Mtd

[tomstractormag]

Why does everyone think of MTD as bad.
They have been around a long time and have made probably a lot of products or components you never knew about.
Last I knew their products are still made in the USA.
Sure they sell under many of the older brand names. But most know what the mfg really is.
The products that MTD sells are geared toward the typical homeowner and is build with that in mind.

If you need heavier duty equip their is still some out there. Look at europe where they tend to farm with smaller tractors, riding and walking. (like BCS) Expect to pay more.

Look at John Deeres new line of lawn and garden tractors/mowers... Compared to what they had in the past (original 110, 112 to the first 200 series) the new ones look like stamped out pieces of junk.

I use in my garden farming operation a Speedex, 2 Jim Dandys, a Power King, MF 14 and an AC 620.
Actually more than I need but have them as teaching tools and some are job specific.
And besides I like the older tractors.

I have used MTD lawn tractors (and my old 99bucks from wally world maybe 8yr old pusher) to mow with. The MTD deck is really a good design, mows with the best of them. The MTD lawn tractor I have now needs an engine replaced. Has a 14hp ohv Briggs now. Ill stick in whatever I have.

Tom

[Rockytopsis]

I don't think MTD's are bad. I am using a MTD self propelled rear tine garden tiller that DH bought in 94 and I love it. He thinks he is finally going to have to replace it and I told him that when he does I don't want any other kind. I also have a lawn mower that I bought in 91 and still using it.

Nancy

[Bret4207]

The problem is the MTD and AYP, etc, make consumer quality products. They just don't last like Dad's old Sears or Wards did that he bought back in '72...or '82! They just aren't what we expect for the money. I bought a Sears 25 hp tractor for $2500 and have under 200 hours on it. It's JUNK, pure and simple. It's one of the biggest mistakes I ever made. Meanwhile my 1964 Wheel Horse and 1971 Allis Chalmers (Simplicity) chug along just fine. No, they give me perfectly cut lawns, but they last and last and last....

[Theront]

I for one have several MTD products. I would rather have them then the murray line or AYP. I have an MTD990 garden tractor, MTD 1500 tractor. I am repairing a riding lawn mower with a bad briggs motor. Theses older garden tractors are very sturdy and can do a lot of things.

I Like MTD.

Theront

[Gary in ohio]

Your speedex and jim dandy's are how old, DO you expect a MTD to be around as long?
The answer is no.. WHile the engine's are better thant he past the MTD's are not designed for designed for 1/2+ century life spans.

[Sawmill Jim]

Martin Tool @Die One plant at Martin Tn they also make lots of auto parts or did .Have large pressed to form things . Know several that work there .They make lots of brands will put your name on one if you order enough of them .

[plowjockey]

Originally Posted by tomstractormag

Look at John Deeres new line of lawn and garden tractors/mowers... Compared to what they had in the past (original 110, 112 to the first 200 series) the new ones look like stamped out pieces of junk. Tom

MTD makes cheap tractors for people who can't afford or don't want to pay the better built expensive stuff. Deere still makes hard core garden tractors, but it will cost ya.

Old deere models were well built but were not inexpensive. The 110 listed for $1200 in 1975 and the 214 was $2600 in 85'. (mower decks are extra)

Originally Posted by tomstractormag

I use in my garden farming operation a Speedex, 2 Jim Dandys, a Power King, MF 14 and an AC 620.
Tom

Maybe a bit or irony here, as these tractors may have been built too well. These companies are all out of business and MF is made by MTD.

[arabian knight]

I sure don't hate MTD, I love them.
I in fact have 2 pieces that are MTD and work GREAT. My snowblower on one thing. And being in WI living in the country I BLOW at lot of snow~!
And one 18 horse lawn tractor that has been used very hard over the past years and still runs great.
And being MTD you can order parts over the NET~!! Can't do that with a green machine one.....
Parts are easy to come buy and the prices are very respectable on new pieces of equipment. and Parts being available and easy to get is one big reason I like MTD's.
That is IF one needs to get parts for whatever reason. From belts to blades to bearings.

[ErinP]

I don't have any complaints about MTD, either.
We had a riding mower that we got second hand that lasted 10 years of hard use for us. We got a brand new one, two years ago to replace it.

[HermitJohn]

Because MTDs are designed to last only very few years and to be uneconomical to rebuild or to significantly repair unless you want to re-engineer the dang thing. Then you would basically have to build a new tractor around the existing engine.

Do a search in Mother Earth News archives on their website. They built a very heavy duty garden tractor around an old VW transaxle. That thing will last if you do a good job of building it. Better to spend time building something like that from parts than spend far more for factory new throwaway trash.

[arabian knight]

hmmm very few years lets see now my 18 horse MTD mower is over 14 years old and I did rebuilt the trans-axil a few years ago myself, and by ordering the parts I needed over net it was easy, and I rebuilt the tran-saxil over the winter time, so it was ready for the summer heavy mowing. Works great too.

