Nice! Congrats! 👍

It’s hard for me to wrap my head around @Sergeant owning anything other than a Deere. There must be something special about these Cub Cadets!

 

Cub's I currently own!



1961 Original Given to me in 2002 less than a week after Retiring from the Army



196? 60 Given to me by my neighbor on his deathbed in 2006



1965 70 Inherited from friend In 2007 when he went into a nursing home



1970 106 Bought summer of 2003 From a late Neighbor's wife



2018 XT3 GSX Bought new Summer 2018



1976 1450 Bought Summer 2020



1991/92 2182 Bought January 2021



2022 SX54 Z force purchased October 2021



Previously owned Cub Cadet



2002 2206 Bought new 3 weeks Before I retired from the Army site Unseen traded in 2018 for XT3 GSX



So while I own a Deere 110RF, 112SF, 140H3, GX335, X748, 2025R & Sabre 1542HS I have for the Most Part owned a Cub Cadet alongside a Deere for the Last 20 years.



I Looked at Many Zero turns through the Years Don't Like Deere, Toro, Exmark and a few Others



Only Lap Bar Zero turns I Like our, the Simplicity & Ferris do to their suspension



I would Have considered a Walker B series Model B27i But $13,705 Just seems a Little steep for a Machine I will Just use for Mowing, Plus the dealer network is not too big around me



Have Loved the Cub Cadet steering wheel zero turns since they came out( which some other would go to the steering wheel as well! Toro/Exmark doesn't count as they were Built By MTD for those Labels) Because You get great control when trimming next to objects, Because it Is like driving a conventional Tractor to do precise movements for trimming. Plus, the ones I have tried out have been great Hill climbing machines compared to most standard Zero turns(not That I need a hill climber where I live now) You really do get the best of both worlds, a Zero turn that can handle like a lawn tractor.

MTD Has always sort of given Cub Cadet a bad reputation since it purchased Cub from IH In April 1981. Well when you produce a lot of lower production cost models, you end up selling a lot and there are more people to complain about there issues to the world. But I have had so many MTD Made Machines In my life That have been reliable for years That By the early 2000's I realized MTD is actually a good quality company for Lower and Medium cost machines, So Cub Cadet has really been worth it these last 20 years to me. While it's not over built Like a Gravely,Ariens or Ingersoll or even a dealer level Deere . It's still a quality Machine to own

 

Good lookin ZT Sergeant. Congrats!!

I ran my ZT2 Ultima 60" with ZT2800 transmissions one full season in 2021 and accumulated 97.4 hours since new.
Deck remained remarkably clean underneath. That was a surprise since the deep corners I thought would pack full of the wet stuff I was cutting early summer. A little scraping and it is really very clean. Kawasaki is a great motor with plenty of power but you probably already know that.

Go and enjoy!!

 

nice machine sergeant congrats

 

That steering wheel would be nice when you need to lift up a limb to mow under it . Or get a brier bush off you as you drive by or get a drink of water . The zeros in my opinion will out mud and cross ditches or mow humps better any day over a tractor and I would go as far as saying safer on slopes . Because of the way you can swing the weight or approach a obstacle .

 

Nice machine and nice collection. My wife thinks I own to many machines. I showed her what all you have and she said for me to not get any ideas.

 

You're on a Tractor forum,

I had 3 tractors when I retired from the Army(White GT2055, Ingersoll 3016PS and JD 425) 4 By the time I got home to Illinois But really didn't have the Bug as I hadn't joined a Tractor forum Yet Because the 4th was really for the Wife to mow with the Cub Cadet 2206 The 425 was our Primary mower because of deck size at 60-inch, and she wasn't very nice to it as I had to replace the hood on that about a week after I bought it used in 2000. So I told her if She wouldn't touch the 425 for the Next few Years until I retired from the Army, I would buy her, Her own tractor. She wanted the Cub Cadet 2206, offered to buy a Simplicity made Massey. But she liked the Idea of a smaller Hydraulic driven tiller. December 2002 I wanted to respond to a post on the Garden webs Tractor forum That was disparaging to John Deere and the rest is history, Really I knew there were a Lot of Good Garden tractors out there. But I had a Deere Biased, and Tractor forum finally opened me up to buying brands I had looked at and never bought.

