Customer Reviews for Cub Cadet Ultima ZT1 42 in. 56-Volt MAX 60 Ah Battery Lithium-Ion Electric Drive Zero Turn Riding Lawn Mower

Just drove this home (1 mile from store). Before I left the store clerk said the noise (metal grinding sound) was the breaks and no big deal. Umm ok... OMG it was NOT a pleasant drive home. Bucks like a horse if you are not on flat terrain and trying to navigate sidewalks. Was in turtle mode the whole way as the steering levers are not balanced and it keeps pulling to one side and when you try to make corrections it jerks and over corrects. Did I mention the metal grinding sound? OMG I could barely stand to listen to it the whole way home. Drove by people out for a walk and I was so embarrassed. It is a beautiful machine but has some serious issues that need corrected. I own a 2005 cub cadet Z Wing that I love but was trying to go green to help our planet.

I've been using this mower for over a month now and I love it. I have a 1.2 acre lot and I normally finish with a 30% charge. The mower was a little jerky at first, but Cub Cadet has a video on YouTube that walks you through the calibration process and that helped smooth out the controls. I had a hard time deciding between this and the Ryobi electric zero turn, but the comfort and build quality on the Cub Cadet is far better and worth it for the difference in price. I would highly recommend this mower.

I’m impressed with the design, materials and workmanship on this machine. So far I have used the low speed on the mower deck with excellent results. Mowing heights are very helpful and accurate. My previous machine was a 60” deck versus 42” but mowing total time is very similar. Only wish I could hose it down after use some of the yard is wet and it gets muddy sometimes.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

Overall I like this mower. I was waiting to review it after using it for a while. I love the battery power and it lasts my entire 1.5 acre backyard and still has around 40% charge left at the end. The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is the fact that the handling is a little jerky (especially when trying to go slow around obstacles). It takes practice, but in the open areas it zooms. I think so far I've been lucky and not had any of the errors that others have had. I love the quietness and the lack of needing gas. It mows my yard 30min faster than my old JD riding gas mower.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This is my first ZTR with the two control arms. My previous was a John Deere SST16 and it drove like a standard lawn tractor. I had it for 15years.The controls on this have been a true learning curve, with the constant adjustments to keep it straight and the trying to make close cuts to obstacles in the yard. I mow mine and three neighbors yards which is why I wanted the 42 inch cut. I have only used it 3 times so far and I have somewhere between 30 and 35% battery life left after. The recharge is surprisingly quick since it is just a 110 outlet. I'm giving it 5 star because it has met my expectations for noise level and quality of cut. I will update later if I run into issues. I'm pleased with the mower so far.

Was excited to purchase this mower but was utterly disappointed. Fully charged mower and then tried it out on my front yard. After 15 minutes of light mowing, the left wheel would stop even though had 85% charge. Had to push back to garage. Finally got it to start again and after 10-15 minutes - same thing. This happened 3x in two days. After third time, could never get it to run again, even with 80% battery charge. Faulty controller most likely. Home Depot offered to try and local Cub Cadet service place figure out what was wrong with it, but was going to take too long. They also said it was only on market for 4 months. Decided to return. I think this product was rushed to market before it was ready.

I am happy with the cub cadet zt1 electric. This is the one to get for the lithium battery. I upgraded from a rm480 e, which was great until the batteries died and I couldn't find more. Nice build quality, nice cutting job, good components may it last as long as the neighbor's cub cadet.

Had to return it. Wanted to love it, but the mower wasn’t very responsive and resulted in jerky movement that made mowing in tight places extremely difficult. It would also be nice to have more control over blade speed, sometimes it would get bogged down cutting thicker grass.

I am a long time (20+ years) operator of zero turn mowers. The mower is built well, has ample power and cuts nicely. It's priced well, and has a nice selection of optional accessories. The biggest downfall is the motor control. There is some sort of shock absorber between the lap bars and the motors. This causes a slow reaction time making it near impossible to drive straight or get close to any objects. By far, this mower handles worse than anything I have ever driven. I have used it several times hoping there was simply a steep learning curve. No such luck! I absolutely wanted to love this product, but the #1 reason to buy a mower like this -- maneuverability -- turns out to be it's biggest weakness.

Very satisfied. About as loud as a barrel fan, no worries there. I mow about an acre and the battery was at 47% when done, so about 2 acres on a charge sounds about right. This mower is built very strong and arrived nicely packed, easy to get set up. A little pricey but no more trips for gas!

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I’ve mowed 5 times so far. First mow when I put the key in it had error codes. Took key in and out three times it finally reset the error codes. Third time I tried to mow it did the same thing. Now I’m trying to mow for the fifth time and the codes won’t clear. So now it’s a $4500 paperweight. The third and fourth time I am old he did not make my acre and a half. I had to charge it back up and finish later. My local dealer is not selling this mower so they’re not willing to work on it either.

The machine did not work after being delivered. The control panel would not connect to the battery. Had to push it off the trailer and spent days dealing with cub cadet on the return.

