# 3x 30hd issues and drawbacks



## Wildebs (Dec 3, 2014)

Hi all,

I'm having issues and regrets with this 3x 30HD snowblower, I had it for a year now, and here are my questions and remarks.

1- My first gear slips, I have to put it in second and then back in first for it to work properly, and it only does that after a few minutes of work in the driveway any idea what to trouble might be ?

2- There is almost no difference with reverse 2nd gear and reverse 1st, is there anyway to fix this or adjust ?

Here are the drawbacks, compared to a crasftman I used to own before this one for the same price.

1- No hydrostatic drive
2- Tires slip more then the ones on a craftsman
3- Auger pins breaks so freaky frequently.... it can't be right
3- Engine is very loud, worse when "kickdown" gets in
4- Can't slow the first gear to balance work load/speed, specially true when wet heavy snow, this becomes a real pain.
5- The snow chute, at max angle, can't blow over a 10ft snow wall when near it.

Now, I'm not saying that I liked better my old craftsman, but I'm concerned that for price sake, there should be at least equivalent features... althought, the Cub Cadet is mechanicly better and "HP" power better, I find that in the long run, I got deceived, specially it's a darn cheap powermore engine. I tend to find that the 3-4 hours it took to clean, with less effort, the drive way with my Craftman was more comfortable then the 1 1/2-2 hours or brute work with this one. And am starting to worry about long term reliabilty, which in the case of my craftman, I had it for 6 years. I assumed the the cub cadet was of better quality..... was I wrong ?

By the way, I have a flat, paved driveway that can handle max 10 cars parked. In november till mid december, there's a 2 to 4 inch of wet heavy snow, during the rest of winter, regular 6" to 16" of snow falls. A snow storm may bring 36" of snow, but only 1 or 2 times in the winter.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

The bad new is you have a similar blower to the craftsman with a Cub Cadet label on it. Cub doesn't make their own blowers. Same with my Troy. Used to be a respected brand now it's just a red Craftsman in that Troys are built by the same company that builds a lot of the Craftsmans. Sorry 
I know I was pretty disappointed with the quality of my Troy and it was free! I had always thought they made bulldozer quality machines due to their reputation with tillers. Well, I guess that was then and now they buy their blowers from someone who slaps TroyBilt on them. 

It's always helpful if you post the exact model number so we can pull up parts diagrams if needed.

Do you have the manual for it or a PDF and have you gone through the adjustments for the transmission and belts ??


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## Wildebs (Dec 3, 2014)

Ah... well, it all makes sense now ! I found that the model ressembled one sold at Canadian Tires !! Well.... no need to adjust anything, I'll trade it in for a Yamaha or Honda.... while it's still worth a little something ! Thanks for the info though.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

It's still a nice machine and it sounds like you do have a problem that should be easily correctable with a little maintenance or adjustment.
If you have the cash, a Yamaha is a really nice machine for the $$ but the Cub will toss snow well if properly set up. The thing about the newer stuff is it's just sturdy enough to get the job done and most of us here love the older stuff that was heavy, overbuilt and if you ran your car into it there's a chance the car would get the worst of it. In general I think that's how most look at the present Honda, Yamaha and Ariens blowers (maybe Toro). Not as sturdy as the really old stuff but a big step up from the Murray, MTD, (china) ... stuff out there.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> I know I was pretty disappointed with the quality of my Troy and it was free! I had always thought they made bulldozer quality machines due to their reputation with tillers. Well, I guess that was then and now they buy their blowers from someone who slaps TroyBilt on them.
> ?


