Cub LT 1550 or Simplicity Regent and Fair Price for a Murray

17 years ago

Hi all, new to the forum and find it to be a great read and research tool. Just a couple questions to start with.

1. I have a 12 year old Murray (built in late '94 and bought summer of '95 the HD box store). It has a 15 HP B&S Diamond Plus single cylinder engine, with a 42" cut deck and a hydrostatic tranny (Spicer - Dana, I'm guessing). I also have the 9 bushel bagger to go with it. It has been a very reliable machine overall, but the new house has 2 acres and I'm getting tired of up to 4 hours in the seat each week. Anyone have a good idea what is a fair asking price for it? A friend is interested and want a fair deal for both of us.

Second, obviously I'll need to get a replacement. Have been looking and researching for a couple months now. Neighbor has a nice Toro/Wheel Horse and gets his lawn done in 1-1/2 to 2 hours, but come to learn that MTD supposedly stopped making the Toro after 2006. 3 neighbors have JD's. One local dealer carries Husqy and Cub Cadet and find the LT 1550 pretty attractive. Also have a Simplicity dealer near by, and I like the Regent. The particulars on the lawn is that it is generally not flat, except near the neighbor with the Toro. I have a sand mound (septic system) in the middle that you either drive up and over or along side of (depending on the direction I mow in a given week) and it slopes up (15-20 degrees?) from the driveway to one edge of property. Also have about 50 trees to mow around, so turning radius is important too. Wife tells me I can spend up to $3K for a new machine. I would greatly appreciate any recommendations.

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Comments (7)

lawnmowerman07
17 years ago
I can only speak of my experience so far with Simplicity. I just took delivery (30 days ago) of left-over 06 Regent. Does everything I want. My property is fairly hilly with lots of obstacles. Regent has 12" turning radius, which comes in very handy. So far I think it gives the best cut my lawn ever had. Appears very well made and is amzingly easy on gas. Have not owned it long enough for anything to fall apart yet, but for now I give the Regent a A+
tekumcman
17 years ago
$400-500 for the Murray. The Simplicity is a better
machine than the LT1550, though...the 1550 is a nice
machine also. The MTD built Toro was sold exclusively
at Home Depot (if this is the one you're referring to).
That's the only MTD joint venture unit that I know of.
Really NOT a Toro/Wheel Horse and MTD...all over it. It's
not in the same ball park with the Cub OR the Simplicity.
Expect your neighbor to begin having problems as the "MTD
Kicks In".

T-Man
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altbob
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I have about 150 hours on my cub 1554 and so far so good, it has the 27 hp kohler, and eveything about it is better than my old mtd 600. the only thing I don't like about it is that it is kind of a gas hog compared to my old one, it had a single cylinder b/s 15 horse. I love the cruise control and seat adjuster, and I like the 12volt dc plug for running my electric chain saw with a converter plugged into it. my dealer sold it to me after I showed him the price quote from home depot. he beat them by a hundred bucks. mine did not come with armrests on it like the home depot one did, but I got a free cub cadet hat. hope this helps.
ac.d17iv
17 years ago
I second the Regent. I have an '06 model and it has been great so far. Nice turning radius and great cut. I put window washer fluid in the tires and have not problems at all with traction when mowing steep inclines.
reactordude
Original Author
16 years ago
I thank all of you, lawnmowerman07, tekumcman, altbob and ac.d17iv for your quick responses. They are a great help to me. I'm psyched to check out the Simplicity further. I looked at the Snapper LT200 yesterday, but my local dealer wanted to push me to the LT300 by saying the 200 wouldn't strong enough for what I want to do. Funny thing is, the LT300 doesn't come with a 50" cut like the LT200 and the engine isn't any bigger, you have to go to the LT400 for a bigger cut equivalent to the LT200, which is way beyond my price range. I'm not sure what you get for an extra $1K or so other than auto traction control. I'm not convinced he knew what he was talking about.

Tekcumcman, fortunately for my neighbor, his Toro is about 6 years old that he bought the same local dealer who sells Simplicity, so I'm pretty sure it's a Wheel Horse not an MTD "special". Not sure which model, though. Your estimate for my Murray is right on, too.
dan_the_man63
16 years ago
I would check out the Simplicity Broadmoor. Why? It has a 10 guage welded frame and a beefier transmission than the Regent. It also has cruise control and and electrical accessory plug in the back.

Try calling and seeing if there is a leftover Broadmoor from last year. They made one with a single cylinder 18HP Kohler Command and a 44" deck.

I did some shopping and found a new Broadmoor last year 18HP/44" for 3250. Slightly higher than your wife would allow, but with no payments till 2008..I'd go for it.

I'm very happy with my Broadmoor thus far.

Dan
senorjosef
16 years ago
I have a simplicity regent 18 hp 38 inch deck. It has the 2 bag 6.5 bushel bagging system. It works great. Most on this site mulch grass, but I bag. At least in the spring.

I did get a set of gators for it last fall and they worked great on the leaves. Just used side discharge, no mulch kit.

The regent has a very tight turn radius. So it will be nice on your property w/all the trees.

I would not go with a broadmoor as it is a much bigger machine and it may be hard get in between trees, etc. On paper they may look close, but go down to the dealor, drive em both and you'll see.

If you can afford a desk larger than the 38, you may give that some thought. It will stick out beyond the tires a little bit so you can edge with it. My 38 inch deck stops just at the edge of tires.

The eck removal system is great too. The deck comes off in like 30 seconds.

Here is a link that might be useful: Deck removal on the regent

Cub LT 1550 or Simplicity Regent and Fair Price for a Murray

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lawnmowerman07

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Cub LT 1550 or Simplicity Regent and Fair Price for a Murray

Comments (7)

lawnmowerman07

tekumcman

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