2254HV, sabre 54 inch deck 22 hp brigs 1998 model 500 hrs 18 years old been outside in Pennsylvania the whole time and running strong, Worth every penny, It is not a cheap lawn tractor at all in fact it is extremely durable, I have abused it heavily and frequently mowing entire golf courses several times and plowing thousands of tons of snow and towing an 800 pound trailer. It has also been used to cut overgrown 80 acre crop fields, gas and power line runs and has been used to push over and cut down and chop up hundreds of small trees up to 3 inch diameter in addition to hauling 10 cords of cut logs in an off road trailer over miles of super steep rocky terrain that 2wd atvs get stuck on . With a set of wheel weights and chains front and rear it climbs and descends almost vertical and plows snow and gravel well. The deck is as strong as most commercial mowers. So far the damage total has been a set of deck wheels a tie rod tie a new choke and throttle cable and a new deck electric switch, new plastic cooling fan for hydro, 2 sets of belts and 6 oil and filter changes and straightening of bent front deck wheel brackets, about 490 dollars in parts total. The weak links are the weak hood and no front bumper and leak in hydro unit so have to add 30 wt motor oil 1 quart every 6 mos, No drain hole to change hydro fluid so having to tip entire tractor up side down to change hydro oil Also the hydro unit need to be cleaned a lot, gets covered with grass and will overheat and could possibly self destruct if not kept clean. Neglecting to keep the hydro oil topped off will result in the lawn tractor version of a 35+ mph backwards Nantucket sleigh ride when climbing grades of 35% or more basically if you hear hydro noise its low so top off the hydro with oil before disaster strikes.

@pk66, I've used ALL kinds of things in my Miele washer but I tried the Miele Care detergents and just love them. Honestly, I find them just perfect. Smell is nice and light (and is a lovely smell) and they clean beautifully. I follow Miele's dosing recommendation on the package and dose down if my loads are smaller. I find the Miele detergent recommends less than others to begin with. You would be fine with almost any HE detergent I'm guessing. Many hear love Persil (German version from Henkel). I find the smell unpleasant and too strong but many love it. Many here also use Tide HE and are happy with that. I am using the Miele Ultra Care powders mostly (and I'm really happy with them). I haven't used powder exclusivley for many years but I really enjoy these ones. However, you do need liquid for certain loads like comforters (which is another great setting) and express. I have the Miele Ultra Color liquid as well. Miele also makes special detergents for items like down and outerwear. I've used several and they all seem to work very well. Dosing is very important to master correctly. It's very easy to overdose as there is so little water it is not very forgiving to a little extra detergent. Consider your water quality, dirt level of the load and size of the load. Start with the less is more philosophy and add more as needed. I'm attaching a UK article for you to read regarding smelly washers and how to avoid them. There is detergent and dosing info in there that might help you. As for fabric softener, I stopped using dryer sheets years ago when I read that they never decompose. I did use Shaklee FS until they changed the formula and I really dislike the new scent. I have a little left that I'm still using on my kids clothes (I just loved the old smell). I use Downy Free & Clear (just a little) or Seventh Generation or Miele FS. I use very little FS in only certain loads. Never on towels or sheets. I buy my linens at a very nice shop and they explained to me how FS "clogs" the pores of fine cotton. Fine cotton over time gets softer as it's washed. I find this true with my nice percale cotton sheets. My Turkish and Egyptian towels feel just great without FS. Good luck with your new machines. I certainly hope you love them. I enjoy mine all the time. I might suggest you select sensitive (extra rinse) all the time. I leave it on permanently. It's up to you though. The European machines do more rinses than ours do so I try to do as many as possible. Proper rinsing is key (as is proper dosing) to not having any residual detergent left. My fav feature is the delay time. I washed white towels this morning and did extra white, extended and extra rinse. That takes almost two hours. I set it last night and woke up to clean towels ready for the dryer. LOVE it :) Also, keep in mind that your Miele will not use the interanl heater on the "normal" setting. If you want to ensure a warm, very warm, hot or sanitary setting - choose any other program. Here is a link that might be useful: Smelly Washing Machines

