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 http://www.mtdproducts.com/ 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