JD X500 48" mowing deck... Cuts fine and not too difficult to level and that's a good thing because it seems that even though dealers are required to level the deck during the PDI few actually do. R&R of the deck could be a little easier, the J bolts in the rear can be a PITA, but it's not as bad as some I've used or owned. The BEST thing about the Select Series decks are that the anti-scalp wheels rotate 90 degrees so the deck rolls in or out from under the tractor... a nice feature for we old guys. I will not buy a GT without this feature now that I've experienced it.

For those of you considering Thermador and are concerned about present day Performance, Reliability and Service, here is a Thermador customer experience that was recently posted elsewhere by Carl T... The authorized Thermador repair person just left my house after the second major problem with my 36" dual fuel range with grill (Model PD364GL). Some background: Like many of you, I did a major remodel of my home (completed two and a half years ago) and, after doing due diligence, I settled on the Thermador because I liked the design and the features and the fact that it got pretty good consumer ratings. Upon using the oven for the very first time I discovered that if I used the oven and grill at the same time the air from the oven fan would blow on the grill ignitor, causing the grill to continuously ignite. I assumed that it was a design flaw and when I called Thermador their representative confirmed my suspicions - with no offer of a solution. One year and one month after installing the stove (or, more precisely, one month after the warranty expired) I had a power outage in my neighborhood. When power was restored the master circuit board on my range blew out. One service call (and $400) later I was back in business. Kind of. After the repair was completed I noticed that the temperature gauge would automatically go to the designated temperature as opposed to the actual temperature in the oven itself. When I asked the service technician about this he told me that this was a new feature. I spoke to the Thermador service representative on the phone and he told me the same thing. This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I KNOW what temperature I set the oven to, I need to know what the actual temperature is. My current situation is that I made the fatal mistake of using the self-cleaning feature for the first time six months ago. Right after using the self cleaning oven I noticed that the oven was not heating up to its designated temperature and that the problem was getting worse. Finally the oven quit heating at all. Diagnosis: the baking and the broiler elements are both burned out. I have since been told by a good friend and by the service representative that one should never use the self cleaning feature. Live and learn. The bottom line is that I would never ever buy a Thermador product again and I would strongly caution anyone against doing the same. The product design, manufacture and customer support are all very sub-standard. This is especially galling in light of how much the Thermador products cost. Posted by: Carl T : September 21, 2007 at 06:14 PM

Dacor took their DWs off the market and took a year or two to rebuild them. They came out the second time about 2 years ago. I suspect they are well made but that folks didn't believe in them after the first fiasco. You only get one chance at making a first impression, especially when there are other brands that people trust. I wonder if this is a model year closeout or a final closeout.

I have an Orca with all accessories but have been unable to break the bucket habit (actually, I use a stainless steel bowl). The dish pan that goes with the Orca is big and works really well but for me it's on the wrong side of the sink. I tried to use the grid in the sink as a dish rack, but I don't believe in wiping dry anything that will dry itself, so it didn't work for me. I had to get a new dishrack and drainboard for the counter. I think I need a 12 step program because no matter what I do, I can't change my old ways. If you promptly dry your dishes I think you'll like both the dishpan and grids. I found mine very reasonably priced on ebay.