But with this ZTR, I am finally out of room. Just enough room to Invest In a BCS or Grillo walk behind tractor Was Looking at a BCS 853. But That has really gone up in price in the last two years, That I add a Grillo G107D or a Grillo 110 From Earth Tools WALK-BEHIND TRACTORS - Earth Tools In Kentucky and that will complete my collection for now

 

Hi Sergeant,
Here are some pics of my new machine. Same config. There is a small steel.plate near the oil filter. It has two holes to secure it to the frame. Only one hole has a bolt in it. The other has been left without a bolt. Can you check whether yours has both the bolts. I also don't like the fact that it is bit rusty from get go.
Thanks

 

I'll Look In the Morning

 

I don't have a Bolt there either so I would say it was designed that way

 

Thanks Sergeant for confirming. Regarding snowblade attachment, I have some seasoned neighbours who push, blow snow using a variety of equipment, I have requested them that when they come to see my new unit, they will help me making assessment about whether snowblade will be worth effort and money on this machine from manitoba snow conditions perspective. I will share with you .

How many hours on your machine now?
First oil change after 5 hours? which oil and grade are you using after the factory fill is dropped?

 

Thanks Sergeant for confirming. Regarding snowblade attachment, I have some seasoned neighbours who push, blow snow using a variety of equipment, I have requested them that when they come to see my new unit, they will help me making assessment about whether snowblade will be worth effort and money on this machine from manitoba snow conditions perspective. I will share with you .

How many hours on your machine now?
First oil change after 5 hours? which oil and grade are you using after the factory fill is dropped?

14 Hrs today Have Not done the Break in oil change yet . I will say If You do it Just change the Oil No Need to change the filter Until you get to 50hrs I will use 10W30 Kawasaki Oil as it Partially synthetic and that what My Cub dealer Carriers

 

Sergeant, that's a nice zero turn. I would be interested in how easy it handles and how fast it cuts. What's strange is my grass grows fast. I may cut it Saturday and have to cut it Tuesday. Like every three or four days. If I let it go for seven days I got a mess. I'll cut it one direction and have to cut it a second time in another direction.

 

Well today I found the Perfect Mulching height 3.75 Or hole between 3.5 and 4 as it's not Labeled I cut On Saturday and Wednesday. I had to cut today as it rained Wednesday. Today I cut the 2.2 acres in 1.5 Hrs Use to Take me 2.5 hr with a Cub Cadet XT3GSX with the same size 54-inch Fab deck.



You can cut at Max speed of 8 MPH But I bet I am doing about 6 MPH on average.

I have y Lawn sprayed 4 times a Year so I have to cut twice a week or I have a Hay field as well if I had it the Max of 7 applications they want I wood need to Mow 3 to 4 times a week I swear

Been a Bust day Cut the Lawn with the SX54 Z- Force Plowed the Garden with JD GX335 and Tilled with My JD X748. Hopefully plant Part of the Garden this Friday

 

Thanks Sergeant. I would make my first mow tomorrow. I am going to follow "Mow High" principle so I am thinking 4.5 inches height. Any suggestions on that?
Few more questions.
Do you engage PTO at full throttle or half? people on the forum are divided on this aspect. Wanted to know your take.
Do you use "Reverse Caution Mode" ever? In a square field, I am planning to pick up one side and then go across that side and then take a zero turn and continuing mowing back with a smaller overlap with the first cut line. Is it a good strategy? Does zero turn damage the grass if the inside wheel pivots? How do you do your mow?

 

Thanks Sergeant. I would make my first mow tomorrow. I am going to follow "Mow High" principle so I am thinking 4.5 inches height. Any suggestions on that?
Few more questions.
Do you engage PTO at full throttle or half? people on the forum are divided on this aspect. Wanted to know your take.
Do you use "Reverse Caution Mode" ever? In a square field, I am planning to pick up one side and then go across that side and then take a zero turn and continuing mowing back with a smaller overlap with the first cut line. Is it a good strategy? Does zero turn damage the grass if the inside wheel pivots? How do you do your mow?

I engage the PTO at full throttle

I turn the Key and Leave it in the Bypass Mode, so I can reverse when I want to (I don't Have small children and the Dogs stay In the House)

I haven't Damaged the Grass yet



One week I mow Parallel

Next week Perpendicular

Next week at and angle

Then Back to Parallel and start the whole Process over

 

Interesting on patterns. My 4 acres of hilly, a dozen big trees, a few "rock gardens" and the lake, my patterns have just about disappeared. Instead I employ what I refer to as the "full engagement" approach. That is, as much as practicable, the deck is always moving into uncut lawn. I overlap so I figure my 60" cut is taking about 50" plus or minus, each pass. Also run about 6mph to get a good quality cut. I find using this approach, I am circling trees and rock gardens out quite a ways and it naturally leads into a larger and larger cut area that all blend to the finished job..

