# CC GT-1554 Poor Quality Dismal Service Attitude



## Powerwagon896

I know that this is perhaps inappropriate for my 2nd post on this site, but I wonder if I should ever consider another Cub Cadet, even the higher end models.

In May of 2006 I bought a CC GT 1554 @ the local Home Depot that had just opened for business. Making the purchase @ HD was my 1st mistake. I didn't realize @ the time that CC pricing was/is consistent whether purchased @ a "big box" store or local Lawn & garden dealer.

It was somewhat of an impulse buy, we were there to purchase building materials. As I mentioned, I didn't realize the price parity situation & thought I was getting a special grand opening deal. A "real" Cub Cadet W/cast iron axle for $3000! What a deal. We opened up a credit card account & did a 12 months same as cash deal.

The problems started even before I took delivery. The tractor was supposed to be in on the next shipment a few days later. On the promised date I went in to get my tractor & found that they were back ordered W/no definite delivery date.

Since my old Murray had given uo the ghost after many years of trouble free service, I needed a tractor right then as my grass was getting quite tall. I canceled the purchase & went to the local L&G dealer to buy another after finding out about the pricing. Unfortunately since I had just made a $3000 credit purchase @ HD the local L&G dealer could not get me similar financing through CC.

The L&G dept manager @ the HD came through & picked up a tractor for me in Syracuse after I borrowed a trailer for him to use when he went there for a meeting. The HD manager @ Syracuse had refused to ship the tractor to Massena on a HD truck so the whole trailer/manager thing was the only way to get a tractor. A few days later I got my tractor.

Now let me say something about myself. I operated heavy equipment in my early 20s, drove semis in my late 20s/early 30s & have been involved in industrial maintenance/skilled trades ever since. I know how to operate machinery W/O breaking it & I am probably a better mechanic than average. I'm not unreasonable in my expectations either. I am what I consider, a "realist".

The 1st season W/the tractor was uneventful but I was not particularly pleased W/the cutting performance. The deck did not cut evenly & left uncut patches when turning. My old Murray did a better job in that respect. Still I was somewhat satisfied as I now had a real Cub cadet that would last a lot longer than my old Murray.

The real problems started happening in the late part of the 2nd season. To save time I'll just list the problems in chronological order.

1. August 2007: 27 HP Kohler Courage engine throws a rod through the block. Since the engine is not part of the tractor according to CC, they would not P/U the tractor so I had to borrow a trailer & transport the tractor 20 miles to the nearest service center. I then had to wait weeks while the engine was dismantled so Kohler could determine that it was a warranty issue. They could not even order the replacement short block until Kohler made a determination. Weeks later, I was able to (again) borrow a trailer to P/U my repaired tractor. Turns out (I found out much later) that Kohler had a run of engines that had rod caps that were not torqued properly. Mine had just been one of the 1st failures.

OK so things happen, I still had a top quality CC tractor that would last me many years.

2. Late spring 2008: The starter has locked up. The engine is now out of the two year warranty so a new starter comes out of my pocket. I'm starting to wonder if I bought a lemon.

3: 2009: Bearings go out in the deck. 4 of the 6 bearings are shot. The deck was never greased @ the factory/dealer. Since there were no grease fittings on the top of the deck I assumed that the sealed bearings were not owner serviceable. Why in the world would they put the grease fittings on the bottom? My old Murray tractor gave me years of service W/sealed bearing W/O me greasing them. Part of this is my fault due to buying the tractor @ HD, but why isn’t CC keeping closer watch over there dealers?

4:Late summer 2010: Drive belt comes off the pulley on top of the HS transmission tearing up the plastic cooling fan. No big deal, just get a new fan & put the belt back on the pulley. Simple job right? Not so simple. In order to get the pulley off (can't get the belt on the pulley in place W/the fan on top of the pulley) I needed to use an impact wrench to remove the pulley nut.