Today I've been playing the good customer and going through the paces to address this issue with the LG Washing Machine I purchased via BestBuy in January 2012. In the fall of 2013 I received a notice in the mail that my unit needed to be upgraded (you know the story). At that time we would get an occasional unbalance code. I wasn't aware of all the back-story on this washer. I called LG Recall (1-855-400-4639) and they had a local service provider come out and "upgrade" the software in October 2013. Very soon afterwards the machine consistently gave a uE code and often as not able to finish a single wash cycle, even after attempting to re-balance several times, and finally giving a UE code. We put up with this through the holidays and spring time of 2014 by running the washer and always choosing the "no spin" option. Then when the cycle finished (sometimes with a UE and sometimes not) we would then run a 13 minutes "spin only" cycle which we would have to monitor throughout the entire 13 minutes to stop the machine and attempt to re-balance the load if a uE code was given again. Most often this DID give a uE code meaning that we'd have to start the 13 minute spin only cycle again. In most cases we usually get to a point where we think most of the water had been removed, still very wet by normal standards, and just give up and throw the clothes in the dryer where they go through an extra long drying cycle since there is more water in the clothes than there should be anyway. Today I called LG Recall again and told them that the "upgrade" made the situation worse. They sent me through to the "special diagnosis" team who had me put the phone next to the washer, listen for fax-like tones and discovered that, yes, I was telling the truth. There are uE and UE codes being alerted. They then scheduled a visit from a local contractor and told me that I should expect a confirmation call from the contractor. The contractor called and said they would be charging me $89 for a diagnosis. I was not told this by LG, so I refused the service and called LG back. The recall line (who had set up the appointment) told me that they couldn't help me any further and I needed to speak with Customer Service. I called customer service (1-800-243-0000) who told me they could get the "A&E Service" to come out for a "one-time repair" at not cost. They gave me a case number and the phone number for A&E Service (888-433-3892) to schedule this visit. A&E said they couldn't accept a call from me, and could only schedule the visit if Customer Service was on the line. I called Customer Service again. (for today that is already 2 calls, and another two calls to LG Recall, and one call to A&E). This time Customer Service told me that they would cancel the previous service call request, and set up a new request for a local service to come out on Monday to service the washer, at no charge. I will come back to continue to record the events, as a means of reference for my own purposes, but also in hopes that it is useful to others. I haven't seen that anyone has had this problem resolved through these local contractor service visits, but at least I'm going through the paces and will be able to convince LG that I've been cooperative and done everything I can on my side in case I have to insist on a buy-back or replacement. I see that some others have had some success in that regard and I'm trying to follow the model.

Renee - Yup, I'm still adding fertilizer to the water. Same way, didn't really change anything with that. Michael - Outside is a big mix of genera (Mesembs, Crassulas, Gasteria, etc.). Many I am very careful to not to get water all over the leaves because they are extremely susceptible to rot. Generally, water in the rosettes is not an issue with Haworthia IF you have good airflow and reasonable humidity (60% or lower). Mine get wet a lot of the time and I don't worry about it because I know my conditions are good. The sprayer head I'm using below has many settings. My favourite is the 'powerful jet', which turns into a thin and straight stream that is easy to aim and doesn't dislodge smaller top dressings. There is also a full flow shower-style setting, which I use for my larger pots of Sempervivum, Jades, and Stapelia that are not so picky and can be totally drenched from above. Palmandsnow - It's very exotic, found at your local Home Depot. =) The adjustable hose sprayer on top doesn't turn down low enough, so the flow regulator lets me turn it down to a trickle just like my modified watering cans. And it never runs out of water!! Lets me water over 100 plants (many which I have to be careful not to drench the leaves) in about 25 minutes, which is makes me pretty happy.