Mike M-
Welcome (again!) to the forum...
Your story rings farmiliar with me because I also started out with a 1976 1450 as my first Cub 11 years ago.
We had just bought (our first) house and needed something to mow the fast growing 2 acre yard. A good friend found the 1450 for me, and even though I wanted a "leaping antler branded" tractor, this would have to get me through my first summer and winter at then new house as money was tight.
It came with everything... deck, snowthrower, cart, chipper/shredder, soft cab, wheel weights, and all the paperwork to boot.
Well, the ol' girl got me through more than just one season, and it only took a few months to realize just how good these tractors can be.
After finding this forum due to a problem I was having with the hydraulic lift mechanism on the 1450, I read about a Cub Cadet called an "Original". It sounded neat, belt-drive and all.
Long story short, I bought one from a local collector found on this forum, and didn't even want the starter/generator on it because I thought that would save me a few bucks and I would just park it out back behind the garage to use it for odd jobs.
Fast forward almost 10 years...
The 1450 is (regretably) gone, and the Original is restored/redone (see picture in my profile). I now own 8 Cub Cadets, each one with their own implement, but have probably owned 25-30 in the last 10 years.
I am "over the top" as you say, but it's been a fun ride and I've made many great friends along the way.
Owning more than one tractor is more work, and people (friends, neighbors, etc) start looking at you funny when they find out that you have "EIGHT LAWNMOWERS" in your garage?!?!?!?
...but it's all worth it in my book.
Not to mention, I don't have to attach my chipper/shredder before using it. It has
it's own tractor.