The 2000 LB 10324 that my dad bought in some local (not national) store in late 1999 did not come with mulch plate and fan...only grass-bagger and side-discharge gear were included. My dad passed away in 2002, so I began using the 10324 and thought it was a dog because of how hard it often was to start. Then I found you all here on GardenWeb in 2004 and that has made all the difference. I learned then about such problems as the infamous intermittent CDI and the leaky gas tank. I bought the mulch plate and fan, but discussions here led me to think there was little value to the fan when mulching. I had never installed the fan even after owning it nine years. In 2013 after 14 mowing seasons, I finally had to replace the self-propel drive belt. I also found that the journal bearing for the input shaft to the transmission had severe wear which had resulted in misalignment of two gears and very bad erosion of their teeth. I had to replace all three of these transmission parts. So, while putting everything back together, I decided to put that mulch fan on as well, just as a lark. I immediately noticed that I no longer needed to stop periodically and scrape away grass debris under the deck that occurred especially when there was any moistness to the grass. I've now mowed several times in 2013 and again in 2014,,,finding the same result: The underdeck area stays perfectly clear of packed grass debris since I installed the mulch fan. I rate installing the mulch fan to be the second best improvement to the operation of my 10324 that I've made in 15 years, ranking only below the replacement of the defective CDI unit in 2004. I love this mower! What I've learned on GardenWeb from you and other knowledgeable people since 2004 has made most of that possible. Thanks to all!

Well its not big enough to have everything but Henderson [between here and Vegas] does have everything and is only 15 minutes away. Vegas only another 15 minutes. Real estate hype? New home sales are way down as they are across the country. Apparently its worse here on the average but they say Vegas stands to recover quicker then most due to all the new jobs being created with new Hotel/Casino's being built. Of course another 911 could once again put the gaming industry in the pooper as it did on 911 because folks were afraid to travel. Took a couple of years to climb out of it last time. Yeah, spending decades doing something you don't like is a real bummer. I stumbled into this after doing many other things and found I liked repairing stuff. I would advise others starting out to find what they like and then find an outlet that has all the benefits including retirement though. Its tough in this business to find that and I wasn't smart enough to do it. They're out there though but you have to play the game and may take a while to get in. I woke up to it too late. Government based is the way to go in this business. The school district is the # one source around here. They pay as well as any private business and have all the benefits. Just some advise for newbies to the business to heed.

Yes, by all means check the flywheel key. A sheared (or partially sheared) key WILL NOT result in a LOSS of spark, but the spark will be so far out of "time" that it will be ineffective. Worst case scenario regarding "out of time" is that the spark might occur at a point where a loud backfire may happen. In those circumstances it usually requires a change of underwear before proceeding. If you do find that there is currently no spark, unplug the kill wire from the magneto and try starting it with the wire disconnected. If disconnecting the kill wire allows spark to be generated, you will have to trace the kill wire circuit to find which switch (or a defective wire) is grounding the kill wire. NOTE: With the kill wire disconnected from the mag, the engine might not stop by turning off the key, it could drop to idle speed and simply run slow when the fuel solenoid closes. If that happens you will have to connect the kill wire back to the mag to stop it, or you can smother the carb with a rag or apply the choke fully. This post was edited by mownie on Wed, Apr 30, 14 at 0:17

Wally: I appreciate your explanation of the 746 watts equalling 1 hp. I checked all 6 of my physics text books and found nothing addressing this. Only 550ft lbs/sec equaling 1 hp. Although I was well aware that 746 watts was considered 1 hp in generating. Now that I think about, I have seen some English of German engines expressed in KW output. I too am a EE, however, I had almost no education in power generating or distribution. My speciality and education was in micro electronics, thus I am quiet familiar with Ohm's Law. Now an interesting question: How did James Watts make his early steam engine run when he had almost no steam pressure at the time, too little to push the piston down. This was because he had no pressure vessel that would hold steam pressure of any appreciable magnitude. I ran across the answer to this in the Henry Ford museum.