1993 was the only year the 10201 had a choke-start Walbro carb on it with NO primer button on top. This has absolutely nothing to do with your problem, just wanted to tell it. I had a 10201 since '94, recently sold it, but as I remember it seemed to make the same noise as yours - very noisy deck. Have you ever replaced the blade? Have you gone over all bolts and screws, including the ones under the muffler baffle? The fasteners on these tend to come out. While you're looking at the muffler plate, check the exhaust ports and clean as required (annual maintenance). Replace the muffler baffle and/or cover as needed. I've seen the muffler cover bolts back out until the blade starts hitting them which makes a loud 'clacking' sound and ruins the lower crank bearing and the muffler plate. 'All fasteners' includes the ones up on the engine, too. The tank shroud is attached with a 'shroud base' which comes loose. The handle will rattle at the mounting points, probably aggravated by the 'buzz' frequency of the engine. With the engine off, squeeze the engine-control bail back to the handle and let go to see how much off a 'clunk' you get as the brake shoe pushes the flywheel up - this indicates excessive wear in the lower bearing. The bearing will not usually make noise when the engine is running, though. Let us know if any of this helps. Even if the lower bearing is shot and you don't want to sink any more money in it, it can be 'parted-out' for considerable money. Somebody will buy the short block even with knowledege of condition, since it's not that hard to put a bearing and new seals in. The deck and all the other parts will probably sell on ebay, especially the working ignition module.

I'm not making the following up. My wife and two daughters complained I could not hear, so I had a hearing check. When you do this they interview you first and ask what the problem is. I told the tech that my family thinks I can't hear. Furhter discussion showed their complaint was generally in the evening watching TV. I had my check and the tech (a nice lady) looked at my results and said I must live in a house full of women!!! She had no idea that my family consisted of only women. After I stopped laughing, she explained that as you loose your hearing, picking out certain frequencies becomes more difficult late in the day and a womans voice is harder to pick out of nosiy environment. She went on to say late in the day is worse, because your hearing "get's tired" (actually your brain that processes sound) much like your eyes get tired. Hearing is best in the A.M., worse in the evening. Bottom line?? SHe said for a 50 year old, I was pretty much normal, which is hard of hearing. Probably from cutting the yard, weed eating and some light hunting, all without ear protection. The cure??? None, other than a very sophisticated, $8000 unit to get any improvement. She told me to come back in 10 years when I was near deaf and then insurance would pay for it.... Or I could start using ear protection. I bought a pack of those foam plugs for a couple of bucks, put some everywhere I work and now I can't stand to do "loud" things without them. It is amazing how loud mower decks and weed eaters are.

I agree - the more air pressure in the tires and the harsher the ride. The possiblity of why there arent suspended lawntractors is cost. To invent a full suspension tractor, noone could afford them. I have one 4 wheel steering tractor, it doesnt have power steering, but then again it doesnt need it - as long as its maintained and greased regularlly it should steer fine. I have a MTD im rebuilding and the steering was all bound up - after disassembly and cleaning/regreasing it steers on a dime. That is a curious thought- why would there be cupholders on a ZTR tractor? Only time y could is when y stop n refuel the tractor. Kidd

Thanks all, for chiming in. To be clear, I'm not thinking of buying this (or any other) house. I just thought it was interesting to consider the work vs. payoff and where one would spend the fixer upper money. I think it is priced high given the prices of homes in this neighborhood combined with the work it would need. At the end of any amount of sprucing up, it will still be a very taste-specific structure from the street view, and I'm not sure it can shine compared to some of the very traditionally pretty homes on the block, even if it is in tip top shape. There are several Isenhour homes in our neighborhood which have a "cuter" mid century look and are popular these days, like this one on Blueberry, which has much more light and positive energy to it: http://www.kymodern.com/tag/isenhour/page/5/ The way I see it, the location is the best thing about the house (RNmomof2, it's still a great neighborhood with fine schools). There have been a very few tear-downs, I think, but many more makeovers that have turned plain 3 bedroom ranches into larger Adirondack lodge-looking homes or other more "cozy" styles--and one that looks like a bank! I myself have always had kind of "fugly" houses--bad exterior design, bad additions tacked on by previous homeowners, and I'm committed to having a "cute" house next time even if I have to move "down" a neighborhood to make it affordable. So I'll leave this one for someone else and hope that I get to see the inside of it once someone has given it the love it deserves.