Cub Cadet 42' lawn tractor 19 hp

by Melissa
(Green Springs Ohio)

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