I ended up removing the wheels & dropping the transmission for access. In order to TQ the nut after the belt was in place, I used a hole saw to cut an access hole under the seat.

5. August 2011: The drive belts breaks. No big deal, I have an access hole to R/R the rear pulley, & I cross reference a belt @ Tractor Supply. 15 minutes, an hour tops & I should be back mowing the grass. Hardly the case! After removing the deck & blocking the front of the tractor up, I get a look @ the front pulley. What a cluster! After removing the engine mount bolts & removing the muffler to get maximum movement of the engine, I still can't get a belt past the PTO.

Since I have no provision for R/Ring the PTO & didn't really want to chance having problems W/the PTO, I ended up taking a cut off wheel to the tabs that are supposedly there to prevent the belt from coming off the pulley. (or are they there to prevent the home mechanic from replacing the belt) Thank god I have the access hole so that I will not need to drop the transmission.

To me this is inexcusable. Belt replacement should be a routine maintenance issue, NOT a dealer repair.

So here we are, not a single season after the 1st W/O a major problem. 5 years in a row I have had major problems & the mower doesn't even cut that well. I'm on my 3rd set of blades too.

Research has shown that I am not the only one having problems W/this model tractor. Now I know that instead of a CC, I bought a re-badge MTD, but how can I have any confidence in buying a higher grade CC when CC lets these kind of junk tractors wear their name?

Should I expect better service from a 2000 series or higher grade CC?


----------



## dsterl

Seems to be the norm nowadays, the quality of everything is rediculous!!! They throw this stuff together without actually really testing it very well. It pisses me off when I pay good money for stuff and after awhile give it a good lookover and see the absolute junk, and idiotic design of things anymore. Maybe I'm just getting old!!!!!!!1


----------



## dsterl

And don't count on the 2000 series being any great quality item, because it's true, MTD has really damaged the reputation of the Cub Cadet name! I had an old "100" series for years, what a tank! Had a cast iron rearend and axle housing fit for '69 roadrunner and a cast iron 10hp Kohler. Very heavy, very strong, lost it in the divorce, and she didn't even ever use it. I heard she left it out in the weather and it rotted away! But everything is very cheap anymore!


----------



## EmerichSales

The Cub Cadet GT-2000 Series is a GREAT Tractor!! I did Not see how much you were mowing? Is it rough terrain or Smooth? Hilly or Flat? 
The GT-1554 in my opinion is designed for about 1.5 to 2 acres at the MOST !! The 1554 in my opinion is a Lawn Tractor with larger tires. 

The 2000 Series Has Been Great !!

Plus- Buying from a Local dealer will keep about .68 cents in the Local economy while buying from a Box Store keeps about .43 cents in the Local Economy! Buy from a Servicing Dealer!

Kevin


----------



## phogbound

You thought it was important to repeat your story, so I thought it was important to reply.

With your background of operating heavy equipment, I'm surprised that you considered buying that tractor. 1 look would tell anyone with your experience that it wasn't a heavy-duty tractor. Of course you are a "realist." Everyone is a "realist." When something breaks, it "really" isn't their fault. It's always the manufacturer or engineers. It's always someone else's fault.

Your item 1. Cub Cadet only pays pick up/delivery for some machines for the 1st year of the warranty. The engine is a part of the tractor, but Cub Cadet has to follow Kohler's repair procedures.

2. It is very unusual for starters to just lock up. What exactly failed on the starter? How many hours did you have on it? Does it sit out in the weather? Do you pressure wash it? As far as being a lemon, in my 43 years experience with outdoor power equipment, I have never seen a lemon. I have only seen poorly maintained or incorrectly repaired machines.

3. 3 years old and never lubed? Did you read your oper. manual? The maintenance chart on p.27 recommends lubing the spindles every 25 hr. Page 22 says, "grease fittings can be found on the front of each deck spindle shaft." When you sharpened or changed your blades and thoroughly cleaned under your deck, you should have seen the grease fittings. I would prefer an easier access location, but at least they put grease fittings on the housings.