Now, if I can find a way to get rid of the Geese poop machines by the lake, I'd be a happy mower.

 

Most of my Front yard is Leach Field, so I can't Have Trees out there. The Guy that built this house put in a double Leach field and 2 double septic tanks, so it is equivalent to 4 septic Tanks and with 3 In the House Probably don't even need them pumped every three Years The Back 1.7 acres Only gets cut 3 or 4 time a year. The Main 2.2 acre Lot gets cut twice a week Have a Lot of Trees with flower Bed Rings In the Back Plus fences. Here My Property circled In red you can see the Back 1.7 acres In the right corner It;s actually Kitty corner from the Main Property There has Been a Lot added to the Property since this Picture was Taken By the realtor before we Bought it

 

Wow, super nice place!!! I don't have any handy overhead pics of my little ranch. It is built into a hillside that slopes and undulates toward the small lake out back. My leach field it the largest "flat land" that I have. The next least hilly is about an acre and a half of sloping, wide valley to my southeast that "flows" to the northwest and the lake shore. Still working on the best and most efficient mowing method, for now that is the "full engagement" method.

Great pic of your place!!

 

Got a satellite shot..
Everything slopes from the road toward the small lake out back.

 

New member here

Hey @Sergeant I just picked up a 2022 Cub Cadet Z Force SX 60" today. I called over 40 dealers yesterday trying to find a Z force in stock. The dealer I bought from had four 60" in stock luckily, and only a 1.5hrs from the house.

We just moved to E TN and the hills are wayyyy different than the flat Louisiana land I'm used to (but we are absolutely loving it!) The house we bought has 1.5 acres of sloping/hills land. My faithful snapper 33" sr133 just wasn't up for the task like it was in LA. Took me about 4.5 hrs of mowing, and I almost rattled me teeth out. So I did tons and tons of research on mowers that are safe and capable on slopes, and that's how I ended up with the Cub zero turn with the steering wheel.

All I have to say is. WOW!!!! This mower is a monster. One section of my yard that took 1.5 hrs with the snapper, took 20 mins with the Cub. The larger deck size, almost double what the snapper is, made quick work of the yard. 60" is honestly too big, but it's all I could find. There was no way I could mow with the snapper again. It's also really nice to be able to mow faster than the speed of cold molasses.

One thing I do need to adjust/modify is the deck height lock bar locking mechanism. I have it set to 3.25in. And that is on the outer portion of the stamped holes (towards the front of the mower). When I lower the handle on the lock bar, the locking mechanism doesn't fully engage "around" the bar like it should, and it frequently pops off. I can either 1) File/grind down the stop on the lock bar 2) loosen both bolts holding than handle, and see if there is any room to move the handle towards to the front of the mower to achieve better engagement. I'll be trying option 2 first. I'll try to get pictures today. If I don't get them posted up today, I'll do it tomorrow. I gotta blow off the mower with the compressor, then give her a quick rinse.

 

New member here

Hey @Sergeant I just picked up a 2022 Cub Cadet Z Force SX 60" today. I called over 40 dealers yesterday trying to find a Z force in stock. The dealer I bought from had four 60" in stock luckily, and only a 1.5hrs from the house.

We just moved to E TN and the hills are wayyyy different than the flat Louisiana land I'm used to (but we are absolutely loving it!) The house we bought has 1.5 acres of sloping/hills land. My faithful snapper 33" sr133 just wasn't up for the task like it was in LA. Took me about 4.5 hrs of mowing, and I almost rattled me teeth out. So I did tons and tons of research on mowers that are safe and capable on slopes, and that's how I ended up with the Cub zero turn with the steering wheel.

All I have to say is. WOW!!!! This mower is a monster. One section of my yard that took 1.5 hrs with the snapper, took 20 mins with the Cub. The larger deck size, almost double what the snapper is, made quick work of the yard. 60" is honestly too big, but it's all I could find. There was no way I could mow with the snapper again. It's also really nice to be able to mow faster than the speed of cold molasses.

One thing I do need to adjust/modify is the deck height lock bar locking mechanism. I have it set to 3.25in. And that is on the outer portion of the stamped holes (towards the front of the mower). When I lower the handle on the lock bar, the locking mechanism doesn't fully engage "around" the bar like it should, and it frequently pops off. I can either 1) File/grind down the stop on the lock bar 2) loosen both bolts holding than handle, and see if there is any room to move the handle towards to the front of the mower to achieve better engagement. I'll be trying option 2 first. I'll try to get pictures today. If I don't get them posted up today, I'll do it tomorrow. I gotta blow off the mower with the compressor, then give her a quick rinse.

