New mower is a piece of junk so far!

[Cyndi Young-Preston]

I had a Cub Cadet 1046 for 15 years. Loved it. But it was to the point where it needed more and more work each year. So I sold it to a person who loved to tinker with them and on May 8, 2023, I bought a new 46-inch.

The first time I used it, the steering arm on the front right tire fell off. Turns out it didn't have a washer or a nut. When I complained to Tractor Supply, they said they didn't service their mowers. I replied that I didn't expect them to ... but that I kind of thought the mower would be intact when I picked it up.

The mower behaved for the next few times. Then it apparently overheated, and shut off for 10-15 minutes. Since then, it runs for maybe 45 minutes and shuts off. It has the proper level of oil, and I use the deck washer and hose it down each time. I've checked the owner's manual and online. Can't find anything that I'm doing wrong.

Now, I can barely get it to back up ... even on level ground.

This is frustrating! Wish I'd kept the old mower.

Any suggestions?

 

[Jay Fetters]

Unfortunately, this is all to common in machines purchased at a box store. The employee is told to assemble the unit and the instructions are in the crate. They don't care as long as it runs long enough to go on the trailer for the customer. The xt1 series isn't the top of the line, but it isn't junk by any means. You have a 3 year warranty, take it to your local cub cadet dealer/ service centre, and they will take care of you. Hopefully, they are reputable, and will get you back to enjoying your cub.

 

[jstewart]

I bought a Scag Tiger Cat to do the mowing with, being 56 at the time, I figured it would be my last mower and should outlast me before needing any real serious repairs. It won't get over 25 hours a year
This year the deck switch shot crap, no more hours than it has that is pretty crappy for a commercial machine.

 

[Cyndi Young-Preston]

Unfortunately, this is all to common in machines purchased at a box store. The employee is told to assemble the unit and the instructions are in the crate. They don't care as long as it runs long enough to go on the trailer for the customer. The xt1 series isn't the top of the line, but it isn't junk by any means. You have a 3 year warranty, take it to your local cub cadet dealer/ service centre, and they will take care of you. Hopefully, they are reputable, and will get you back to enjoying your cub.

Thanks! I had to go an hour north of here just to buy one! Maybe Cub Cadet can steer me to a reliable service center ... the only local one listed on Google has horrible reviews.

 

[Cyndi Young-Preston]

A comical follow-up to my initial post.

I dropped the mower off three weeks ago at a service center in Lexington (30 miles north of me).

Picked it up today. The guy I've dealt with is probably 6'3", strong as an ox and reluctant to use any more words than he has to. In short, he intimidates me!!!
So today, his assistant loaded the mower into the trailer because this guy (Mike) said he wanted to talk to me. He told me he had tried everything he could think of to make that mower cut off. It ran like a champ.

Nonetheless, he replaced the oil filter and the air filter, cleaned out the oil and gas lines and checked everything else. Then he said he HOPED he had solved my problem. But he wanted to offer one theory he had.

He said, "Small women like you ...." Then talked about the sensor under the seat and how it's designed to cut off when the human leaves the seat, yada yada.

Then he said, "Small women such as yourself ...." And talked about how bumpy lawns can make you bounce up and down, and it confuses the sensor.
Then he looked away from me, and kind of sighed. "You don't weigh enough to hold the seat down."

Say WHAT??!!

He said he thinks it's cutting off because the sensor figures I've fallen out of the seat!!!! So he told me to move the seat up while I'm mowing so that I will be centered right over the sensor.

I chuckled all the way home.

 

[Greg Riutzel]

"You don't weigh enough to hold the seat down."

That's a compliment . Unfortunately in our "plus sized" world, he might be right. I'm kinda small myself and it's sometimes hard to find work clothes that don't make me look like a WW2 refugee.

 

[gary noblit]

Cyndi, I have a daughter who called me often about engine shutting down.I finally figured out that it was how she sat when running the machine..By moving seat fwd it changed the location of her weight(I said that nicely) but it cured the issue,although she wasn't as comfortable ..