4. You do things the hard way. If you had removed 6 to 8 bolts, you could have lifted the fender off the tractor to access the trans. pulley. You wouldn't have needed to unhook and remove the trans. You could have taken the pulley off, put the belt on the pulley, install the pulley, install the fender, and be done. But doing it this way is still harder than necessary. And if you had put on a new belt at this time, you would have avoided your item 5. When a belt comes off, it is worn and going to fail soon.

5. Again, the hard way. If you had called any service shop, you would have been told to unhook the PTO wires, use your impact wrench to remove the bolt in the center of the PTO clutch and slide it off the crankshaft. It stays in one piece. Then, without disassembling anything at the back of the tractor, unbolt the engine, put the belt on the trans pulley by reaching it from the bottom, put the belt on the idler pulleys, and put the belt on the engine pulley last. Then, bolt the engine down, apply a little anti-seize to the crank, and install the PTO. Install the mower deck and you're done in half an hour, 45 minutes tops.

Read section 6 on page 16 in your oper. manual - Leveling the Deck. I can assure you that the deck was never leveled by anyone at Home Depot. Then read p. 8 - Setting the gauge wheels. Your quality of cut will improve. Keep in mind, that your 54" deck can't follow the contours of the ground like a smaller deck.

3 sets of blades in 6 years???? How many hours do you have on that tractor?

I see your wish list is for a Simplicity Conquest. Today, those tractors start a $5,199. A comparable Cub Cadet has heavier duty components than your GT-1554. Things like a Kohler Command Pro horizontal-shaft engine, drive shaft, cast-iron trans, heavy-duty wheel bearings, quieter muffler, and a stronger welded frame to name a few. It is disappointing when someone buys a product which isn't designed to do the job they want and then complain about the product when it fails.

Cub Cadet is a division of MTD. There are some similarities between your tractor and some other MTD brands. The trans. in your tractor is heavier duty than any other MTD brand produced today. No other MTD has a full-width roller on the mower deck, or grease fittings on the mower spindles. It's like comparing Chevy and Cadillac, Ford and Lincoln, Honda and Acura, etc. There may be similarities, but they are not identical.

Some of my page numbers may be wrong, because I don't know the form number of your operator's manual.


----------



## phogbound

"after a while give it a good look over"???? Why don't you give it a good look over before you "pay good money?"


----------



## jc56

*1554 problems*

I bought mine from Tractor Supply in 2007.I brought it home,read the manual,greased it and put it to work.While mowing the yard with about 25 hours on it,it died...would not start,or turn over.Tractor Supply wanted to send it 100 miles away for repair with NO idea of how long it would take to get repaired.In the meantime,my grass would be GROWING!!So he was a good guy and offered me another new one....0hrs.So that is what we did.Brought it home,greased it up,and went to mowing.No major problems,but the rear roller on the deck kept coming off.Long story short,I read the manual and adjusted the deck per manual...and fixed that problem.Now,at 175 hrs,has intermitted miss.I found a service bulliten from Kohler about bad ignition modules.I took the engine cover off and cleaned connections,cleaned ground and set air gap.Since then,no miss....but I'm not holding my breath.I've only put a couple of hours on it since then.In general,I wouldn't give this machine a great review.But it really knocks down the grass in a hurry!I pull the deck off every winter and do a complete service on the tractor and deck.I check EVERYTHING.I lube EVERYTHING.In closing,it certainly isn't a Cub...it's a MTD painted Cub yellow.But,ya know...all MTD's aren't bad.Bye


----------



## dangeroustoys56

Its official - according to the people at a large Farmall museum down here- Stew Paquette's Historical Farmall museum in Florida( highly recommend going there) - MTD builds ALL Cub Cadet lawn tractors today- small and large - i asked when i went there, i figured since they have something like a hundred tractors, they should know something about the history .