I Installed the electric Lift so The Bar that come with it just rest on the Pin at the set Height

 

You want to avoid using water to hose it down and clean it up. Use your leaf blower.

 

Is there any reason in particular for this? I'm not using a pressure washer or anything. Just lightly spraying it to get the dirt and dust off that my compressor won't blow off, mainly the dust that "sticks" to it. I've never had any issues doing it on lots of other equipment. How are you supposed to wash these mowers?

 

I got around to adjusting the deck lift handle. It does in fact have slotted holes for adjustment, I was able to loosen the bolts and get it set up correctly. It works great now! I did remove the handle so I could take pictures and document my findings to hopefully help someone else out and save them a trip to the dealer.

I also removed the front cover plate to inspect all the steering components and see how they work, and to check tolerances, etc for future reference, just in case there's maintenance to do in the future. I can post pictures of the cover removed if yall would like to see it. There was a fair amount of grass underneath the plate after using the mower once. I thought I got everything out with my air compressor, but I guess not, it seems as though grass can get in, but can't get out easily. I'll check it after mowing a few more times to see how it trends.

I also removed the spindle guards and applied anti seize the the bolts. Better sooner than later. It's good preventive maintenance.

 

Well Purchased this Hybrid Lawn Tractor / Zero turn 31 October 2021. Arrived 10 March 2022. I received it today, 31 March 2022



Had an electric lift kit & headlight kit installed (dealer told me Electric lift kit was an easy install, But the headlight kit almost the entire front end of the machine needed to be taken apart to install) Reason why I let them install it. Because I looked at the direction to install the light kit and decided I didn't want to spend the time to install it myself.



The Machine can take a 58-inch Snow/Dozer Blade, But I probably will not invest in it, because as many of you all know, I have enough tractors for plowing or blowing snow.



The machine is a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be, because it is about the size of my Cub Cadet XT3GSX



I just decided since I mow Twice a week and the patterns I mow with That a Zero turn was more suited for that mowing



The Machine has Twin Hydro-Gear ZT3100 transmissions. Hydro-Gear entry level Commercial Transmissions, Comes with a 24Hp FR730V Kawasaki engine and a 54-inch Fabricated Deck



I'll be installing this Z-Trimmer | PECO Lawnvac shortly to cut down my trimming time. Because with all the fences I have, I have a lot of trimming to do. Will be adding a mulch kit and rear deck rollers as well

Now if spring would finally come here, because I am a little antsy to try it out and see if it really does speed up my mowing time

View attachment 2544760 View attachment 2544761 View attachment 2544762 View attachment 2544763

That is a great mower and drive system. Not commercial but not far from it. I had a Gravely ZT HD 60 with that engine and drive system. Hard to beat for the price. My kids now mow their place with it.

Nice outfit you have there, you should be happy with it for years.

 

That is a great mower and drive system. Not commercial but not far from it. I had a Gravely ZT HD 60 with that engine and drive system. Hard to beat for the price. My kids now mow their place with it.

Nice outfit you have there, you should be happy with it for years.

ZT3100 is considered a entry Level commercial Transmission ZT-3100® - Hydro-Gear

 

That is a nice place Sergeant and you mowed it just to be picture perfect.
My property in rural Manitoba, 5 acres, We have had very wet spring and the grass (and the weeds) have been growing like crazy. I have put this machine to the task and mowed the grass and weeds. I have changed the factory fill oil after 6.6 hours and have gone to specified 10W40 weight, Amsoil full synthetic.

I am trying to figure out how much can I safely tow using this machine and having difficulty finding the answer directly.
The mower has an accessory called Cub Cadet Hauler advertised on the website (and I have bought it) which mentions capacity of the hauler as 800lbs. I know for sure that it will be foolish to tow the Hauler (which weighs100lbs empty + 800 lbs so total 900 lbs with this Z-Force SX54 but I am unable to find the limit of the tow. The machine comes with a tow hitch attached so I know that it is not against the operation of the machine to tow something with it.

I searched the internet and found that the rule of thumb is that half of the weight of the machine+ operator can be generally towed by a tractor or a mower. I am unable to find the weight of this mower from Cub cadet website. I also called the customer service but one agent looked at the shipping weight and gave me a number 950lbs that seems wrong.

The mower has Hydro Gear ZT3100 transmission and specifications of that tranny mentions Gross Vehicle Weight of 1200lbs so that is the only accurate information I have.

If I deduct the mower and operator's weight from 1200 that should give me spare capacity I can tow.