The *only* good thing Troy ever built was tillers. They went bankrupt and MTD bought either the company or the name and due to Troy's legendary tiller reputation they have slapped the Troy Bilt logo on anything they can come up with. Terrible to see a wonderful piece of America get abused. I go to the big blue home store here in our little boro and see people buying those throw away mowers and blowers and shake my head.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Welcome to the forum Wildebs.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

For a newer machine the Troy or the Cub will work just fine and I've been guilty of saying "throw away" too but it's still a machine that with routine maintenance will live a good long useful life. I'm spoiled because the '69 Ariens and 70's Craftsman tanks (both 32's) I own were overbuilt and they last. They are a pain to turn but they move a lot of snow, a lot !!
BUT you have to remember there are a ton of the newer, lighter built MTD, Murray, Craftsman, Troy, Cub .... machines that the average guy goes out and uses each snowfall and they do the job.

Please be kind to our brothers that don't have a new Honda or a 70's Ariens or whatever is considered to be a "good" machine as you have to remember these newer blowers still save their owners from shoveling and some of us just don't have the cash for a Honda or the Skills to keep an old dog running or to get running.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

micah68kj said:


> The *only* good thing Troy ever built was tillers. They went bankrupt and MTD bought either the company or the name and due to Troy's legendary tiller reputation they have slapped the Troy Bilt logo on anything they can come up with. Terrible to see a wonderful piece of America get abused. I go to the big blue home store here in out little boro and see paople buying those throw away mowers and blowers and shake my head.


Same story with Cub Cadet..the first Cub Cadets were garden tractors designed and built by International Harvester..the early Cub Cadets ( the first came out in 1961) had the same gearboxs as the IH Cub tractor! A full size farm tractor! The IH Cub Cadets were among the higest quality and most respected consumer lawn and garden tractors for all of the 60's, 70's, and into the mid 80's...then MTD bought the name...today the Cub Cadet line has no relation to the machines of 30 to 50 years ago..they just ride on the coat tails of the well known name..

Scot


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

I understand, frog. It's just old age kicking in. I remember the glory days of good old American Iron. The stuff may have been a little basic, a little heavy, .... But daggone it, they all were bulletproof. You could purchase a lawn/garden tractor as a young man and it stood a very good chance of outliving you, with only minimal routine maintenance given it. Those days are pretty much gone for anything. It seems to be the new normal to manufacture short lived machinery. I won't use the other term.
Honestly it makes me a little sad to see us going the way we are going.


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## 43128 (Feb 14, 2014)

nowadays mtd makes pretty much everything and just shoots it with a different color and slaps on a different sticker. Some of the "high end" mtd brands get a few extra features but that basically the only difference. thats the way it is with a lot of power equipment and tools now.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

I honestly hope I'm wrong about the newer stuff. The old stuff is still here, with us still. It has nothing to prove. It has aleady done it and has done it well. The newer machines will hopefully prove themselves but already it seems they simply aren't made out of good quality, heavy materials that will last. Most of the stuff is flimsy. Those spindles in modern mower decks last a very *very* short time. The big box stores sell 'em by the case. My old Wheel Horse 1964 Commando 8 still had it's original *greaseable* spindles when I sold it last year and that thing mowed *acres and acres* in it's lifetime. It felt like it had power steering and there was NO PLAY in it at all. You just can.t find that in much modern tractors.


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## Wildebs (Dec 3, 2014)

Well thanks all for your advice and opinions. It's always good to know a bit of history ! But history has also taught me to follow my gut feeling ! Personnaly, I don't trust MTD nor Troy to build something for a long run (10+ years)... I didn't want to put 2'000+$ on a snowblower but most companies will not build reliable machinery under that cost. I might give a test run on a Craftsman with a Briggs and Strat engine, but I will most definatly invest in a long run snowblower.


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## whimsey (Oct 16, 2014)

We now live in a throw away world, but not a lot of people have the time or skill to resurrect the fine old machines that were built to last with SOME maintenance. Over the last two summers my BIL resurrected a working Ariens snow blower from two 1970's models. He has the time, retired, the skill and use of a machine shop to make parts that are long discontinued. If the new machines work ok from new I feel that with PROPER maintenance they can have a reasonable work life. Not as long as the "oldies", but reasonable. But without the proper maintenance they will not last anywhere near as long as the "oldies". 

