Cub Cadet Ultima ZT1 Good Quality Or Junk? With Service Review and Tips

Thanks, this really helped tip me into the Cub Cadet Ultima ZT1 camp.

My daughter bought this exact model, 2 yrs ago, and one of her goals was, help/ pull, dad into the 21st century… (I was hooked on using a 30+ yr old garden tractor… ),didn’t take long for me to recognize huge advantages in speed and comfort… so, last spring, I got a cub cadet Z2, 60” at a dealership.. priced a bit higher, with larger Kawasaki engine, larger tires, upsized 2800 tranny, $4300, included an extra set of blades… their both great machines, I do the maintenance on both of them, and I agree with all your maintenance tips…:)

I have a 23 year old 42 inch drive shaft cub.Still in perfect shape.Cut 3 Acer yard.1000 hrs.on it.

Really appreciate this, its hard to find videos or even comments areas where its not just bashing or clearly biased. Seems like a good overall design and think I'll bite the bullet on one.

Really appreciate the information! Great video... very informative! I'm actually going to pick this exact model up after work today...

I wanted a 50 inch deck, but what I've learned with these is it's not the "size" of your deck that matters, it's how you 'use' it.

I have had 4 cubs, 2- 50" and now I have 2 54". Love them. They do a beautiful cut and easy to work on and light weight. Haven't even though about getting any other brand.

Thanks for the info! Ordered mine, arrives next week. Can't wait for summer so I can start mowing!

Get mine in 2-3 days and cant wait! Great video!

I purchased the exact same model (Home Depot) spring 2023 to replace a 42" cut Craftsman (made by Cub Cadet) lawn tractor that wasn't really a good match for the bigger lawn at my new home. I mowed my "new" 1.5 acre lawn 37 times that entire summer and into the fall and so far nine times this year with no significant issues at all. The Kawasaki engine is impressive, it cuts well, and it's easy to handle and service. I wish it had an hour meter like my Craftsman did, but it's not hard to keep notes on things, so that's not a big deal. All in all, I'm totally pleased with it. I'd recommend one to my best friend, and I'd buy another in a heartbeat.

Thanks so much much appreciated info on my zt50

These are very popular here with TSC in every town and there payment plans I work on them often and there pretty solid machines for price

After owning my ZT1 42" FAB for a while now, there's a few things I've learned about this mower. The fabricated deck is indeed NOT fabricated. It's more of a stamped design hybrid if you will. It is, however, heavy duty compared to the all stamped deck. Never use water on your deck! Especially if it's hot. The water will be drawn into the spindle bearings, causing the bearings to rust. The plastic seat bumpers are really hard and dont help the ride quality at all. I replaced them with 3" Harley seat springs, and that made a big difference. The mower doesn't come with a strap to keep the seat in place while leaning it forward. Bought one from Amazon. The mower does not come with an hour meeter but is available from Cub cadet. Buy one, and it will help with the maintenance schedule. Do I like the mower. Yes, very much so. I hope my tips will help if someone's looking to buy a Cub cadet. As for the vibrating belt I talked about on my other post, I just learned to live with it.

I have had two of these over the last five years or so, they have given me stellar service. The first one I thought I lost the transmission so I went out and bought a second one, but it turns out that the only problem was the spring had popped off the paul that interacts with the disc cog and locks the wheels. After I popped that spring back into place it ran just fine. I ended up selling it to a friend and he still uses it to this day to mow 7 acres+ at his place I’m mowing about 2 1/2 at my place. I took off the pulley guards because grass was gathering up in there and It was very hard to remove. Once I took the guards off the deck pulleys, I had no problem with grass. It blew off the deck as I mowed. One thing to watch out for is the throttle cable, will rust and get stuck, and you will have to replace it. The only other trouble I have had with this last one is that the seal for that disc brake cog went bad and I had to replace it. I found it on McMaster - Carr for eight dollars. The cub cadet dealer couldn’t even find that seal on the diagram. He said I’d have to buy the whole transmission to get that seal! One last thing, you need to keep the underside of the deck clean. As grass builds up, there will be a stripe of uncut grass left between the right side and middle blades. They really don't over lap. All in all, I can highly recommend this mower. PS: Can you do a video on changing the transmission fluids?

Yes. Got one 4 years ago. They were only $2999 out the door. no issues.

I bought a 54 inch with fabricated 3 years ago almost 700 hours replaced a starter and throttle cable awesome machine also have 54 tractor fabricated deck gtx 2000 power steering 11 years old no problems still mows like a champ

Thanking about the 50 in this weekend . I have a 24 Hp Cadet garden tractor Kohler engine fab deck about five years now great tractor so Ive almost decided to get a 0turn .

Nice review. Thanks.

I’ve owned my 54 p for 20 months and the left hydro seal (brake cog )is leaking so it’s at the repair shop being fixed under warranty unless I hear different. For some reason the seal backs out maybe it’s a touch to small . Using a special locktite when putting the new one in should help the back out thats what the service guy said.mine cuts good but the original blades that came on machine are cheap metal got 2 seasons out of them sharpened them once .took the deck off to do maintenance underneath and the blades were shot metal pieces missing on all blades.what a surprise! Got new blades low lift from tractor supply not cheap but way better metal . I have some bare areas not so much grass hopefully these blades help not creating as much as a dust storm like the height lift blades. Wish the mower went a little faster speed. Thank for the vid!

Considering my options to upgrade from a Cub 1045 to one like this. Lots of viable options. I do think using the blower we have out already for yard work is a good idea to get the grass off the mower after every cut. No matter what brand or style.