Now that I've useed this mower for the first time, a few more comments
> (much too early to say anything about reliability, other than to note
> that this mower has more plastic parts than my old mower, including a
> baffle plate under the mower deck, and the entire top cover of the
> engine including the starter recoil cover - these might be easier to
> break by hitting objects than the metal parts on my old mower (I get
> pine cones on my lawn that could be forced into the baffle plate, and
> tree limbs or my rail fence could hit the starter recoil cover). >
> The 6.5 HP engine is a big help, it mows through heavy grass much more
> easily than my old mower (of course the new, sharp blade helps). >
> The speed control of the drive system has a higher top speed than my old
> mower, which I like, but the speed control doesn't hold speeds as well
> on hills, the mower will slow down a bit on uphills, and speed way up on
> downhills, with the drive engaged. My old Snapper would maintain a
> steady speed up and down hills, and I could use the drive to hold the
> mower back to a safe speed going downhill, but this doesn't work with
> the Cub Cadet's drive system. Also, the differential on my Snapper
> seemed to handle turns a bit better than the ratchets in the wheels of > the Cub Cadet.
>
> Gary wrote:
>
>> I just bought a SR621 yesterday. I haven't even mowed with it yet,
>> but now that I've got it home and looked it over more closely, I can
>> make the following comments (comparing it with the 19 1/2 year old
>> Snapper self-propelled mower it's replacing):
>>
>> The one thing I've found that I'm most dissatisfied with is the
>> location of the oil drain plug (I've always changed oil myself). I
>> think I'm going to have to look into some kind of pump to pull the old
>> oil out through the fill tube, the plug location is that bad. There's
>> a space in the casting on the side of the engine for a plug, but
>> there's no plug there (this happens to be right behind where the speed
>> control cable goes through the deck, so a plug wouldn't be accessible
>> there anyway). The plug is on the bottom of the engine, beneath the
>> mower deck (as was my Snapper), but unlike the old Snapper, the Cub
>> Cadet has a baffle plate and the bracket for the drive pulley both in
>> the way of accessing the drain plug. To remove the baffle plate you
>> first have to remove the blade, then the baffle plate can be pivoted
>> back by removing three screws (to remove the plate completely you have
>> to remove 2 more screws but getting at these would require removing
>> the rear wheels). I'm not sure just pivoting the plate would allow
>> the mower to be turned right side up for draining oil unless I put it
>> up on sawhorses or something high to allow the plate to hang down with
>> the mower level. It would be best I think to also remove the drive
>> pulley bracket for better access and to avoid getting drain oil all
>> over the belt and pulley/bracket assembly. The manual describes the
>> process for removing the bracket (for changing the belt), which
>> includes unbolting the transmission from the rear of the deck (I think
>> just to get more slack in the belt). The manual actually does say to
>> remove the drain plug to change the oil (and simply says to remove it,
>> it doesn't say how to reach it), so I can't believe they made access
>> so difficult. Like I said, I think I'm going to have to look for some
>> kind of pump to pull the old oil out through the fill tube.
>>
>> Cut Cadet these days is made by MTD, the same maker who makes other
>> cheap mowers (the've also bought out several other makers like Troy
>> Bilt and Bolens - just look at
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to see how
>> many brands they make). It's not clear how much of the quality of the
>> old Cub Cadets has carried over, I'm sure they've cheapened things up
>> at least somewhat. My brother has an old Cub Cadet made when Cub
>> Cadet was owned by International Harvester, and that tractor is built >> like a tank.
>>
>> The mower does have some nice features compared with my old mower (I
>> purposely avoided the SRC621 because I thought the caster wheel
>> brackets would snag on shrubs and things). BTW, the caster wheels can
>> be allowed to pivot or locked in place. Otherwise, this mower seems
>> better than my old Snapper about this, my old mower had parts like
>> throttle and spark plug cable in bad locations that would catch on
>> passing shrubs and tree limbs. The Cub Cadet has no throttle or choke
>> control at all (my old mower had both a primer bulb and a choke).
>> This seems to be somewhat common on newer mowers I guess. I could
>> control the engine speed on my old mower, but not this one.
>>
>> My old mower was only 3.5 HP, and was underpowered for tall grass, so
>> I'm hoping that this mower will do better in that department.
>>
>> My old mower had a heavier blade than this one (still had the original
>> blade after over 19 years, with only sharpening ever required). I
>> wonder if this new blade will hold up as well, including abuse from
>> things like roots I occcasinally clobber - the old one never bent. >>
>> When I got mine Snapper was known for its excellent disc drive system,
>> and from the looks of it the Cub Cadet's isn't the same quality.
>> Maybe OK, and maybe better than front wheel drive, and maybe it
>> compares OK with other mowers, but it's still not built as solid and
>> the speed control may not be as good as my old Snapper. Since I
>> haven't even mowed with the Cub Cadet yet I'm not sure what the range
>> of speeds is (my Snapper's highest speed wasn't quite as fast as I
>> would have liked). I really liked the rear wheel drive on my old
>> mower, and I wanted rear wheel drive in a new mower, so that had a lot
>> to do with my choosing this one.
>>
>> What finally made me decide to replace the Snapper was a broken rear
>> wheel (plastic), that didn't appear to be easily replaced (I had
>> previously replaced both front wheels, probably they broke from having
>> been run into trees etc., but those were available off the shelf and
>> simply slipped onto the axle and were held in place by a nut, the
>> driven rear wheel is a special part I think). Besides, the Snapper
>> was getting so it burned too much oil, and I'd fixed a number of other
>> problems with it too, and several other plastic parts were cracked, so
>> I decided maybe it was time for a new one. Maybe I should have looked
>> for a new Snapper, I think their new mowers are still similar to mine,
>> but the dealer where I bought mine has gone out of business and I
>> didn't try to locate another.
>>
>>
>> Greg S. Ragsdale wrote:
>>
>>> I'm looking to purchase a new push (walk-behind) mower and I'm
>>> thinking about the Cub Cadet SR or SRC 621. I have always had great
>>> results w/ Cub Cadet tractors, but I've never used the walk-behinds.
>>> How reliable over time is the kawasaki engine? Are these good mowers,
>>> or should I be looking at something else. Currently I have a Toro
>>> that I hate because it's not powerful enough for my thick lawn. So
>>> I'm donating it to a friend who just bought her first house.
>>>
>>> Any comments on the Cub Cadets? Does anyone have the model w/ the
>>> front caster wheels? Are those better/worse than normal fixed-mount >>> wheels? >>>
>>> Any help would be appreciated.
>>>
>>> TIA,
>>>
>>> Greg
>>
>>
>>
>>
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