There are no guides or tensioners on the GC. The useful gains in a small engine with OHC are fewer parts and less valve train weight to be returned by spring tension. Less return weight in valve train means valve springs can be lighter reducing power loss. Fewer parts in drive train mean less points of wear allowing for longer intervals in needing to adjust valve clearance. Fewer parts means less material costs and assembly time at the factory. Equals a lower consumer costing engine which weighs less. This reduced weight along with several years of proven reliability has given Honda the confidence to add a cylinder sleeve and crank bearings and install the engine under the GS series name on their commercial push mower. The commercial self propelled far outsells the push so this will give Honda a low production test bed for the engine under commercial use. The push mower benefiting from a lower weight engine. I fully expect the OHC engine to eventually replace all push rod engines as its lowered cost, efficency and weight benefit all forms of L&G equipment. One last thing jammer, you tell me you don't know much about the GC engine when you think it has belt guides and tensioners. I suspect most naysayers of this engine are equally unfamiliar with it. Most of us thought it was overkill when Honda dropped all of their flatheads in favor of OHV's but due to their efficiency they have become the industry standard. Just as with the automotive industry where OHC is now the standard, that progression to more efficient engines will be seen in L&G engines.

geguymw wrote: "Not all China-made vacuums are bad." I know this is an older thread but I wanted to say that it's not about quality any more - it's an economic issue. You can find good and bad quality made in every single country but we have a ridiculous trade deficit with China and many other countries. Every dollar we spend on a product made in other countries with which we have a trade deficit is a dollar that never comes back to this country. This is not a sustainable model and is economics 101 - if you spend more than you make, you go crash. But regarding the vacuum, Simplicity's uprights are made in the US but I really need a canister. They have a new story from a few years ago on their flash page that says they were planning to bring manufacturing of the canisters back home from Korea. The sales person at my local shop said the canisters are assembled here but I got home and the box says Made In China so back it goes. I've emailed Simplicity and I'm going to call the shop and see what I can find out.

I believe that you will do fine with either vacuum cleaner. The SEBO K3 is a very durable vacuum. The few things I do not like about it, is the small bags. If you have alot of animal hair,it might be an expensive investment. Personally, I do not care for the attachment configuration for using the upholstery tool(must use crevice tool with the upholstery tool). Also, there are no generic bags, if one wants to save some money. The Bank is a brand which a vac shop owner decided to create. The one model I think you are referring to was from Daewoo Electronics, and made for Tacony(Simplicity and Riccar). Tacony still uses this line, though slimmed down to one model per each brand. The only thing German is the power nozzle, from Wessel-Werk. The bags for this vacuum are very easy to obtain, since it is used for different models and brands. You can even find generic bags and filters for this model. The power nozzle on the Bank vacuum will not be as aggressive on thick carpeting, but should do well if you have quite a bit of oriental rugs. Check each one out and see which one you would prefer. Also see if you have a Riccar or Simplicity dealer in your area. Their version will have the more deluxe power nozzle. Here is a link that might be useful: Riccar 1500P

Thomas - I have to disagree about going modular. If you want a truly custom high-end home, stick-build. We have a semi-custom modular (I modified a stock floor plan and showed a pic of exterior I liked to builder's regional rep who did elevations for us). They missed things like centering the bathroom window on the wall b/t the tub and corner (plans didn't show how deep tub and soffit were), lighting and outlet placement, have had bad framing issues (high/low/twisted studs, drywall past window jambs in some places, under it in others so trim doesn't lie flat, cracked main beam), etc. My cousin who is a carpenter (has done structural and finish) and cabinetmaker says that this is typical of stick-built construction as well, but basically (whether modular or stick-built) it's all time (get it done as quickly as possible) and materials (they didn't want to "waste" drywall so used cut edges on corners and built them up so baseboard doesn't lie flat, they used 16ft long pieces of baseboard and scarfed them with smaller pieces even if cutting 6 inches off the 16ft and making the smaller piece 6" longer would have put the joint over a stud). There are "custom" or high-end builders who will (for higher price) make sure that the finished product *looks* good as well as being structurally sound. It costs more to frame/drywall to make things easier for the finish carpenter, but I believe it would look much better than having to skim out walls or cut and caulk drywall just to get the trim to lie flat and mitre joints to stay together. Have your architect design the house paying attention to details (like my bathroom windows - one too close to tub, the other right above where we were going to put a stovepipe for woodstove) and make sure he keeps an eye on the builder to make sure it actually gets built to the plans (again, I had final plans and certain outlets/switches/vent stack locations got changed during production). I don't know if an architect will actually check that framing is straight though a good GC should. There may be higher-end "custom" modular companies out there, but my company supposedly did "custom" and were one of the oldest, respected companies out there, but the framing and the finish work was not up to my expectations. We're working around the framing as best we can, and redoing the trim and some of the electrical. Eventually we'll get around to replacing the poorly-installed laminate countertops (probably with the same laminate, I picked it and like it, didn't want solid surface or stone with kids right now).