Mower came in a crate and could not be delivered up my dirt driveway, so it was assembled by the curb in about 15 min. Steering is a little jerky but I can live with it. I have to go slow around trees and flower beds to maintain control. In the open grass. it's not an issue. Cut for about an hour and still has 30 percent charge. Not a fan of the brake pedal in the middle of the front platform. That's where I carry my sprayer and the pedal gets in the way. Love using my mower to help carry mulch or soil around the yard and its so quiet I can start my yard work at dawn now. The best thing about this mower is its an electric American made product. It doesn't need all the maintenance and 2 gallons of gas every time I mow the grass.

There is a learning curve but since this is my first zero turn I do not know if it is me or the mower to blame. It drives and mows great. My neighbors have all complimented me on how well it mows. My lot is only about .4 acres so I have no issues with battery life. I typically only use about 30% of the battery to mow my yard. I love how quiet it is. I have had zero issues with it.

Quiet and cuts well. Easy to learn. Built very solid. I'm able to cut about 1.75 rolling acres of long grass before the battery hits single digits and I return to the garage for a charge. No complaints so far.

Just purchased this unit for my handicapped father to use around his house and our farm and an fault code appeared within a week. Mower deck wouldn't engage. Tried contacting cub cadet and was on hold for over an hour. Tried the chat and waited another hour only for them to say they can't help me. I want to fix the unit myself but can't even get information about what procedure to take. Tried contacting our local cub repair folks and they can't work on these electric units. It would be nice if cub cadet would be helpful. Overall very disappointed.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

I went this morning to purchase this product and the store had been keeping it outside unprotected from the elements for 2 months. Not even a cover or tarp. We have had a lot of rain in this area. I told them i would like to buy one but not that one. The store lawn mower associate was never told they werent supposed to be disolayed outside.He and the manager looked up the store floor plan and indeed these mowers were supposed to be displayed inside. Had a nice big spot on the floor for it. I asked if I could order one and have it drop shipped. Manager said they can only sell from stock. Apparently, every store got only one each of this item which means you can only buy the floor model. Due to the way Home Depot is treating them, anybody who has done their homework on Electric Mowers wouldnt touch these abused floor models. I drove around to the three other stores in my area and the same situation-they are leaving them unprotected outside in the rain 24-7. There was never any Home Depot training program for the associates on electric mowers. Way to drop the ball on a $4,500 mower, Home Depot!

...but it did have a key in it so I cut until the batteries went dead. Home Depot dropped the ball on this one.

So far none of the problems mentioned in other reviews have risen. It does take a while to get used to how sensitive the controls are, but the battery life seems more than adequate. We have 1.7 acres with plenty of obstacles and slopes, it is tricky to handle on the slopes however. I hope that customer support improves, that seems to be lagging when I see other reviews, outside of that I look forward to low maintenance mowing.

Surprisingly powerful and cuts well. Much quieter and easier to maintain.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Great performance. I mow a 1.25 acre yard and have barely been below 50% charge when finished every time. Super clean cut and awesome maneuverability. Love my zero turn. Not having to mess with gas/oil is just icing on the cake!

The cub cadet got delivered and was easy to put together. It took a little practice to get proficient at the instant torque available with the electric power and the zero turn controls but within 30 minutes I was able to mow the lawn safely.

The promised professional delivery and assembly never happened. We had to struggle with unpacking the unit in our driveway and assembling it ourself. The machine itself is great and I love the electric power, albeit it is quite pricey. However, I do not recommend their delivery service.

It says it can mow up to 2 acres on a single charge. I have yet to be able to mow 8/10ths of an acre before the battery dies. I've tried multiple ways and still nothing. I will be trading it in for a gas mower even though I don't want one. Cub cadet needs to figure out a way to add more power or batteries to it and also to change what it says the mower should be able to do. Because it clearly cant.

I really wanted to love this machine... but after 2 months+ I haven't mowed grass yet. I knew the delivery would take some time, but ultimately was rescheduled multiple times as there was not an appropriate delivery vehicle available. HD continued to try to make that right. Finally the unit was delivered. I put everything together only to find that it was defective direct from the factory. I tried working through MTD and had to take the unit to a Service Center, after two weeks there, the parts are not likely available for another 2-3 weeks. There is uncertainly that the parts will even fix the unit. Sorry gang, it just isn't ready. I hope it will become a great machine, the build is nice... but for this kind of money, it's going back.

Hard to control around trees and shrubs may be learning curve

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Perfect riding lawn mower. Two acres in one charge

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] No buying gas. No belts, oil changes or any major maintenance. Charging is quick and easy. The two major problems is that it has issues with getting wet and not working. For a machine that runs outside it should be more waterproof. If you let it dry out, it resets and is good to go. The second is that the drive control is unpredictable. When in full speed mode it is very jerky and sometimes feels like you don’t have control compared to the same gas model. When in the slow (turtle) mode it is more steady, but the speed to each wheel seems inconsistent each time you start out. It is clear the slow mode was designed because of the jerky speeds in the full speed mode. It takes some getting used to with power going to each wheel independently rather than from one motor. But once you get past that, it makes it easier to get past the sensitive controls.