Gary wrote in message ...
I think my doubts about the plastic baffle plate under the mower deck
are well founded: after mowing my lawn twice with this mower, I peeked
under the deck and there are already a couple of gashes in that plastic
baffle plate that penetrate completely through it. The look like they
may be caused by the plastic being bent against the tip of the blade,
possibly by contact with some of the roots that I mow over. I have my
doubts about the long term reliability of this mower due to these cheap
plastic components. I don't think it's going to last as long as the 19
years I got out of my Snapper.

Gary wrote:
Now that I've useed this mower for the first time, a few more comments
(much too early to say anything about reliability, other than to note
that this mower has more plastic parts than my old mower, including a
baffle plate under the mower deck, and the entire top cover of the
engine including the starter recoil cover - these might be easier to
break by hitting objects than the metal parts on my old mower (I get
pine cones on my lawn that could be forced into the baffle plate, and
tree limbs or my rail fence could hit the starter recoil cover).

The 6.5 HP engine is a big help, it mows through heavy grass much more
easily than my old mower (of course the new, sharp blade helps).

The speed control of the drive system has a higher top speed than my old
mower, which I like, but the speed control doesn't hold speeds as well
on hills, the mower will slow down a bit on uphills, and speed way up on
downhills, with the drive engaged. My old Snapper would maintain a
steady speed up and down hills, and I could use the drive to hold the
mower back to a safe speed going downhill, but this doesn't work with
the Cub Cadet's drive system. Also, the differential on my Snapper
seemed to handle turns a bit better than the ratchets in the wheels of
the Cub Cadet.


Snip

Now that I've had this mower for a few weeks, I have to say that I
love it. I was a little disappointed with some of the plastic parts,
such as the plastic wing nuts that allow you to interchange the
bag/side discharge, but that was easily remedied by a quick trip to
the hardware store. Otherwise, it's much better than my old Toro,
though I do have to admit the caster wheels took a little getting used
to. I don't have the tree root problem, or much of that nature, as my
land is fairly new...the only thing I hit on occassion is a sod staple
left over from last year's grass installation. That just dings up the
blade.

Time will tell on the reliability of it overall, but it seems pretty
solid, other than the cheaped out plastic parts in places that I
wouldn't put them. But then again, I'm used to a 1979 Cub Cadet 149
rider that still runs like brand new, so I'm a bit spoiled.

Thanks to everyone for their comments. It helped alot.

Greg