Cub Cadet LTX1050 Fire….<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> This is a photo of my 2 year old cub cadet. I need everyone’s help locating any other people that have had this happen to their mower. While mowing I noticed some smoke coming from the engine area and stopped to look. When I raised the cowling, the top, front of the engine was on fire. Before I could get anything to help put it out, all the plastic had caught fire and there was no putting that out. I contacted the Cub Cadet customer support and they were very nice and helpful until I heard this was NOT going to be under warranty. Seems they have never seen such a thing and said it was more than likely a bird nest under the carburetor, near the exhaust pipe. This nest must have caught fire causing a malfunction in the fuel system which then feed gas to the fire. How many birds would build a nest 8” off the ground in a piece of equipment that is used every week? It was also mentioned that I could prove otherwise, so their best guess is a new mower is less than a lawyer (great company policy). What ever happened to helping a customer in a weird circumstance? <?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" />

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.

Any garden tractors can handle demanding tasks. I have 1995 2186-48 Cub Cadet and it still runs and it still mows great. I and my dad mowed with it for years. My neighbor have 1000 series lawn mower once time had backfire and it blew the muffler apart. My dad repaired it for him free assuming it was easy to fixed. Then he checked it out and found nothing wrong with it. Anyway, the maintenance and instructions should be followed careful with common sense. I remembered we had old craftsman mower and it did fell apart, mostly the deck because it catches the dirt and it got bend up causing the blades hitting it. Nothing is worse than poor made machines and see it falling apart no time.

Thanks, folks, for all the good clues on the red wire issue above! I have a 2009 LTX1046 and had the same symptoms with the PTO cutting off at medium speed, as well as the no-reverse cut-off. I added 6 inches of wire, soldered and taped, to both the green and red (mine was black and white, but I traced it upstream and found red) wires. To answer the question from HU-680248234 above, yessir, you were correct, that was the location of the red wire connection. Note that what you were referring to is actually a blade electrical connector. I pulled it off with needle-nosed pliers and replaced with a new one soldered onto the end of my red wire. After reinstalling, give it a squeeze with pliers to ensure the new one stays in place. Views below are from below and the top (through the battery hole).