I can especially relate to your question as I was in a similar situation about four years ago. My four cycle craftsman mower had seen better days and I had always seen mowing as a chore. A lawn boy enthusiast at work wasted no time recommending I look at the lawn boys. At first I was miffed, asking why I would want 'old' two stroke technology with a louder motor and the 'chore' of having to mix gas and oil. He pointed out that mixing gas and oil for a two stroke is easier and faster than changing the oil on a four stroke and pointed out the power and constant lubrication benefits of the two stroke. These were good points that I had not considered. I had experienced the four stroke engine, even a 6PH unit, bogging down in thick grass. He explained that would be very unlikely to happen with the LB. The exact model I ended up buying as the 10550. I still have it and have been extremely happy. The 'easy stride' system is very intuitive and simple to use in my opinion and I love the power and aluminum deck. It is easy to clean, no oil changes, and I find removing and cleaning the air filter pretty easy . It is a reusable foam type that you pull out after swinging open a lid that is similar to a fuse box lid. The filter is accessable from there. The manual shows to soak it in soapy water and then oil the filter. I supposed tossing a paper element and putting a new one in would be faster, but I like the idea of reusable parts. I never considered the extra bonuses of forum support from the numerous LB enthusiasts until my 10550 died on me about two months ago. By searching the forum I was easily able to determine the issue and correct it. This type of support is invaluable in saving time and money in case you should need anything done to your mower. Resale is another huge plus that someone mentioned. This varies, but with many LB enthusiasts out there you should be able to get quite a bit for your 10550 if you don't like it. Good luck with your decision, but I am very happy with mine.

Purchased a hood from Proline in late March.Rec'd w/in a week.It's a nice looking unit.Chimney was damaged and 4 holes in the support were double drilled.Asked for replacements and wanted the 2 pieces cut down.We're willing to pay for that.Said they'd have Fedex pick them up.Finally after a few phone calls, they send Fedex to pick items up.More time passed and FINALLY got the cut down SS chimney.We're still waiting for the cutdown support and still getting the runaround.We are so frustrated.This is an island hood and one Proline worker said the support with double drilled holes would be okay to use as is.Mind you, it must hold 60#, and we live near a train track.We're concerned that over time, the screws could loosen and possibly cause it to fall on our new stove.The unit weighs 60#.To which this person said, "It's no big deal.It will work okay even w/the double drilled holes." Sure--they don't have to live w/it. NOTE:If you buy from Proline, be sure you read EVERYTHING they have on their website.Which is A LOT! It's now the 3rd week in June and the hood is still sitting on our LR floor waiting for the cut down support that will make it fit our counter to ceiling space. Their CS folk keep saying, "I'm sorry." and that they are waiting to hear from persons in their Ohio facility.It seems to be a continual problem.I asked to speak (not the first time)to the owner and it seems he's always in China. Their hoods look nice, hopefully the quality is good, but their integrity is in question.Too bad those that answer their phones have to take all the flak from customers.They likely are trying, but it's hard trying to move dead meat. Sure hope they get paid REALLY well.

Thank you all for the insight and suggestions! sdello: "there is nothing magic and there should be nothing hidden with the door hardware." That's what I thought. I have two identical doors. The one on right is working normally, and I visually compare the two on tracks/springs/rollers/hinges/ etc. and was unable to find any noticable differences. The spring, by the way is a huge 2" coil laying on top of the door frame about 1/2 way to the right. When I lift the door, I can see where it stop, but I can't be sure where the actual obstruction or resistance force is. I don't know wether this could be a clue, the porblem started with my Genie Opener, which closed half way. When I pushed remote once, it went back up. But then when I pushed the remote one more time, the opener apparently went the wrong direction and the door went off track and three of the rollers droped off from one side of the track. Since the opener is still under warrenty, Genie has agreed to send a set of new sensors and a new circuit board, but they insisted that the opener doesn't have the force to push the door off the track. For this I am asking my door installer to return to take a look. I am just wondering whether the two probelms are related -- the door got pushed off the track, and unable to open the door manually, even though, I was able to open it manually for two weeks after the opener malfunction. Again thank you very much for all of your thoughts.

I'm back. With a new question. Please humor me. I got an ecobee3 lite over the holidays and have installed it. It seems, however, that when it gets too cold for the heat pump to run, aux stage 1 on my Trane XV80 kicks in and then some minutes later aux stage 2 kicks in. I'm guessing it was the same with my old thermostat. Looking at the furnace control board picture, ecobee support says this is because W2 is jumpered to W1. So the ecobee can't control the stages. They also don't see where the black E wire from the old thermostat goes on the furnace. Question 1: Looking at the pics above, can you tell me where the black E wire goes and whether it has any control over the aux heat stages? Does it go to the heat pump kit control board? Question 2: Is there anything I can do to give the thermostat control over aux heat stages? I'm guessing just removing the jumper on the furnace control board between W1 and W2 is not enough. Thanks, and happy new year.