My parents neighbor has had CC's ever since i can remember - the guy put them to the test and beat the living daylights out of them - not saying they didnt break sometimes, but he used them till they couldnt be fixed anymore - that was many years of abuse. My dad uses thier latest one, a 95 Cub with a twin briggs and 50 something inch deck ( they have a large yard) - thing mows beautiful , BUT is a serious maintence hog - deck needs to constantly be cleared of grass that flys up and packs under the shrouds ( least every two mowings) -but its been a really good tractor with hardly any issues really - it doesnt get as beat tho , but mows a whole lot of yard every summer- about 4 acres a week.


----------



## Powerwagon896

dangeroustoys56 said:


> My dad uses thier latest one, a 95 Cub with a twin briggs and 50 something inch deck ( they have a large yard) - thing mows beautiful , BUT is *a serious maintence hog - deck needs to constantly be cleared of grass that flys up and packs under the shrouds (* least every two mowings) -but its been a really good tractor with hardly any issues really - it doesnt get as beat tho , but mows a whole lot of yard every summer- about 4 acres a week.


It amazes me how the American consumer equates quality W/added features. Yes I bought an entry level CC but I think I had a right to @ least get the level of trouble free service I got W/my old (lower priced) Murray. It seems that CC, like GM, is trying to victimize the consumer W/the "brand loyalty" scam & from the looks of some of the other posts here, it seems to be working.

Since you mentioned the deck clogging issue I can expound on that. My Murray never clogged as long as I didn't overload it by cutting tall grass @ too high ground spead.

I even used that old Murray as a light duty brushhog, cutting tall rarss that hadn't been mowed in years, even breaking the spindle hubs on a few occasions when hit stumps that were not quite flush W/ground level. The CC NEVER saw such abuse since the Murray did all of the overgrown pasture clearing in the 1st place. Yet, even though the CC did not receive the abuse that the Murray endured, it had/has serious reliability problems.

@ the end of the season last year the local Simplicity dealer loaned me the much used Simplity Conquest in my avatar. Yes it retailed new for $2K more, but it comes W/a limited slip diff and a diff lock. It actually is a very plain & simple tractor & that is what I want. I do not need nor do I even want PS or other superfluous bells & whistles. Besides, lower level Simplicities that are comperabaly priced (to the CC GT1554) can still be had W/the same HP & the same deck as that particular Conquest so that argument does't hold water.

Back to the deck clogging issue. The CC deck on my 1554 is a rotten POS. the weather last summer was horrible from a standppoint of convenient grass mowing sceduling. I mow an old horse paddock that is very fertile & even when I could get to mow it on a weekly basis, the CC deck would NOT discharge the clipping well & even when it did not clog up completely (which it did frequently) it would throw clumps of grass instead of fine clippings. Now don't give me the BS about how a 2000 series would be better because I investigated a 25XX tractor that was on Craiglist. I made some in depth inquiries about the deck performance & found that the clogging was also an issue W/that 2000 series CC tractor.

I mowed the same paddock W/the Simplicity & never had any issue W/clogging or clumping. The Siplicity was an older 18HP maodel & the ground speed was only dependant on the HP output whereas the 27 HP CC had to have the ground speed reduced due to the deck clogging. I WAS ABLE TO MOW THE PADDOCK FASTER W/THE 18 HP CONQUEST USING A 50" DECK WHILE THE 27 HP CC HAD A 54" DECK.

The quality of the Conquest cut was in a whole different class. While the CC resulted in a cut that looked like a brushog had been used, the Conquest mowed the same over length grass faster W/9 less HP, 4" less deck width & gave results that looked like this.










There was no bagger on the Conquest deck either BTW. When the deck discharges properly, a bagger is not needed.


