I have worked at a lawn mower shop for several years. We've sold both cub cadet and John Deere. This is what I can tell you. John deere's quality has had a big drop, just like everything nowadays. one of the best mowers you can buy for the money is a cub cadet ltx 1042kw. It has a good Kawasaki engine and hydrostatic drive. If you get it from a dealer and not farm supply etc. you get a free front bumper to protect your hood when it's on the trailer or just mowing. Hoods can get over 500 dollars. John Deere about 5 years ago, was the brand I would recommend. But, now I'm afraid nothing runs like a cub. If you can spend more money on a mower, I would recommend a zforce s 48 inch. It is a true zero turn with a steering wheel. The front wheels turn like a normal mower, and the back ones spin like a stick zero turn. Just driving it is very convincing, it is very agile. It runs so smooth and is very nice to ride with the pivoting front axle. How many yards are flat like the floor of a showroom. Just my opinions of driving and working on both of them, hope I helped. Oh, if you mow several yards or a lot of land, check out the commercial line, the highest quality you can get besides a hustler. But without the 10000 dollar price tag.

I went last Saturday to pick it up. It's the Cub Cadet LTX1050KW. I was going to get the Kohler, but the guy talked me out of it and said to get the Kawasaki... it was the same price. I had a 10% off coupon... total was $1,900 out the door. I sat on the 48" John Deere they had beside the Cub and didn't like it at all. Very uncomfortable and the John Deere overall was much smaller. It felt like it was the same size as my 10 year old Craftsman. Another thing was John Deere's headlights... they really need to rethink those. The cub sat up at least 3-4 inches higher... its like sitting in an SUV compared to a car. If I had another thousand or two to spend on a tractor, I probably would have went to a John Deere dealer and picked up one of those nice 4K models that I've seen pictures of. The cubs can't even compare to those. As of John Deere at the big box store... I think they should rethink the design of those or pull them all together. I can't think of anyone who seen these two mowers side by side would get the Deere instead of the Cub... especially since they are the same price.

well, lessee how this looks: "30.8. Slip the crankshaft pulley down far enough to get the belt off of the pulley, and remove the belt from the crankshaft. See Figure 30.8. NOTE: Belt keepers that are part of the tractor frame prevent the belt from being removed without lowering the pulley. NOTE: The pulley may be removed from the crankshaft at the discretion of the technician." That's right out of the 1000-1500 series serv manual.... and I don't really know if there is enuff room to lift thet engine straight up with the ground drive pulley in place to be able to wangle the ground drive belt off past those fixed keepers - which I fully agree are something of a PITA. just saying... MHO.

Here is what you have proved so far: Fuel system. The non-running state of the engine IS NOT because "the engine is not getting fuel". The shots of carburetor cleaner you administered IS FUEL, and if the non-run was due to a problem in the fuel system of the engine, the engine would have responded to the presence of the carb cleaner "fuel" by eagerly running........for about 1 or 2 seconds for each shot of carb cleaner. Since the engine remains unresponsive even when given an alternate fuel source (carb cleaner shots), lack of fuel can be discounted. Cross fuel off the list. Ignition system. You have stated a couple of times that you believe the ignition system is producing spark. The bang that nearly deafened you (soiled BVDs?) proves that you at least had one instance of spark. So, we might want to presume (for the moment) that the ignition system is OK. Disconnecting the kill wire from the magneto eliminated the possibility that chewed or bare wires were stopping the production of spark. Place a question mark or 2 beside "Ignition system" on your list. You have indicated that you feel little or no compression when you place a thumb over the spark plug hole and turn the engine by hand. Do this. (you might need a helper) Move the spark plug wire as far away from the spark plug hole and place your thumb over the spark plug hole. Spin the engine using the starter. There should be enough compression that it takes a bit of effort to keep your thumb held over the hole. If you do not feel the compression trying to push your thumb off the hole.........the engine is not making or holding enough compression to run. If this is what you find, it is time to decide if you want to go further, or whether you would even be able to go further depending on how well equipped you are to perform a cylinder leakage test. Read and study the Kohler service manual page 3.4 about the cylinder leakdown test. Though the Kohler leakdown tester kit is nice, you really don't need that much capability. But you will need a source of compressed air, an adapter fitting for the spark plug hole to mate the compressed air hose to the engine cylinder head, and you must have socket wrenches large enough to fit the flywheel retention nut so the engine cannot move when the compressed air is applied to the engine. If you qualify in regard to the above, and feel confident/mechanically competent enough to do a cylinder leakage test, then you can do one to see why the engine has insufficient compression. E-mail me for a copy of my description of how to do a "poor boy's leakdown test". The poor boy's test still requires the above tools and compressed air, so if you do not have (or can borrow) those, you do not qualify for a DIY leakdown test. Place a "frowny face" next to "Compression" on your list and choose a professional small engine shop for further testing.