Can't believe I found this thread on page 2! Guess I never hit the email notification from this site! Saxman, I appreciate your insight but to be honest if I had the knowledge and will to swap motors on the HRT it would be rational thinking to assume I tried everything else. Never did I say I didn't, correct? I ended up finding a brand used (I said it!) HRX217HXA and what a machine it is! The very first time I cut my grass with it I hasn't mowed in 3weeks and with the height all the way up, I was cutting ~8" of grass off the top. Not only that but it rained the entire previous day and only stopped raining some time the night before when I was asleep. I cut at about 10am do no time for the lawn to dry. It was the epitome of the test I was looking for and on 100% mulch, there was barely a blade left to speak of! I was more than satisfied and actually very impressed with the cut quality in the given conditions. I still miss my HRT though from time to time. It was a ber nimble mower that could be tossed about with ease. Not so with the HRX, it's much more substantial and has roughly 20lb or so more bulk to contend with. Now I can cut my grass whenever I need to and need not worry about over cutting or stragglers left behind!

Hate to tell you, but these transmissions were made as non-serviceable. It is the plastic clutches that melt after the grease is gone. Unfortunately, you will not find any diagrams of the transmission or part numbers. I have owned about 4 of these through trades and such and only one still has a transmission that partly works. Not a good record for a machine that is no older than a 2000 or so.

Thanks catherinet & moumine_2006: I've waited this long for some relief; a few more weeks won't be bad. I was lucky to get about 50 days worth from the Dr in free samples so by that time I should know if this HRT is right for me. Wondering if I might experience more energy; I'm hopeful. I don't know if it's so much that menopause is zapping my energy, but possibly not sleeping well thru the night is the culprit. At any rate, I'm about 10 days into it and I'll remain hopeful. Thanks again for the advice.

I am so sorry you have had this suffering from going off your HRT. I too, have had a sudden onset on terrible symptoms from an inability to be able to buy my HRT lately. I have been on HRT since my hysterectomy in 1991. I started on premrin, changing the strengths until we knew that was not working for me, went to estrace, then patches, then injections; all making me feel like a lab animal, going through too many changes over the years. It was 3 years ago that I read about Estring, and asked my Dr if I could try it. It was PERFECT! No more dryness, no more remembering to take my meds (it lasts 3 months) and most of all, no more worry about the breast cancer threats from all the other ones. This was my magic ring, and the amount that was absorbed into my blood was so insignificant, that I knew I had found the answer to all my problems. I had balanced out perfectly, and needed nothing more than my ring once every 3 months. 2 months ago, I came into a situation that prevented me from being able to buy my estring, and have not been able to buy it yet. Since then, I have entered, SUDDEN, full blown menopause, and this is not a joke. I have become a basket case; emotionally and mentally, physically I cannot sleep, am stressed constantly, and have tension headaches that overwhelm me. I am looking forward to when I can resume buying my estring, and will NEVER go off it again, if I can help it. I do not want to have to go through this again, for any reason. I'm afraid I have lost all quality of life in my state now, and just want to get back to feeling like a normal, and sane woman again. After having found such a safe HRT, I would never even consider the thought of going off it on purpose. I agree that "quality" of life takes precedence over trying to be a model of healthy intake at this stage of the game. I do everything else I can to be healthy, and being ON HRT gives me a far more healthy brain, body, and emotional state of being.