I have to compliment you on being so brave with your post.
As you know ,we MTD owners are the "bottom feeders" of this group.
We just set back and lurk in the background and try to avoid the carnivors.
I have to admit that we did have a "day in the sun" awhile back when the JD owners went on a feeding frenzy and turned on each other in the great box store debate.
That was the first time I saw same brand bashing in this group.
Any way ,keep your oil changed and your deck clean and all that left over money in your pocket and you will be happy for years to come.

Well, at least you knew that that the "Pony" was not a Troy other than in name. Now, for some inside info on that Ponys trans. To gain the low step through design MTD is using a very weak trans unit. If you look just over the left axle you will notice the input pulley. It is there you will want to look when the noises start coming from below and the unit stops pulling the mower. I have replaced at least 6 of these in the last 18 months and scrapped another 6 that the owners decided to pass on repairing. This unit costs me a couple of hundred and retails for something like 375.00.

This post is not to cut into your optimism where MTD is concerned but to point out that MTD should be held accountable for weak products that are over priced. You would have been far better off to have gone with MTDs Bolens unit.

networker

I've had the Pony for a few months so time for an update.

Motor is strong and will handly just about anything your can physically drive through.

Tranny is MTD standard....jerky and tough to guage regardless of how much time you've spent on it.

I had to change the blades recently, my rough acreage the culprit, but no big deal. The manual says I should remove the entire deck to do so, but, I called BS on that and got the mower up on blocks, got a PVC cheater to work with the 15/16ths wrench and changed them out in 20 minutes or so.

Lowes told me the fluid levels were good upon delivery only to find the engine oil seriously low before my first mowing.

So far, the unit has done all I ask of it and without problem. I wash and towel it after every use so, this 4-month old mower already needing new blades, still looks new.

I really can't complain....

I dont knock or bash any tractor brand,that dosnt really solve anything.I think that most of todays lawn tractors are built with the attention of pleasing stockholders which means cost cutting!(cheaper parts).Lots of plastic used these days!not knocking that!it makes the tractors lighter which mean better fuel effcincy and less rust!but plastic in the wrong places wont hold up as well as metal.I dont have a MTD tractor but i do have the lowest $$$ john deere (LA100) which has served me very well since i got it in may.Most comments on my LA100 have been positive with little bashing.If i got a MTd machine i most likely would get more neg comments and bashing but since a have a JD most of the comments have been kind.Some have spoken that JD has soldout! by making a lower end tractor series like the L series sold in the box stores.I totally disagree with that type of thinking.JD wants some of the market share of the masses that cannot afford a $2000 or more price tag.So! all you tractor owners!whatever the brand!ride your tractor with pride and enjoy.

Well said stanleyjohn.

Four months old and still looks like it did the day it was driven off the lot. Nothing to complain about there. I hope to hear the same in another four months.

Stanleyjohn said,
"I think that most of todays lawn tractors are built with the attention of pleasing stockholders which means cost cutting!(cheaper parts)."

Stockholders do not design tractors, so don't blame them. It's executives and their bean squeezers who design cheap parts.

We have had a nation-wide proliferation of Macmansions built
over the past 5 or 6 years. Cheap mortgage money made it all
happen. The Macmansion owners are up to their eye balls in
debt, so at first they get a walk-behind push mower. Not fun. The executives and bean counters know that if they stick a screamingly cheap tractor in the way as you leave the box store, Mr. Macmansion owner will bite.

Ervie,

Couldn't resist responding to your post, but I will avoid flaming you too badly. First, McMansions don't have a yard big enough to warrant even the smallest lawn tractor. Second, A McMansion yard, shrubs etc can be maintained by an efficient lawn maintenance company for about $80 to $120/month (small yard, close proximity of the houses allow this). I have a friend making a very good living providing this service in North Atlanta and he does not use illegal labor.

Next, cheap mortage money (and record setting low prime interest rates) saved our economy after the dot-com bust and 9/11. The building industry fueled our economy when corporations stopped buying routers, servers and other I.T. equipment. The conservative posture of most corporations after 9/11 was offset by the building boom. This boom is slowing and thnakfully corporations are now starting to re-invest in their infrastructure.

