My 18 year old JD170 finally 'died'. Or so I told myself and my wife. :-) Actually, one of the spindles broke and everyone knows that a broken spindle can't be fixed. Right? So what's a guy to do (sob). What any guy would do -- I went and bought a brand new X300 which will be delivered in 2 days. I only cut a mostly flat 1/2 acre so the X300 is overkill but who cares! I do want to buy the snow blower attachment and figured the X300 will be excellent for that purpose. I really can't wait. By the way Jaws, the spec sheet says the X300 has the K46 transmission, not the T46. I didn't read this post until last night, so I didn't get down to look at the sticker. All the posts though just confirmed that I bought one great machine. I might bypass the RIO switch though as I didn't buy the 4WS and do back up quite a bit. My 170 still has a perfectly running Kawasaki 14HP engine and tranny. What a workhorse! I gave pause to look at the HuskVys and Cub Cadets, but my 170 made me a JD loyalist. It really gave me outstanding service and I wasn't one to take care of it much. Lacking a shed and garage space, I often left it out all year, including severe upstate NY winters. It always started right up in the spring. But rust (wonder how that happened), deteriorating bags (hmmmm), and faded paint (go figure) convinced me that it was time. Actually, the fact that my 10yo son will want to be cutting the lawn in a couple years had something to do with it. Figured I want a some time where it's just MY machine. Don't worry guys -- I promise to take care of my new machine. I'm 53, and want this machine to last me 20 years or more -- or until I get the itch for a new model, whichever comes first. JD did give me $250 for a trade-in on the 170. I might had got more for it if I wanted to fix the spindle, clean it up and put up for sale -- but that would take time away from my X300. I'll let you guys know how I like it. Who am I kidding... I'm going to Love it!

This one has expired so I am bumping it down.

Bumping this down

Took a quick look at it while sitting in my recliner watching US Open golf this afternoon. Did this little exercise more for the lurkers out there as an illustration of the value of taking “internet plans” as a starting point towards something that might really work. This example moves away from a garage crudely slapped on the back, as well as bedrooms looking at a scenic 10’ side yard. We may end up meeting with an architect but I feel like I need to start with an existing... plan to help me “see” it better since I’m so visual. Not a thing in the world wrong with that as long as it’s not code for being unwilling to trust your designer and incapable of taking the leap of faith necessary for a true collaborative effort required for a successful project I described in my posts above. The first drawing is the “big idea” as it came out of my head. In architect speak it’s called the “Parti”. That drawing took 20 minutes. Just to get a framework, I assumed a 30’ clearance around the tree. That number is pulled totally out of thin air and may prove to be completely out in left field once an arborist is on the scene but for this exercise I needed a starting pointing point to give me the “build box”, the box defined by setbacks, easements and any special considerations, like your tree, so I arbitrarily chose 30’. The second drawing is the cleaned up version so someone besides myself could understand it. This one took an hour. Still very rough and parts of it doesn't really work well yet, but it shows all the relationships which all DO work well. Note, even in the first, “big idea” drawing, I’m thinking elevations simultaneously with the plan so a couple elevation ideas are developed here. At this point they don’t work 100% with the plan but at least we’re out of the starting gate with everything being designed simultaneously. My area calcs are equally as rough and likely on the skimpy side. I’m figuring the final house will be in the 1800-1850SF range. Good luck in your project…..and to all the lurkers, your projects too! The "big idea"... The "cleaned up" version...