Farmall Cub

I've been mowing the same lawn with the Loboy equipped with a 60" deck and a Cadet with a 50" K301. The Cadet uses nearly twice the gas as the Loboy. I'll admit the Cadet is working much harder as it's a hydro and only 12HP for such a large deck. I'm thinking that I may need to thin a few non-producing persimmon trees to allow a little more turning area. (and trim them a little higher) hehe Actually there's not much difference in the time it takes either. Go figure...
(Turn arounds and reversing slows the LoBoy substantially of course)

I bought the wife a lawn tractor (Craftsman) 24/26 horse 48 inch deck....She likes to putter around and do some finish mowing when I'm mowing on my Cub.... Anyhow you're absolutely right, the Cub far exceeds the gas "mileage" of the Hyrdo Craftsman....And I'm 6'4" and riding on a yard tractor is a tight, back wrenching experience....Not to forget the old adage about the "Monkey and the Football"....Their was an old ad, proclaiming the Cub could work a cetrain period of time or work so many acres on a quart of gas....I forget just how it went, but they are economical to operate.....Dave

I have had the following results mowing my 1 acre. This is the average after several mowings (to figure out the best mowing pattern to use with this equipment). A mowing calculator can provide approximate times for open spaces with no trees, but the reality is most have to mow around obstacles. Mowing the same area can give you a good feel for the fuel and time used.

Simplicity hydrostatic 16 hp 48" deck: 2.5 gallons, 1 hour
Wheel Horse (gear shift) 16 hp 42" deck: 3 gallons, 1 hour 15 minutes
Exmark commerical hydrostatic zero turn 26 hp 60" deck: 3 gallons, 35 minutes
Cub 184 Loboy 18 hp 60" deck: 1 gallon, 50 minutes

Note: More trimming time is required when using the cub.

I have never done exact measurements, but I have about 2 acres i mow. Around the house I normally mow with a 48 inch 24hp (supposedly) Simplicity ZTR, and the rest which is about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 acre with the cub and flail. I have mowed the outer part with the ZTR a time or tow, and it is only slightly faster than the cub, but takes nearly twice as much fuel to do the job. You have to pay to spin those two sets of hydraulic pumps and motors, in addition to the high speed the blades turn at providing the suction to lift the grass and blow it out.

You could basically compare the cub's gas engine to a diesel. They share several similarities, low rpm, inline, high torque, etc., compared to single or twin cylinder Kohler or Briggs engines running at 3000 rpm, low torque, V engines.

My father and I each have new Simplicity Legacy XL tractors. Both have a 60" mower deck and are foot controlled hydrostatic drive. My fathers has a 27hp Kawasaki gasoline engine and is 2wd. Mine has a 27hp Dihatsu Diesel and is 4wd. We both mow almost exactly 2 acres. He uses about 4 gallons of gas to mow his lawn. I use about a gallon of diesel fuel to do mine. There is no comparison between high torque, low rpm, and low torque, high rpm.

I noticed that too. I have a Cub Cadet 169, 16hp Kohler, and I cut about 3 acres. I have to fill her up before I start, and then refill about half way or so. I guestimate about 3 or 4 gallons with my 50" deck. The 57 Cub, I fill her up and I can cut grass without refilling her about 4 or 5 times. Granted, it is a 7 gallon tank, but the C60 sips rather than guzzles like the Cub Cadet. I have to say that the 16hp Kohler has way more power than the Cub though...

Cubs were advertised to do 8 acres per day with one tank of gas IIRC. I do know that when comparing fuel usage with Ellie powering the splitter and a rental 30 ton with a 5 hp Honda on it, Ellie burns less fuel than the Honda does for the same run/split time. In one day the Honda used almost 6 gallons of gas and Ellie burned less than 2. Course the Honda was wide open and Ellie was at an idle I love my Cubs

I am curious to see how my JD L111 with a 20hp Briggs and Stratton will compare with which ever Cub ends up with the C-2.

Rudi, I believe that the fuel consumption advertised was 1 Gallon per hour at rated capacity. I wonder if anyone has put that to the test to see if that is true or not...

Mike

if you look at my post above, it takes me about 50 minutes to mow my yard and burns 1 gallon of gas. The C60 engine running wide open mowing is still a fuel-miser.