----------



## jc56

*GT 1554 Update*

Hey Powerwagon.Well,here's an update.I pulled it out the other day and ran it up and down the driveway just to let run a little and got to the garage and it started missing again.I jumped off and grabbed my plastic pliers and pulled RS plug wire and nothing,no change.It FINALLY missed long enough to find the problem once and for all(I hope anyway).So I've got an ignition module on order....I'll keep ya updated.:globesnow


----------



## phogbound

I have a few suggestions for the deck clogging problem. Use the blades that are supplied with a bagger. If your blades have a star hole, use 742-0679. If the blades have a round hole, use 759-04011. They blow more air and make more wind noise, but less grass sticks under the deck. Also, flatten the brace in the discharge opening. It creates too much obstruction. Removing the deck skirt pieces might help, too. They create a ledge that can collect grass, but, that might allow grass to blow out from the front of the deck.
If grass collects under the spindle covers, close the holes around the spindles. They may have been put there to allow more air under the deck to improve discharge, but sometimes grass blows up through the holes. A friend covered the holes on his deck and very little grass accumulates on top of his deck now.
He tried several different types of blades and the bagger blades work the best for him.


----------



## jc56

*CC 27hp Kohler Update*

Well...got in an ignition module and installed.Ran it in the yard for about 30 minutes this afternoon(54 degrees today:headclapNo missing so far.It will take a couple of mowings to really find out if it is truely fixed.I really hope so....it ran poorly all last year.later jc


----------



## Country Boy

phogbound said:


> I have a few suggestions for the deck clogging problem. Use the blades that are supplied with a bagger. If your blades have a star hole, use 742-0679. If the blades have a round hole, use 759-04011. They blow more air and make more wind noise, but less grass sticks under the deck. Also, flatten the brace in the discharge opening. It creates too much obstruction. Removing the deck skirt pieces might help, too. They create a ledge that can collect grass, but, that might allow grass to blow out from the front of the deck.
> If grass collects under the spindle covers, close the holes around the spindles. They may have been put there to allow more air under the deck to improve discharge, but sometimes grass blows up through the holes. A friend covered the holes on his deck and very little grass accumulates on top of his deck now.
> He tried several different types of blades and the bagger blades work the best for him.



I second the bagging blades idea. Most of the low to mid range tractors these days come with "3 in 1" or multi purpose blades that are supposed to be able to mulch, mow, and bag. They don't work well for any of those tasks like a dedicated blade will. I usually replace them at the shop with a high-lift blade whenever possible unless the customer says that they do mulch (pretty rare in our area). You will be amazed at the difference that it will make. I have always been impressed with the blowing performance on MTD decks, even ones that have been beaten on for years seem to blow better than many of the premium mowers. I work on a lot of MTD tractors at the shop, and they all seem to mow quite well when I test them. See if your local dealer carries a high lift blade for that tractor and see what that does for your cutting performance.

As for the tractor being such a pain to work on, I think it has more to do with not using the proper maintenance and repair procedures than the tractor design. See if you can pick up a service manual for your tractor to make repairs easier. Many can be found online or ordered for a small fee. Knowing how to do the repair can ease a lot of frustrations, and I know all about that, having to work on many different brands of equipment at work. I usually try to locate a shop manual to help me out if I don't immediately see what needs to be done so I don't waste a ton of time and the customer's money trying to repair a unit.


----------



## Country Boy

jc56 said:


> Well...got in an ignition module and installed.Ran it in the yard for about 30 minutes this afternoon(54 degrees today:headclapNo missing so far.It will take a couple of mowings to really find out if it is truely fixed.I really hope so....it ran poorly all last year.later jc


Sounds like you got the problem licked. My friend's father in law had a similar issue with his Kohler engine in the Simplicity GT he has, and it ended up being the ignition coil on the #2 cylinder. We replaced both coils while we were in there because you have to remove the engine to get the shroud off and we didn't want to have to repeat the repair if the other one failed. He had over 1800 hours on the tractor at the time, so he got his money's worth out of it.


