Strengths A rock solid reliable Lawn tractor. I bought mine July of 2005 and have had 100 percent reliability. I have heard that the 26 Kohler Command was the most reliable and successful engine. I guess I am fortunate. We really like the deck wash system, and greasable zirk fittings everywhere.

Weaknesses Could go faster than the pre set 5.2 mph that the factory governs them. The engine produces plenty of power to keep those blades spinning and cutting. The low back seat is not friendly on my bad back. Every model since has a mid to high back. Of course!! To gain access to the zirk fittings on the blade spindles requires unbolting the deck belt guards.

Overall I mow 2 acres at least once a week. Have never been in the shop once for a repair. I Grease, oil, filter and re-blade it. Thats it. Routine maintenance. Being the mechanic in the neighborhood, my two closest neighbors bought themselves one with my endorsement. No complaints out of either one.

Strengths Workhorse of a Lawn Tractor. Use it to mow about 4.5 acres of grass - around barn, garden, yard, ditches. Just point/go and enjoy the ride. I've used it to "bushhog" one smaller pasture - did the job with no issues (took awhile - 7 ac pasture). Use it with my cart to feed animals and when muddy, the tire chains keep it moving. Has 230 hrs on the engine - I've changed the oil, filters and battery. Am in process of hooking up a switch to use with my tow behind spray rig and nothing about the mower is difficult to use.

Weaknesses Tendency for drive wheel (right rear) to find the 'slick' spots (oops! Operator error!)

Overall Bought it Spring of 2003 and it's a great buy for the $$ - it's not a tractor (I have my '59 Massey Ferguson 65 for the BIG stuff) but it's heavier than a straight out mower. This LT sold me on Cub Cadet in the future.

Strengths Cuts great,plenty of power with out burning lots of gas, rides very good. Cuts tall grass with now problem. Local dealer very nice folks and helpful in all ways. You can take two fingers and turn this rig around.

Weaknesses Gets hung up, or spins out real easy. When filling up with gas, it will over run on the mower very easy. Oil change is hard to do...the drain is to far back on the motor...it comes with a rubber hose you have to hook up to the drain...enough said.

Overall I owned a John Deere, and this mower blows the John Deere away on all things mentioned.

Strengths I've seen lots of negative reviews, but other than replacing a battery, I've had no problems. Purchased in 2005 & used on our 1 acre lot. Now have around 120 hours on it. Good, smooth power from Kohler v-twin. Starts right up every time.

Weaknesses I haven't had much luck with the deck washing system. Seems like I'd just end up with a smelly wet mower in my garage, so I gave up using that system years ago.

Overall Would buy another Cub and would recommend this unit to others. I have changed oil & lubed chassis, but no other maintenance required since I've owned it. Tractor seemed rather slow until I adjusted linkage between forward/reverse pedal and transmission. MUCH faster now, and engine has plenty of power to cut grass at higher speed.

Strengths Heavier machine and handles the fact that I am 6'3 and 325. Cuts a lot better than my old Troy Built, go figure.

Weaknesses Belt "deck" but can be replaced. Mower is 5 years old and I borrowed it from a buddy. Liked it so much I bought my own.

Overall It is a step up and gets the job done, next step John Deer.

Strengths The cut, the reliablity, ablity to cut longer grass, uniformity of the cut. Of course you need to sharpen your blades, grease the spindles, and perform the maintence. Take care of the tool and it will take care of you.

Weaknesses None.

Overall This is the best lawn tractor I have ever owned. I have owned it 7 years now and it runs and cuts as well as ever. And I have had, Torro, Snapper, John Deere tractors that could not hold up or perform the way the Cub Cadet has.

Strengths The mower handles nice, cuts great. Very even on bumpy terrain. The motor is strong. Even in very tall grass the machine doesn't bog down.

Weaknesses If you miss even one cleaning with the jet wash nozzle out won't effectively clean until you hand clean it.

Overall I have read several reviews here giving this mower a poor rating. For $2,000 you can't get a better mower. There is nothing wrong with the quality at all. The spindles are not designed to hit stumps, and as long as the blades are sharp it will not bog down in tall grass.

Strengths none, really. I'm hard on equipment because I use it. These things are disposable. If you buy MTD, expect MTD quality. Motor is pretty good. No issues with the motor

Weaknesses Deck is junk. Blades are weak, bend & break. Spindles are weak, will not hold up. I decided to quit fighting repairing the deck on this thing & purchased a John Deere d 170, which I'm sure is a much better lawn tractor.

Overall Pay the extra money and get a John Deere, you won't be sorry. MTD builds disposable junk. Lowes has decided not to sell them any longer.

Strengths Easy to handle and drive.

Weaknesses Mower deck is poorly designed. Although it mowed really nice for about 20 hours, got so bad I couldn't mow more than 10-15 minutes in grass that isn't high before it clogs up. Deck is pretty easy to remove, but taking the deck off every half hour to remove the grass buildup is a pain in the you know what. The water cleanouts are a joke. Great marketing idea, but simple truth is the water cleanouts don't work worth a flip. Cub Cadet basically washed their hands of the problem and said sorry about your luck. Dealers don't want to help you unless you purchased it from them.

Overall Love the tractor portion of the unit. After 35 hours on the meter, I took the mower deck off and sold it in parts on E-Bay for enough money down payment on a new Snapper. I use the tractor to pull small utility wagons around in the neighborhood now. I have 55 hours on my new Snapper and it still cuts great. Is way over priced and poorly designed for use as a mower. Cub Cadet is definitely on my DO NOT BUY list now.

Strengths Engine runs great, Belt is very easy to replace and deck is extremely easy to remove.

Weaknesses Water jet cleaning system is a joke. I remove the deck and clean it a couple of times a season.

Overall It have read the other reviews and honestly I throw out the ones that complain how hard it is to replace the belt or remove the deck. Its very simple, lower the deck and roll belt off the front pully, pull 2 pins one on each side, slide back an inch and pull out the side. If this is to hard for some you really need to find someone to do your lawn for you cause you really cant be trusted to do more then put gas in it. I mow 1.2 acres and have used this for 3 seasons and have not had 1 problem. I will keep my eye on the spindels cause it seems to be the main complaint, but I have yet to experiance this. Maintan it properly and it should last.