If I put the number that the customer service gave me 950lbs , I can only tow 1200- (950 +170 my weight) = just 80 lbs with this. The Cub Cadet hauler empty weighs 100 lbs . In that case Cub Cadet should not be advertising the Hauler as an accessory for this mower. So seems like something is wrong in my calculation.

Can someone help finding me any better information on this towing capacity please. Thanks in advance

 

On flat, level ground, on nice dry grass/dirt/gravel, 900's is probably fine for it to pull around. But wet ground (or even really dry grass on a slope), slopes all reduce the weight you want to tow, because those conditions greatly reduce the ZT's ability to control it, in particular stopping. While the Z-Force SX54 is better, in that the front wheels are controlled by the steering wheel instead of being caster wheels like a regular zero turn, the overall weight of the machine + rider is relatively low (this site American Pride Power Equipment lists it at about 730 lbs), so it doesn't take much of a slope (especially when wet) for momentum to overcome available traction.

 

Anyone else have an issue with the engine heat shield rattling at certain speeds/inclines? My heat shield rattles like crazy going uphill sometimes under load. I tightened it to no avail. I'm thinking about adding some bracing to it, or removing it completely. It's driving me nuts.

 

Figure out what it's rattling against, and then perhaps bend that part a bit further away?

 

The shield should be bolted/mounted to something, I would check those mounting points, perhaps it has cracked around one of them so the shield can vibrate.

Personally, I wouldn't remove it, as manufacturers rarely install something that isn't necessary.

Could you post a pic of the shield?

 

The mower is brand new. Zero hours when purchased. I've checked and double checked everything (I've done mechanic work all my life, from small engines to heavy diesel mechanics). The shield extends so far out after the bend it makes, without bracing, that is succumbs to vibrations during certain rpms/loads. I'll take some pictures tomorrow, but here is a picture I found on Google. I marked the heat shield with a red dot. You can see how far it sticks out. It's just a flat piece of sheet metal with no bracing. So when the conditions are just right, it rattles really bad. It's not touching anything. It's the specific frequency/vibrations causing the metal plate to move up and down in such a rhythm that is rattles.

Imagine you take a cookie sheet, cut out the bottom so it's just a thin, completely flat piece of metal. Now bolt that to a push mower engine. The end bolted to the engine would be fine, but the protruding piece of metal will more back and forth, vibrating like crazy, and make a terrible racket. That's the best analogy I can come up with at the moment.

 

Yeah, my Kohler CV22S has one of those, and I made one for my Kaw FR651. I would start with what's making it vibrate, as it's a new machine, the engine shouldn't be vibrating that much, perhaps it's mounting bolts are loose, something like that, or perhaps that shield has cracked around one of it's mounts. And possibly drag it to the dealer to fix given it's a new machine (as if it commonly makes a racket, the manufacturer would have redesigned it).

Course, maybe it's just they always used full rpm when running the engine so it cuts properly and you aren't?

 

I've checked everything thoroughly, no cracks. The mower doesn't have bad vibrations, nothing that isn't normal. I love this mower. It's been great so far. This heat shield has been my only gripe. I run full rpms when mowing (does anyone actually mow without using full rpms?) My property has some hills and inclines (not sure what degree/angle) and it only happens when going uphill at a slower speed. I don't like to go to fast, I enjoy mowing with this machine too much. But when I do pick up the speed the shield quits vibrating. I just so happen to run this mower at the perfect speed/rpm/incline to get the trifecta for this anomaly to occur. Between the blades being engaged, motor under load, and hydros humming, all within a specific parameter, the heat shield vibrates. I have some good bracing material I'm gonna try to attach to it. It even matches!

I'd rather not drag it to the dealer. I typically work on anything of mine, even under warranty, because I don't trust anyone to work on my stuff. My dealer knows this, and is happy to just give me the parts I need to fix whatever is wrong since they're shorthanded on techs anyway. Unless something catastrophic goes wrong, I don't take it in for repairs. The guy that works the counter at the dealer has the same mower, same issue, and he braced his heat shield to fix the issue, it must be something about the east TN hills. Thats one of the reasons I posted this, to see if anyone else has this problem, and a fix for it, before I take the time to make a nice looking brace that isn't an eye sore, and looks factory (I have alot of projects right now, and didn't want to step away from them to fabricate a brace)

 

If there's clearance, and it's not a total pain to remove & reinstall that shield, I would first consider brazing some ribs onto the underside of it, to stiffen it, and then if that didn't work, make a brace that goes to some pre-existing or new hole that's convenient to use.

 

I suggest the ribs first, as it makes future work somewhat easier, as there isn't another brace to unbolt/remove to work in the area.