----------



## jc56

OK,quick update.Mowed with the Cub the other day and it ran perfect!!!I was really happy that the one ignition module fixed it.It ran poorly all last year.It's nice to have it back to where it should be!!!!jc


----------



## cmac

I had to comment on one post in this thread, or actually one point within the post. "the lemon comment" in point #2, while I think most of the post makes perfect sense.. A person who works in the field should know that there are Lemons period. I have family that have worked in both heavy equipt. manufacturing, farm manufacturing an auto, and they all will tell you that yes, there are lemons, thus is why each state within our country has "lemon laws" which protect consumers. I have two family members with CC one a 2550 and the other a 1050 while not lemons, both are very disappointed with their tractors... And both are well maintained


----------



## wjjones

A friend of mine bought the GT1554 cub new in 2006 as well I think he got to use for 2 weeks the whole first summer. He had alot of major issues with it up to, and including the engine being replaced.


----------



## dangeroustoys56

As i mentioned about my folks neighbor's CC - its had its fair share of blurbs and repairs- sometimes having to be sent back to the shop.

One curious blurb was it didnt want to start one time - dad was ready to tell the neighbor to have the shop come n get it - i thought about it a minute and just did the usual checks- spark, gas, ect - it wasnt getting any gas - so we almost thought the pulse pump on the valve cover was bad - i was like " Heck lets pull it off and look at it".

So we pulled the pump off, and come to find out the vacuum line is plugged full of crud ( old oil?) - so we cleaned it all out , put it back together and it fired right up. Something that simple and hasnt happened since.


----------



## Powerwagon896

Well, the sad saga continues.

Earlier this eseason, one of the deck lift cables on my 2006 Cub Cadet GT 1554 broke!

Up to this point, I had NEVER had any kind of deck lift failure on ANY tractor. Usualy they are mechanical linkages or chains, not a cheap 1/8" cable.

After looking @ how the cable was routed & the trouble it would be to replace, I was so POed that I just lowered the rear roller as a gauge. (like the Simplicitys)

That worked, so so, as I would often get hung up on the roller in my uneven yard & one of the rear wheels would spin.

After fighting that for a few weeks, I got 2 new cables & set about replacing them.

What a POS as far as servicability! I had to remove the deck, crawl under the damned thing & get my wife to lend a hand to get the top clevis pin inserted BEHIND the lift lever that was a channel shape that neccesitated working blind to insert the clevice pin. One side was not too bad, but the side that broke was a real PITA. I bought extra clevice pins so that I had spares when I dropped 2 of them onto the top of the transaxle.

I am tired of hearing excuses from all the died in the wool Cub fans like the comments about removing the PTO to access the drive belt. I tried to remove the PTO in that instance, but guess what? It didn't come off when I removed the bolt (big surpise there eh?) & I was not about to start using a puller on the PTO. (this is not uncommon BTW)

This rabid Cub loyalty is like the old apple pie/Chevrolet BS. Both Cub Cadet & GM are trying to use "customer loyalty" to get people to buy inferior product. I should know, I worked for GM for 18 years & will never own another of their (newer) products after I bought 2 new trucks in 2004 & lost my butt on resale after I had to get rid of them due to quality/reliability issues. I traded both on new Dodges, a new 2005 Powerwagon & a new 2006 Charger. I lost almost as much on resale in 1 year on my Silverado as I lost on the Power wagon after 6 years! I still have the Charger & it is a great car. Probably the best I ever owned & it still worth about 50% of the original sticker price after 6 years & 75,000 miles. The 2004 Trailblazer lost $18,000 of the original $38,000 sticker price after just 1 1/2 years/35,000 miles & that was @ a Dodge dealer. The GM dealers wanted to chop another $3500 off of the trade-in value because I got a $3000 "employee discount"! Some discount huh? I come out $500 in the hole because I work for GM?

One thing that puzzles me is the big deal made about the shaft drive on the 2000 series Cubs. If you are not pulling a 3 bottom plow, what's wrong W/a simple, easy to maintain belt drive anyway?

I can buy many lifetimes of drive belts for what a shaft drive adds to the price of a tractor that will never be used in a manner that require a shaft drive.

