Cub Cadet is MTD crap with a different name badge.

Good info regarding which Model by year, hp, and deck size:

TractorData.com - John Deere lawn tractors

Find something like this in your area. 25 hp, 54 inch deck for $1,100. Many years of happiness.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/grd/5721706552.html

So here's a news flash for y'all...

The small John Deeres that you covet are now made by Deere in India.

LS, Kioti, and others are made in Korea, the small Case and New Hollands are rebadged LS tractors.

Go look at Kubota, they make very high quality units in Japan.

TractorData.com lists an North American factory for any model I checked?

What is LS?

https://www.deere.co.in/en_IN/our_company/about_us/about_john_deere_india/factories/factories.page?

Everything up to the 5075E is made in India, the bigger E series tractors are assembled in the US with parts from Mexico and India...

LS is a big Korean tractor manufacturer. Most of their tractors are rebadged with American brand names such as Case, New Holland, McCormick, etc.

The build quality is not the same as Kubota but they are cheaper.


LS Tractor USA

Tractors have been sold under GoldStar, Fiat-GoldStar, LG, LG-Fiat, LG-New Holland, LS and LS-New Holland names in South Korea. In North America, they have been sold as LG Montana, Montana, Farmtrac LandTrac, LongAgri LandTrac, McCormick Tractors and Landini.

If you want rugged dependability, nothing beats the older units. They were called lawn TRACTORS for a reason. They also have many implements available...snow blowers, plow, cultivator, tiller, etc.

I'm a big Cub Cadet fan. Here is one of my tractors (149) mowing a field uphill. It is unstoppable.

These old tractors are made out of steel and cast iron...no plastic. They also have no safety features. They stop for nothing, can be extremely fast at WOT, and do not suffer fools gladly. I would not have it any other way.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1471690390.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1471690440.jpg

So, small correction: my tractor is an L120, not L150. Are you saying that mine was indeed built by Deere in India (and not rebadged)? I'm having a little trouble following some of the lingo.

The L series from Home Depot are rebadged MTD. The Deere made stuff is from India.

John Deere is one of the companies championing the effort working its way through the courts now to make it illegal for people to work on their own vehicles - they are trying to use the court to redefine "ownership" into a sort of lease or "right to use" based on a convoluted interpretation of intellectual property laws. I know this has been discussed here before and can be found win a simple search if anyone's interested. They have adopted the Monsanto philosophy of "force everyone to be beholden to us forever more by court order". Eff them.

I certainly wouldn't give JD a dime of my money. In fact I doubt I'd ever even promote their brand by being seen using an older model of theirs. Maybe if I painted it jet fokkin' black (no patented green and yellow!) and de-badged it completely... They suck. Eff them.

I've heard this, kinda like Microsoft, eh?.......MS has gotten their last dime from me too.

asphaltgambler: What are your requirements for the tractor?

Kubota has some really great sub-compact tractors if you need that much. I have two older MF 2300s diesels that are over 12 years old, each with over 1400 hours on them. One has a front end loader on it that I use constantly. 70 inch mid mount mower decks, shaft drive.

Get shaft drive. They are both doing great. A little scarred, lots of dings, missing some things, but run like wet paint.

For snow removal of a serious nature, you'll need 4x4.

This LS company thing is brand new to me, too.

A Kubota is a Kubota. I get that. This big LS company now makes all those other brands, including JD, Kioti, NH, etc. in Korea? Who makes Mahindras then, I wonder?

This is actually a spooky kind of new knowledge to me.

LS doesn't make Kioti or JD. LS is apparently a spin off of LG.

Mahindra makes Mahindra. They are a huge Indian company that has been around for years.

Mahindra has used engines from LS in the past.

I clearly remember when buying American was the norm. Now it's almost impossible. The local Kubota dealer was in agreement when I said it seems like Kubotas are more American than JD.

He was pretty sure parts-wise there are more American parts in a K and that K's are assembled in the U.S.

I researched this quite a bit in 2013 when I bought my Kubota. I nearly bought the Deere 5075E. I made the right choice.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1471723249.jpg

I just climbed out of the cab after cutting hay for the past 4 hours.

I used to sell Cub Cadets back in the day when they were International Harvester they were great machines. For a hydro it's hard to beat a 1250, 1450 or 1650 with those single cylinder Kohlers.
I am now a John Deere man I have a 317 with a Series II Kohler engine, 46 " deck and a 54 " front mounted blade. Has a sleeve hitch for rear mounted tools like a box blade. Recently picked up a John Deere 330 which is a 3 cylinder liquid cooled Yanmar 16 hp diesel with a 50 " deck I believe I could cut trees down with this setup :D I have a 3 point hitch but haven't purchased any tools for it . In my opinion any older ( 70's to 80's ) John Deere or Cub Cadet or for that matter Simplicity, Wheel Horse, Case and a few others are hard to beat if they are in good condition .
These may be old but were built during a time when quality was at the top of the engineering list and their prices reflected that. Heavy frames, heavy cast iron axles with very robust hydro transmissions. Of course if neglected you can break the best of the best but I would rather purchase an older unit that is trashed, refurbish it and be better ahead than buying modern junk .