplace for $150 and the next day a guy picked it up (above) no questions asked. Apparently, "Cub Cadet" really means something to some people. Especially "real" Cub Cadet garden/lawn tractors like mine and not the badge jobs YTD or MTD sold as "Cub Cadets" after Cub Cadet sold the naming rights to them for small tractors. John Deere did the same thing. Side note, new John Deere ride-on mowers now come with plastic hoods and their steel bodies are flimsy.  Sad. 

Best was, a simple adjustment on the carburetor cured this thing of any and all engine surging issues. Net out of pocket, with the sale of the Cub Cadet, was $250.  And I would have had to put at least that much money into the Cub Cadet this year to get it going. It's going to be a pleasant summer of mowing. 

In hindsight, I shouldn't have bought "my Cubbie" in the first place, but if you don't have any regrets in life, have you really lived?