One the Simplicity Conquest I had as a loaner, a drive belt can be changed in about 15 minutes. Drop the deck, (much easier than on my Cub GT 1554) slip off/on the drive belt (no need to R&R the PTO) & replace the deck. It was an all day ordeal on my GT 1554 requireing removal of the muffler, loosening up the engine mount bolts & cutting off some guard tabs on the frame. All this while having the tractor (precariously) blocked up nearly vertical. Al thsi after removing the deck BTW. (which is a chore in itself that takes longer than the entire R&R of the drive belt on the Simplicity Conquest)


----------



## cmac

I hear ya PowerWagon, just remember "there's no lemons" according to some, I agree when it comes to CC's they're just junk in my opinion! My brother-in-laws wheel came off last month on his 1050 while mowing...with 30 hours on it. My moms 2550 leaks oil like its going out of style been "fixed" twice (160 hrs). Both swear they will never buy CC again. I put the 1050's snow thrower on last year what a joke, the thing looks impressive but my toddler could bend that sheet metal. Like I've posted before i'll give credit the 2550 cuts great and will mow a hay field if asked too, but my '75 and '83 Case tractors give a cleaner cut and don't get stuck on a wet rock, my mom says over and over that they should of just put the 4k+ towards a new Ingersoll, or Simplicity instead of the 2550. It's true you get what you pay for, but the aggravating thing is that it's not that these tractors lack power it's that the quality of the build is terrible and people see CC name and assume top line tractor, at any size. I have a neighbor that has several old CC's (70's early 80's) and they are tanks great tractors that's what the name was built on,, that's quickly falling apart.


----------



## cmac

As far as the shaft drive my dad initially was going to buy the tiller for the 2550, but decided to wait and see as he had a tiller on his old Case. The damn 2550 can't make it off of wet pavement (easy CC fans.. Exaggeration) worst traction ever can't imagine dropping 1,500 on a rear tiller to have to pull it out of the garden with my M. I'm not sure even changing the rear tires out would help.


----------



## dangeroustoys56

My dad uses my old '92 MTD regularlly to mow - had it since it was brand new - ive taken care of it over the years( regular maintence/deck cleanings) , with last year it needed new belts and mandrels - it wasnt cheep for parts, but heck in the last 18 years its had virtually no major issues, save for a new starter gear, a replacement ( used off a parts tractor i have) front axle , and 1 other mandrel and a couple batteries - belts were original.

He also has another '88 MTD ( with a replacement engine after he blew up the original) and recently a freind of his gave him a '75 C160 wheelhorse with a 16HP kohler that runs- all it needs is a deck ( which he's searching for).


I think that '92 of mine was an exception for MTD's - most the ones i have down here were literally beat to death ( hence free) , some work good- some became parts tractors.

Speaking of GM - my aunt n uncle are long time GM owners( family worked for Harrison radiator)- their last GM was a 2012 model ( cant remember the model) - it had nothing but issues from day 1 with the AC then a scarier thing happened with the throttle - my uncle was taking his grandkids someplace and the throttle stuck wide open - he managed to shut it off, turned it back on and was still wide open. 

He had it towed to the GM dealer, they had it for 2 weeks and announced ' Nothing was wrong' - he took it right to a Chrysler dealer and traded it for a Chrysler product.


----------



## Powerwagon896

*Gage Roller Fell Off Too*

I forgot to mention in my above post that shortly after I stated using the rear gage roller as a hieght adjusment in lieu of the lift cables, the roller came undone on one end & went under the rear wheel.

Fortunately I was on the driveway @ the time so I was able to recover all of the parts strewn across my driveway.

All that holds the gage roller in place is a clotter pin! Not a very heavy one @ that.

After I got the roller out from under the rear wheel where it was jammed @ an acute angle, I got some heavy gage clevis pins (that should have been OEM) to replace the cotter pins. After straightening the roller ajustment/mount out in my vise I replaced the roller onto the deck.

That is what finally motivated me to replace the broken deck lift cable.


