Cub Cadet Pro Z - Any Experience? (2024)

nh15201 said:

My father bought an RZT SX Cub with the 42" Fab deck 3 years ago. It's got the Kohler engine and has been a great mower for his extremely hilly yard. He bought the optional bagger for fall PA oak leaves and it does a great job. We have been mowing for dad due to some recent health issues. My wife was watching me mow with it and wanted to try it out. Now in the 40 years that we have been together, she has never wanted to use any of our riding mowers and always preferred to push mow with her own vintage 1979 Lawnboy Utility. She was on to that little zero turn like a duck on a June Bug and loved it. I worked with her on start up, operation, how to mow forward and reverse, how to mow some pretty serious banks and how to clean it and shutdown. She quickly learned the maintenance basics and fueling. She was amazed how safe she felt when mowing, the mowing speed and cut quality. I let her mow my dad's whole yard by herself (with me observing from a distance of course) and she improved everytime until she can do the job as good as I can and knows the whole routine. I asked her since she retired last fall, what she thought about her own Cub to take over mowing our 2 1/2 + acres of grass since she loves to be outside in good weather and loves to help with yard work? She said that she wanted one. I practically fell over myself getting to our local Cub Cadet dealer and had them deliver the last 560 KW S that they had in stock the same day. The 560 with the 27 HP Kawasaki is perfect for her. It was a short learning curve for her going from the homeowner to a pro series but she handled it well. She likes the power steering and the deluxe seating. I let her take her time with it to figure out her mowing sections but she never skipped a beat and can mow our main yard area in 1 1/2 hours with great skill. She now asks me when I think she should mow grass, so I know she's hooked. I bought the 560 for durability, safety, excellent build quality and the twin Kawaski engine. Now that she knows our yard from the 560 seat, I turn her loose and let her have at it. I have to admit that she loves to mow with it and it's her mower when she's on it so I'm just there for moral support and technical advice. She is careful where she mows and how to adjust her speed to the terrain. I added a Qwikchute dis charge block for her. She loves this restrictor plate now so she doesn't blow grass in her mulch beds with the side discharge. She blows it off after every mowing, backs it the pole barn and shuts it down after letting it idle to cool down. I taught her how to fuel it and how to switch gas tanks every week or so.

I have to admit that I get a kick out of watching her go through the whole process and I think she likes being in charge of something that she never had before. I had dealers demo an Exmark and a Skag zero turn units and neither could hold a couple of the banks we had without sliding down. I never even let my wife try one of them. The 560 mows these areas without a hint of sliding, she feels safe and the rest is good enough for me as they say.

I am now regulated to doing the small amount of grass trimming and making sure that she has a cold water in her cup holder. Time will tell on the 560 but with all the spare time that I have for maintenance and upkeep - we hope to have this Cub for awhile. The rest of the tractors get a break now too.

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I too purchased the Qwikshute block plate. It’s an excellent addition to an already amazing mower.

Mike