1440 Feedback

[genep]

I just acquired a nice 1440. Does anyone have one out there and if so, has it been a good tractor?

[rweaver]

i have had prolly 6 or so that ran and drove and prolly 12 more that did not run the bad the hydrogear rear very hard to get parts for and they do need a rear sometimes the good the engine a 14 hp briggs vangaurd seems to be a ok engine I am not a briggs fan but I have seen some of those engines running on propane get close to 2 thousand hrs and still run ok

[Tom Scott]

Gene - The biggest complaint many would have is the plastic. You seem to have gotten by that issue...

I have two Cyclops, with my 1861 being most similar to yours, as they are both regular GT. I am guessing that the 1440 got designated as a "40 series" (xx4x) instead of a "60 series" (xx6x) as they were trying to distinguish the larger hp Kohler models further to get more profit margin. Just my observation of the past.

The Briggs Vanguard in yours seems to have a good reputation, but I don't have direct experience with it.

Putting this aside, the 1440 (the only 40 series I think) and xx6x (1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864) tractors are all mostly the same except for the engine difference and possible added options of hydro lift and power steering.

My 1861 is responsible for getting me into these, and has been a good machine. The plastic seems to stop getting beat up once it is owned by someone who takes care of them. (My plastic hasn't gotten any worse since I bought it in 2002.)

The hydro is the newer design (BDU-21L) that is still used in the new 3000 series machines. I had to rebuild mine, but it was easy, cost about $350, and does not mean that they will all need to be rebuilt. The BDU-21 is not as strong as the old 15 series that Cub continued to use in the Supers until they disappeared, but is twice the size of what they call a GT hydro in the new 2500 series machines. The 2500 series have a BDU-10, truly half the size, and they still consider them a Garden Tractor. (I don't agree with them on that one...)

My 1861 has mowed lots of grass and pushed lots of snow up steep hills since the hydro rebuild, with no complaints. Keep it and enjoy it!

[vince_o]

Frank, the guy I used to work for has one, maybe 60 hrs on it. When we got it running after a few years sitting in the garage, I was soo worried about putting the plstic back on! It was so brital!

Other than that its a nice mower, the ones Ive worked on.