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Paint scheme over the history of cub cadets. First yellow and white then red then back to yellow and white to now just yellow. Any reason behind the color changes?

It's hard to say. Probably most changes came from management or company owner changes...with the exception of the red. That must have come about after a hard night of partying . No..I'm not sure if the red was a way to try to save money or just needed​ a change. I think the red was associated with big power tractors so that may have been a sales pitch. Now over the years they moved away from the federal yellow and not sure why. The different shades of yellow is probably the second most confusing thing behind a small and large pto

What I remember reading, but not sure it is correct: There was always an IH internal camp that wanted red from the beginning. When red was finally introduced, the red was used for any Cubs sent to full-blown ag tractor dealers with dealerships full of red farm tractors. The yellow and white continued to be built concurrently but were sold from Lawn & Garden dealerships that didn't sell full size farm tractors.

And if all of the above is wrong, I am guilty of propagating bad information!

The bigger explanation behind and all this and the yellow shade change, dropping of white... Marketing. Someone gets paid to decide the new color is more desirable and will make them all rich...

Tom,
I believe you're close on that. If I remember correctly, from 1979-1981 IH went all red with the x82 series (even lawn tractors) to look more like their big Brothers of the time, including decal and grill design. When mtd bought them in 1981, they kept the red to fulfill the contract with IH dealers but back to yellow and white for the same tractors for just cub cadet dealers, just as you said.

As far as all yellow now, probably a refresh in look to differentiate modern design, much like vehicles refresh their looks yearly. Wouldn't surprise me if the different shades of yellow powdercoat were just cheaper or something as simple as that. Remember, even IH changed shades of white several times over the years.

It's called "Job Justification".
Remember the AT&T mantra... "Change gives the illusion of making progress".