Cub Cadet Tractors

Club Cadet builds a number of different small and compact tractors for the home small business owner to take care of the big outdoors outside their home or place of business. They have five categories of products that fit under this category, and include:

Lawn & Garden Tractors
Zero Turning Riding Mowers
Walk Behind Mowers
Chore Equipment
Snow Throwers

Lawn and garden tractors include the Series 1000, and Series 1500 Lawn and Garden Tractors, as well as the Series 2500, and 3000 Garden Tractors.

The Series 1000 tractors have 9 tractors, that range in price from about $1500 to $2600 dollars. The biggest difference between the lower priced tractors and higher priced tractors in this model line is the size of the engine. The smaller machines start with the 19HP Kohler single cylinder engine, and the bigger tractors use the 26HP Kohler V-Twin overhead valve engine. They all use basically the same drive transmission, and come with a 12 inch turning radius. The bigger models, come with a slightly larger battery (235 vs 190 amps), a nicer seat, and marginally larger tires. The only real reason to go with the bigger tractors, would be for faster lawn cutting, as the blades on the larger units are full 12 inches bigger (54 inches vs 42 inches), and are triple blades instead of double blades.

The Series 1500 tractors only have two models to choose from, and range in price from around $3000 to $3200 dollars. The differences here are obviously not going to be substantial. The main difference here being the engine manufacturers. One comes with a 27HP Kohler, and other comes with the Briggs & Stratton 26HP engine. They are both V-Twin overhead valve engines. The remaining specifications on both mowers in this line are virtually identical. The turning base radius for both of these machines is 21 inches. If you have a lot of tight spots to get into, I would suggest looking at the higher priced models in the 1000 series, with a turning radius of 12 inches. Choosing a tractor from the 1500 series, is really just a question of whether you prefer the Kohler or the Briggs & Stratton. For the record, the Briggs & Stratton model is the cheaper of the two by $200.

Now we move on to the Series 2500 Garden Tractors. There are four models in this lineup, and they range in price from about $3500 to $4400 dollars. The 2500s all come with Kohler V-Twin overhead valve 20 to 23HP engine. Not a big difference there. Cutting blade sizes here range from a 42 inch double blade to the bigger 54 inch triple blade. The larger tractor will obviously get your lawn done a little quicker. The 2500 series is basically an all around upgrade to the 1000 series, and comes with deluxe high back seating, standard cruise control, nicer systems monitoring, and an electronic fingertip clutch.

If you've got deeper pockets, or an obsession with bigger machines, then you may want to have a look at the series 3000 Garden Tractors. They range in price from about $5200 to $6200 dollars. These machines include all the best features from the models mentioned above plus a few upgrades. They have optional blade sizing per tractor going from 44 to 54 inches on the GT3100 model, and a 44 to 60 inch set of blades on the GT3200 model. This provides some nice flexibility for different jobs. All blades are of the heavy duty triple blade design.

The thing to remember about these series of tractors, is that even though none of these have the new zero turning radius features, you can do a lot more with these tractors. Additional and optional attachments for towing, snow blowing, and excavating are available for these tractors, but are simply not designed for the zero turning mowers. Those machines are only for grass cutting. So, if you have other uses besides trimming the verge for your Cub Cadet, it's best to stick with the Series 1000, 1500, 2500 and 3000 tractors.

Of course, if none of the above Cub Cadet tractors suit your budget and preference, there's always plenty of used Cub Cadet Tractors for sale. There is even a strong following of owners, who swear by the Cub Cadets that were built by International Harvester during 1960 to 1981. There are many of these still in service, and available for sale, restoration, or parts for refurbishing.