Cub Cadet Enduro Series FAB 50 in. 24 HP Gas Riding Lawn Mower, Kohler Twin-Cylinder Engine, Hydrostatic Transmission, Cadet

I had a 4 year old cub cadet with a stamped deck. This one has a tough fabricated deck that takes a a lot of abuse. Omplus it’s got a 7000 series Kohler with tons of power. The best part was the $300 discount for buying it online and picking it up at the store. I bought after closing time and it was ready for pickup within 15 minutes of the store opening. I also love the electric PTO and cruise control. If your in the market for a 50” mower you won’t be disappointed!

This review will be threefold...one on the XT1 LT50 FAB Riding Mower, one against Tractor Supply and finally one against Cub Cadet Support. XT1 LT50 FAB Riding Mower Over all the mower seems to be solid. It is faster than my previous mower and the Fab 50 deck seems to be solid build. I wish that I could provide more feedback, but to date I have been unable to use it extensively. From the day after I got it, it would lose power and speed randomly. We noticed that it mainly occurred when the mower was at full throttle and loaded. It especially had an issue when turning left and appeared to be starving for gas. I noted it and would watch it to be sure it wasn’t a fluke. Well, it continued to occur with myself, my wife and son using it. At this point it was about 2 weeks since I bought it. Since it was brand new and shouldn't be performing as such, I went back to Tractor Supply to discuss the issue. Tractor Supply When I talked to the representative at Tractor Supply, I was told that since I didn't buy the overpriced extended warranty, there was nothing they could do and I had to contact Cub Cadet directly. Considering the mower was brand new and having issues, I would have hoped for better Customer Service they would have taken an interested. Bottom line is that they washed their hands of the issue. Cub Cadet Support I then attempted to contacted Cub Cadet support. Called their support line on 4 different occasions and never could get through. I then sent a certified letter to Rob Moll, the CEO of Cub Cadet, LLC, only to get a call from Cub Cadet Support. Bottom line is that they couldn't honor the 5-year warranty since I couldn't identify a specific part that had failed. Nor would they refund or arrange to exchange the mower since I purchased it from Tractor Supply. Bottom line I was getting the basic finger pointing run around. So, I was instructed to take it to a certified service center for diagnosis and repair. I took the mower to Charlotte Tractor on a Friday morning. Monday, they called and said nothing was wrong with it at a cost of $100. When I got it back home and mowed the yard it still had the issue. I suspect Charlotte Tractor, didn't really investigate to much since their mower technician was leaving the company that day at 1 pm. I contacted Cub Cadet support again and was told I needed to take it to another certified service center for a second opinion. When I checked the Cub Cadet's web site, the 2 closest service centers were Charlotte Tractor and another in Cornelius, NC. When I called the second service center, they told me they were no longer a certified Cub Cadet service center. On my third call to Cub Cadet Support they provided me another certified service center in Charlotte that was not listed on the site called NSG Services & Repair Shop. The owner was great and understood the problem. He was able to reproduce the problem, but couldn't find a root cause. He drained all the gas and filled it up with non-ethanol gasoline and mowed for over an hour with no issues. At this point, he thought it was a tank of bad gas. My first inclination was that not the root cause since I had run the mower on different occasions with gas, I had purchased at different times. But anything is possible. Brought the mower home, finished out the tank with no issue. Added some more gas and the issue returned. I even went and bought gas from another station and had the same issue. Then, I used non-ethanol gas and the mower ran with no issue. I checked to be sure the E90 gas was acceptable and it was per the owner's manual. I have a friend that bought the exact same mower and runs E90 gasoline with no issues. So, I understand that there can be mistake or issues with manufacturing and it appears that I have a lemon. Bottom Line If you were buying this mower second hand at a discounted price, it may be worth it. It is solid and runs well when I can get it to run. But, if you are expecting Cub Cadet stand up to what they manufacture and sell, I would consider a different brand. As for Tractor Supply, I will use them for small everyday hardware / supplies, but will not use them for any major purchases in the future. Based on my experience I can not give it more than a 1 Star review.