jcernis, Where is the temperature gauge when the tractor is running rough? These Kawasaki's are extremely sensitive to temperature. This means simple things like keeping the radiator fins clean, but also making sure the entire cooling system is working properly. I'm not sure what the AS02 revision is, but by the year, it would be about the same as the 425 I owned. About the hours you have, I started having problems restarting after running the tractor and it did run rough. The temperature gauge, which had always stayed in the very bottom edge of the green was running near the red. We determined that the thermostat wasn't opening and I replaced the unit not knowing Deere had gone to a higher temperature thermostat for emmissions reasons. Now the tractor ran like crap. The temperature gauge which always had been rock solid steady now cycled from low to high and back down. I asked my dealer if he could get me an old-style thermostat, but they were no longer available. The tractor seemed to have less power. My dealer did a little research and found Deere had come out with a different carburetor for the new temperature range. He installed it for free (remember this was about 9 years after I purchased the tractor) and the tractor did run better, though not as well as it had run with the original set up. I used the tractor for about another 100 hrs. and then decided to trade it in on a 2210. One other thing to pay attention to is the muffler bolts in the front of the engine block. About the hours you have they will loosen and coolant will leak out. If you are loosing any coolant, you might want to check this out. Also, is your water pump working properly? Cheers JDFANATIC

I'm also not convinced this is a tree peony. Flopping is possible but not the norm. An old tree peony will have a distinct framework of woody stems that remain through the winter. Please confirm that this is your plant. Staking isn't really the best way to cure flopping. You would have to stake or tiw in each flowering stem. Herbaceous peonies can be kept inside a frame which holds all the stems together so they can't flop out. I don't know if this would work for tree peonies because they don't have such a uniform height and shape. I'm still haveing a hard time getting my head around a tree peony that would flop enough to be a problem. Even big doubles just droop but don't flop down onto the floor. Similarly with crabgrass. Is that really what you have? Probably not. More likely it is a general mix of scrub and weedy grasses. Roundup will work but the weeds will just come back so you'll have to keep fighting. Use mulch, weeds don't like it and a tree peony would. If it is a herbaceuous peony then don't mulch too deep over the crown. Don't worry too much about digging around tree peonies, the roots should be mostly down deep. How close? How big are they? What effect do you want? You can have them touching, or you can have them separated, your choice. You might like the effect with something complimentary between the two.

mrsig wrote "JohnG - I didn't mean to offend, but by "some research" I just meant a few searches on the internet for my problem that, in a few cases, turned up the compression clutch as a possible problem." The internet is a wonderfull thing in the way it brings information to our fingertips. But it also can bring poor or incomplete information. Plus decent information can be missapplied by someone that is not properlly trained to use it, internet based or not. Mrsig wrote "I did say "some" research though, which should indicate that it wasn't a "thorough/complete" research." Now if an auto tech approached his/her job that way would you be happy with the effort to that point? mrsig wrote. "FWIW, my experience with A/C going "bad" has resulted in both times with the mechanics wanting to replace, if not the whole system (bad choice of words on my part), a significant part of the system (compressor)...without looking elsewhere for a proper diagnosis." Daignostics is usually the hardest part of auto repair, and especially something like refrigeration (AC). Here in Pa. our AC season is really about 4 months long, with it really hitting hard in June and July, then the rest of the year we may not use that equipment, training, or skills at all. That does not make a missdiagnosis any less wrong, it's just the way it is, and few people would do better in their own jobs with a situation like that. Now there are people in the field that still excel with those repairs even under those circumstances. mrsig wrote. "It was a shame that shopping around for different mechanics changed the source of the problem, the repair solution, and the significant $$ of work performed." Ok so two times you had AC trouble, and the first diagnosis was wrong. So you took it somewhere else and they got it right? My first question is, why are you "shopping around" if you found someone that is capable of diagnosing your AC trouble correctly? (This ties in so well with the question vivian asked about capitolism) People find a shop/tech that can do the work correctly the first time but abandon them for the first discount that comes down the street. Then they only go back to the good shop when the discounter can't do the work, or at least do it correctly. Which BTW we do have to qualify, your statement about two AC repairs is incomplete. If the AC problem was the compressor was leaking, and someone else "fixed" it by putting in sealer, then the debate is not over in reguards to the problem being fixed or not correctly. While with limited knowledge a consumer may be happier with the sealer for their solution the correct repair really would have been to replace the compressor, and the tech/shop that was making that recommendation was in fact the one that was right. You see the answer isn't always the fewest dollars from the consumers pocket "today" is the correct one. Adding sealer makes the system unserviceable in the future, period. I have a test kit to identify sealers added to the system and if I detect a sealer, the car gets parked outside and there is nothing I can or will do with it at all. It may have saved you the day it was put in, but it only delayed the real cost, which is more than you want to pay.

Thanks for the info guys. Very much appreciated. As for the UPS debate that's started up, I guess my two cents would be that UPS could have that policy for any number of seemingly logical reasons. (Less gas, safety, theft, or image which is the first thing I thought. I remember a news article not two long ago about one of the democratic party leaders letting the limos that picked them up idle outside of the parliament building and people were pissed off. It doesn't matter to your average joe whether it's actually saving gas to leave it running, all they see is an unattended vehicle stopped and running.) As I was saying: They could have the policy for any of these reasons, and the problem is that it can be impossible to find the REAL reasons from these huge corporations, even when they give an explanation you still have to question it... It also seems like there's never just ONE reason for policies like this. So i'd be interested to hear more of what ya guys find out. -=Andy Pacer