And finally, executives and bean counters do not design parts or deside where to place them for sale. They do manage the company, make sure they adhere to the overwhelming amount of red tape required by the IRS, the SEC and to minimize exposure to our litigation crazy Tort system.

I could on, but that's probably enough. We have finally received some rain in the south and hopefully I will have enough grass to actually stripe this weekend.

Amen on the building industry fueling our economy for the last several years. Now that the subprime mortgage market is hurting, and the supply and demand curve has shifted to the buyer's favor, and the homebuilders are hurting, people seem to forget.

On the "MTD is junk" argument. Not all MTDs are junk. Not all Murrays were junk. It's just that cheap mowers (or cheap anything else) has a higher failure rate than a quality product. There are plenty of examples of old Murrays lasting for many years. And there are probably plenty of the current MTDs that will too. It's just that your chances of getting lemon or having problems (whether catastrophic or niggling) are greater with one of these machines versus a better quality machine.

And, yes, JD and Kubota, etc. have lemons too. It's just that the lemon ratio is lower. (Perhaps the JD box store models not so much as the higher end ones that are only sold by dealers.)

I kind of like the taste of lemons. One mans lemon is another mans dream!! The only lemon's I have seen are on the seat! But, I had to make due with used equipment for 40 years. A mechanic can make anything run for a very long time. a fabricator's mechanic can keep something running for ever.

Some of us don't have time to be mechanics. I work about 12 hours a day and some weekends. When it's time to fire up the tractor to mow, the last thing I have time for is diagnosing and fixing problems and running back and forth to town for parts.

Pass this was directed to you just happen to fall under you post. Not everybody mechanic savvy. If you don't have time hire it out, that's why they have repair shops for 85% of the population. Nothing wrong with that as long as people don't blame the equipment for there lack of maintenance and try to make bold statments they are junk.

I understand, and no offense taken. But this is exactly why I wanted (and bought) a higher end used garden tractor instead of a new lower end lawn tractor - reliability. I want to be able to go jump on it on Saturday morning and mow, and have confidence that it will do the job without breaking down. And I was willing to pay a premium for that.

Some people are not willing to pay that premium. I guess their time is not worth to them what mine is to me. Or perhaps they are more willing to roll the dice that their low end tractor will be one of the reliable ones.

My GT might break down tomorrow. There's no assurance on any machine. But I think my odds are better with a premium tractor than a cheapo one.

Now, if it would EVER quit raining so I could actually use my tractor . . . . :-(

Pass nothing wrong with that. I have a freind that has several old JDs. I help him out from time to time, I am amazed of the quality of old 200 series that has a K241 engine and the deck blade pulleys are covered with metal with a central drive pulley sticking out at the back center.

Six months on.....

The tranny (or I) has/have evened out a bit and isn't near as sensitive as earlier on. The B&S motor is a mule. My biggest complaint were the continuously leaking tires but after a can or two of "Run Flat" and "Tire Slime" they're holding up just fine.....not Troy-Bilt/MTD's fault necessarily at all.

I have now cut upwards of 20 acres worth of ground since its purchase and apart from having to replace a set of wore-out blades I have no serious complaint. At this rate, this rig will last many years at minimal cost and routine maintenance assuming no major design flaws rear-up in that time.

I could have bought the JD/Cub Cadet equivalent at the time, and seriously thought about, at 2-3 times the price but prior experience with the higher dollar makes didn't seem to warrant the money.

So, you don't "have" to "have" the biggest dollar tags from the big box stores to have a nice yard or a good-for-the-machine. MTD makes some good units that will cut a lot of ground for you and do so reliably as long as you take care of it and respect it.

Routine maintance and common sense in it's operation really make a difference in any machines length of life. Not everyone needs a high end garden tractor. Get the machine you like (you're paying for it) and that handles what you need it to and to heck with the people that want to look down their nose at your equipment, they ain't the one useing it!

I just bought an MTD model 95178,SN 1K233C30029, 12.5/38 with Lowes brand name on it. Anyone know what year this would be? Good source for parts/manual.

Thanks

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