 

[Curt Doles]

I know someone who encountered the same thing, a very petite women who couldn't keep the seat switch engaged. The simplest solution was to disable the seat switch, at least for a test. Some folks are mortified anyone would disable a safety. On some units this may disable the PTO safety also. That is a scary proposition. Maybe there is a way to vary the sensitivity.

 

[R Mass1]

At least that guy was totally honest with you. That is sometimes hard to find these days. He probably hit the nail on the head and the suggestions posed here will probably benefit you greatly! Good luck to you!

 

[tkhoffman]

Mow and let us know.
I don't have a safety seat switch on my backhoe. If I'm at my friends house, helping him, I'm constantly cutting off his machine as I lean forward to really eyeball the hoe placement. It gets me crazy. But he's no no no, safety safety safety.

 

[Greg Riutzel]

Now, I can barely get it to back up ... even on level ground.

This made me think of another safety feature I discovered working on a neighbor's lawn tractor. The tractor may not be able to back up with the PTO/mower engaged. There may be a safety switch that will kill the engine when Reverse is selected while the mower is running. The immediate answer is to disengage or turn off the PTO to allow Reverse. However, on the neighbor's tractor there's an over ride position on the ignition switch that's one click to the left of the Run position that will allow Forward or Reverse with the mower engaged. I explained it to her as from the right most start position it's Start, Normal(nanny),Old School, Off. Check your Owner's Manual.

 

[Curt Doles]

I'm pretty sure a number of Cubs I've owned had this horrible feature.
On a hydro it was a microswitch that was on the R side of the hydro lever.
Maybe a jaunt down a smooth road or driveway and see if that issue persists or put a 50 Lb bag of sand on the seat and sit on that?

 

[mitchel daniel]

we have a CAT shop forklift that hates me because my 140 lbs isnt enough to keep the seat safety switch engaged.
it doesnt shut off but it disables all of the controls so i just ask someone heavier to load stuff for me.
some of this safety safety safety stuff goes overboard.
but dont disable it until you know it is done and anyone else that could get on it knows what has been done.

 

[tkhoffman]

This made me think of another safety feature I discovered working on a neighbor's lawn tractor. The tractor may not be able to back up with the PTO/mower engaged. There may be a safety switch that will kill the engine when Reverse is selected while the mower is running. The immediate answer is to disengage or turn off the PTO to allow Reverse. However, on the neighbor's tractor there's an over ride position on the ignition switch that's one click to the left of the Run position that will allow Forward or Reverse with the mower engaged. I explained it to her as from the right most start position it's Start, Normal(nanny),Old School, Off. Check your Owner's Manual.

My JD mower has this. Go in reverse and it kick off the blade. I put in a rocker switch to bypass it. A Kabota I had had a push-button that could be pushed after engaging the blades that would eliminate this silly backup feature.

 

[rfunk]

As Curt said, add SOME ballast to the seat. Get creative as to how, so it doesn't affect YOUR operating the machine. Use only enough to work for YOU. That way, safety is still functional, for you, and won't bypass the protection. I like Greg's "old school" comment - safety features are nice, but we're absolute fools to trust them completely.

 

[HKCooper44]

Take the wires off the seat switch and splice them together. No more problems

 

[spndncash]

I had to replace the switch with a jumper when my daughters were still living at our house. They are both about 100 pounds soaking wet

 

[jlord]

I would think there is probably a way to adjust or relocate the safety switches mentioned, so that you can still maintain the intended protection and not sacrifice body parts in the event of someone's moment of inattention.
With that said, we owners/operators of our equipment often find all these protections to be an occasional PITA and are tempted to bypass them, but in the case of another person getting injured or worse because of our actions could have a sad ending.
A fellow at work bypassed the level sensor on an aerial lift at work because of a slight incline that halted the boom extension. He forgot to remove his jumper wire and the next operator was inexperienced and didn't recognize a hazardous situation he was in and flipped a 60' condor on it's side and was killed. OSHA investigators found what was done and both the company and the employee were sued, the responsible employee was jailed for gross negligence / manslaughter.