[o&itw]

The vast majority of Americans want some kind of machine that they never have to service, change oil, etc. , be "pretty", and be cheap too boot. The manufacurer's are only making what the vast majority wants, which is th economically wise and profitable thing to do. Homesteaders, as a group, are more like their fathers and grandfathers, that want somehing that will last a lifetime, and expect to have to maintain it. We would rather have something that is well built and repairable, not as interested as it looking like the "latest" craze. There are so few (percentage wise) people seeking such equipment, that the price of them is almost prohibitive. It is an "economy of scale" thing. So many of us look for older pieces of equipment, that haven't be so used and re-used for generations that there is life in them beyond two or three of the new units.

It is the same thing for everything from garden hoses to snow shovels, and the "throw away and buy new" mentality in this country rewards the companies that produce "cheap" goods. I had wanted a decent string timmer for years. A guy up the street sold one, a year or two old, to me at a yard sale for 5 bucks, saying the thing wouldn't run good anymore, so he bought a new one. I figured I could take a chance at that price, the thing look brand new. When I got it home, I sawl the fuel line was cracked, happened to have some around, put some fresh gas in it, and tried it out. It started OK, but would not run right even after I adjusted the carb. I started looking for a fiilter or something that might be causing the problem, and found the thing had a screen over the exhaust port (required only in CA) that was completely clogged uop with soot. Removed the screen, re adjusted the carb, and now the thing would saw down trees if I let my DW use it

[Theront]

Well my 990 is from 1977 and the 1500 is older yet. I dug the 1500 out of a salvage yard, put a new spark plug in it and some minor clutch related items. They are pushing snow with it on every snow fall. They are very heavy units with the 990 weighing 850lbs without a deck and the 1500 weighs 710lbs without a deck.


The 990 even has a cat 0 3 point setup on it. We have a tiller for it and all. I am looking at building a loader on it soon.

Theront

[diamondtim]

The only thing that I have against MTD or companies like them is they don't develop their own reputation for quality. Instead they buy up the name of older quality brand names and slap that name on goods that are not made to the same standards. It is, IMHO, a form of deceiving the consumer. I don't like liars and that is lying.

If MTD makes a quality machine, great, then tell the world of your great quality and value. Don't try to tell me that your machine is a Bolens or a Troy Built (which have well deserved reputations for quality) when it isn't.

[MWnBC]

Also have a MTD snowblower.Used and abused for about 20 yrs,6' of snow some years and 800' of road.It has an 8 HP,Tecumseh industrial engine.
No complaints here.Good winter exersize!
Mark

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by diamondtim

The only thing that I have against MTD or companies like them is they don't develop their own reputation for quality. Instead they buy up the name of older quality brand names and slap that name on goods that are not made to the same standards. It is, IMHO, a form of deceiving the consumer. I don't like liars and that is lying.

If MTD makes a quality machine, great, then tell the world of your great quality and value. Don't try to tell me that your machine is a Bolens or a Troy Built (which have well deserved reputations for quality) when it isn't.

So when troy built buys the mtd machines and hangs their labels on them and sells them as their own....... thats mtds fault?

[Jerry in MN]

My MTD tiller was difficult to work on. IIRC a sprocket wore out and when you open up the cheap tin case a bunch of parts fall out, and it's tough to put it all back together and seal it up. OTOH the counter-rotating tines worked well for busting up sod.

[diamondtim]

Originally Posted by Yvonne's hubby

So when troy built buys the mtd machines and hangs their labels on them and sells them as their own....... thats mtds fault?

If it is MTD or Troy Built doing the deceiving, I won't buy the machine. As for what you will buy, that is up to you.

[tomstractormag]

Originally Posted by Gary in ohio

Your speedex and jim dandy's are how old, DO you expect a MTD to be around as long?
The answer is no.. WHile the engine's are better thant he past the MTD's are not designed for designed for 1/2+ century life spans.

Actually some of the tractors mtd made will probably last as long.
They were using the same components as others of the day.
Certainly the newer stamped out throwaway stuff wont.

Of course that goes for John Deere and other mfgs also.

My Jim Dandys and the speedex are knocking on the half century mark, the others are a little younger.
What I have been doing is repowering all of them with newer (or new) ohv engines. These engines start nicer and are way better on fuel.

I am using a vtwin briggs vanguard in the AC, honda GX series 8 & 11 hp in the JDs and am trying some china knockoff (of honda, I call them chonda) engines in the Power King 13hp and the Speedex 8hp.
The Massey still has a 14hp Kohler flatty in it. Heck of an engine but keep a gas can nearby.

Seems on the new stuff the trannies are a weak link.

Tom

[Shrek]

I like MTD because so many folks chose to dispose of them when they first start to hard crank instead of tuning them up that I am always salvaging some that just need a tuning or for parts out of trash pick up piles.

A friend gave me his old MTD troybilt mower this past summer cussing MTD all the way as he loaded it into my truck. Later that week after tinkering with it, I had that baby running like a big dawg after polishing the plug , flushing the tank and carb, replacing the bent tension spring and washing the air filter in dawn dishwashing detergent and blowing it dry with my air compressor.

When I called him to let him know I had it running , he told me to keep it because he had bought a new one before he gave it to me.