Whimsey


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## canadagoose (Dec 5, 2014)

??? I thought this thread was a review of the Cub Cadet 3X 30 HD ?? Now I see it's just a Cub Cadet bashing thread with non applicable opinions. BTW , most Craftsman are made by MTD


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

I wouldnt call it "bashing"..it's simply a debate about Cub Cadet snowblowers..
and what some might consider "bashing" others consider "just the truth"..
If the truth happens to be negative, is it bashing?  perhaps..but its also fine to talk about the negatives, because this forum is all about being informative..that includes the good and the bad about any brand or snowblower model...you can also find "Ariens bashing" and even "Honda bashing" in this forum!  

yes, sometimes its obvious favoritism and unwarranted bashing..people are usually called on those posts though.

I see nothing in this thread that isnt based on real world experience or well known history.

Scot


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

The title is "issues and drawbacks" not I love my Cub 3X more than my wife. I'm all for the OP finding out what the issue is as I'm sure it would make him happy if it was working correctly and he seems to have reasonable expectations.

Besides newer Craftsman, Troys are built by MTD too ... what's your point ??

We supplied information to the OP and it's his choice to run away from what he perceives as poorer quality for the money he spent and the money he's willing to spend.

I have a Troy (MTD) and I think of it as "throw away" compared to my old Ariens and Craftsman but I also use that Troy as my first backup for my rider if I have a problem with it. Used the Troy all last year (rider was down) to do almost 100 yards of gravel driveway and the Troy worked great, never failed me and did it without any break downs. But it's not a heavy duty machine compared to the Ariens or Craftsman.
I don't have a bone to pick with the more recent model mostly/totally Chinese made machines but you need to do a good job of maintenance if you want them to last.

The only point I'd make about not liking a Cub snow blower is the same with a Troy. I think in both cases you're paying extra for the name without getting a bigger or better engine, stronger transmission, better materials or better anything than just buying a less expensive Craftsman or MTD branded blower of the same size and features.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

What I find really interesting is that after all your research (Canadagoose) you chose not to buy the Cub and then call this discussion bashing 

As you put it _"I ended up going with the Husqvarna for $500.00 more" 

_Isn't that bashing


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

canadagoose said:


> ??? I thought this thread was a review of the Cub Cadet 3X 30 HD ?? Now I see it's just a Cub Cadet bashing thread with non applicable opinions. BTW , most Craftsman are made by MTD


So what did you end up buying?


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

He posted in another thread that he bought a Husqvarna ST 330T  Nice looking machine.

http://www.snowblowersdirect.com/Husqvarna-961-93-00-95-Snow-Thrower/p13974.html


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## will (Dec 6, 2014)

*Cub Cadet 3X blower*

Wildeb,

I have 26" Cub Cadet 3X blower and only problem I had was with gear selection. I read the manual and followed simple instructions to adjust tension on gear selector cable which was too loose. Works fine now. Also, I have no problem keeping up with machine in first or second gear. 

No problem yet with shear pins. Engine may be a little loud but compared to what?

This machine really blows the snow. Only clogged once so far. Easily cleared.

I should have ordered with grip heaters. I can add that option at anytime though.


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## J_ph (Dec 17, 2013)

Wildeb -

I too have the 26" CC 3x, the gearing seems OK to me, I haven't needed to replace any shear pins either. 

Will - I don't have the HD model or the new 2015 which comes with the heated grips so I did install the grips that I ordered from ebay... very easy and cheaper than other places -

http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/cub-cadet-snowblowers/26289-heated-grips-753-05762b.html

I know that much of the banter against MTD are honest discussions about what people believe, some are just having fun, and some is brand allegiance, but there are people here that actually have these and they seem to working OK for them. The irony of the forum being 99% Ariens is that there are more discussions about problems, and dislikes of Ariens features than MTD  -just kidding!

Anybody know who sells more snowthrowers Ariens or MTD? I did read that big box stores sell 70% of all snowthrowers.


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