----------



## Country Boy

Powerwagon896, don't be surprised if you have troubles with any tractor you buy. You are saying CC is absolute junk, but I've seen just as many issues with any brand out there. Had a Simplicity in this summer that was a complete train wreck at 350 hours. The engine was only running on one cylinder (other head blew out and was junk), the power steering leaked like a sieve, the transmission expansion tank hose blew off and leaked a ton of oil in the guys lawn and driveway, it intermittently doesn't want to start, the starter jams regularly, the deck height control linkage keeps bending on him, and the top of the deck keeps packing with grass. His lawn is like a fairway, and he is fussy with maintenance, so I doubt it is a problem with his treatment of the unit. He replaced an old Craftsman tractor with this and is regretting it every day (according to him). My friend's father in law has a Simplicity Legacy and he doesn't really like it. He has to rebuild the rear PTO every couple years, the frame cracked a few times on him, the mower pan keeps falling apart, and the steering is now so loose that he can't hold a straight line when mowing. 

My point is that every brand will have problems, and you will curse at the engineer who designed whatever you happen to be working on. No brand is perfect.

As for the rear roller on your CC deck falling off, it was never intended to be used as a height control wheel. They are simply there to help the deck flow over hills and obstacles, and should be 1/2-3/4" above the ground when mowing. I think where your major problem arises is that you are cutting a lot more grass than the mower was intended for. With that much grass, you might want to invest in a commercial zero turn mower or a larger commercial tractor. You will spend a lot more money up front, but you will save it down the road in maintenance and repair costs. I've seen a lot of people buy machines that are too small for their lots, and they are all unhappy with them.


----------



## Powerwagon896

Problems W/the GT1554 have become so much the norm that I no longer feel compelled to immediately post every time an issue arrises.

Case in point?

A while back I noticed a strange noise coming from the deck as I backed up to make 3-point turns while mowwing.

An investgation revealed that the cheap "star' shaped pulley/quill engagement had stripped. Both the quill & pulley were stripped.

The quill had plenty of grease & the bearings where still servicable. (I have already repalaced them once)

Since I am on a limited income & repair $$$ is scarce, I just tightened the top bolt down, made sure the pulley was centered, & proceeded to have the nut flange welded to the pulley & the center to the quill shaft .

Yesterday, when my son came over to help out, the rear deck gage roller came off. (again) It is now adjusted for normal ground clearance after the lift cables were replaced so it is not beio gsubjected to use out of it's design envelope.

Since neither cotter pins nor clevis pins seem to hold up, he placed 8d nails in each end & bent them over.

It's getting to the point that preventative maintenance seems futile & I might as well just start waiting for the next thing to fail & do cobbled repairs to get by until the next component fails.

My old Murray was subjected to a lot more abuse than the CC 1554. I used that poor old thing as a light duty brush hog & it never failed in a way that I could not attribute to my own doing.

The CC1554 can't even handle normal mowing chores W/O break downs.


----------



## Powerwagon896

Country Boy said:


> My point is that every brand will have problems, and you will curse at the engineer who designed whatever you happen to be working on. No brand is perfect.


That is just not true in every case.

Some products are designed W/maintenance in mind while others are designed for "manufacturability" W/little regard for the end user.

Case in point?

The excellent "E" Class Mercedes based LX cars from Chrysler. (300/Magnum/Charger)

Compared to anything GM produces they are light years ahead in ease of maintanability.

Likewise, the Simplicity Conquest & had as a loaner was simple to work on.

All normal wear components were easy to access/replace.

I dropped the deck & did some normal maintenance while I had it, adjusting the steering sector etc.

No need to R&R the PTO for any reason other than PTO servicing.

There's just no way around it, CC should have NEVER allowed their name to be put on such a sorry peice of junk as the GT1554. It has absolutely no real redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Absolutely the worst piece of mechanical machinery I have ever owned & that even includes mid '60s British motorcycles.


----------

