I think the OP meant to ask if flowers would be evident before bean pods and the answer is yes. You'll see small white/yellow blossoms and from the blossom a pod will grow if pollination occurs. I will bow to Lacey's expertise on growing winter squash in zone 5... Susan

Right, there's no reason you shouldn't mulch with a Hi-Vac. The only functional difference is that the bottom lip on the deck is turned under for a Hi-Vac and outward for the dedicated mulchers with the A.I.R. designation. I mulch with a Hi-Vac all the time, and so do a bunch of lawn crews. Dan, I'm not familiar with a smaller OHV Robin. That would be interesting. I am familiar with the old L-head Robins, that I think might have been called WT1-185V or something like that. Although displacing the same as the EH18V, these would be much smaller and lighter due to the L-head configuration. They would also make a lot less power. But as you say, I'm sure they are anvil reliable. I thought about buying one on eBay once for a mower project, but never got around to it. My current mower is a C216012RV (commercial Hi-Vac with the monster Robin EH18V but no self-propel) that I added self-propel to. This thing was the deal of the century: the guy was local and listed it on eBay as a "Robin" mower instead of Snapper for $50 buy-it-now, IIRC. So nobody with a "Snapper" search ever saw it, and I snapped (pun intended) it up asap when I saw it. I went to pick it up, and it looked brand new. They guy couldn't start it, so he figured it was disposable. I got it home, cleaned out the carb, and it ran great. I added the drive system with parts I mostly had laying around, and now I have the Cadillac of Hi-Vacs (Cadi-Vac?).

I picked up a 2 stroke toro 20684 at a yard sale, not running. I disassembeled carb and cleaned it with carb cleaner, put it all back together, and it will only run so long as one sprays gas into carb. Carb is getting fuel, and float and jet appear to work. Anyone got a clue? Clearly gas is not being imported into engine from carb. Compression feels fine. Do I need new carb gaskets to improve vacume? This is selfpropelled and im getting to old to push my lawn boy. Welcome all responses.

The Robin is still the lightest 4-cycle trimmer I know of, and it's really a nice unit. My friend has one and I envy it. You can find it for just under $300 (Makita makes a rebadged version of the same trimmer). But in the $220 range, there a lot of quality 2-cycle models. A lot of the newer ones come with small catalytic converters, and I would expect them to be a little quieter, and of course they meet the newest emissions requirements. Husqvarna and Shindaiwa come to mind, but are certainly not the only ones. My experience with Echo and my recently-acquired RedMax are very positive. The RedMax doesn't need a converter to stay green - it uses a unique stratified charge induction process to more thoroughly scavenge the chamber after the power stroke. It's also suprisingly quiet to me. There is also Tanaka, Kawasaki, Stihl, and some others that I'm sure I'm forgetting. All of these brands should be stupid-easy to start, BTW. My Redmax will start within three pulls when cold, and when it starts I just close the choke while it continues running and I'm on my way. Hot starts are immediate on the first pull without even touching the throttle, every single time. It's extremely user friendly that way. I would expect the same for the others, too. Finally, I strongly suggest using Mobil T2 Racing 2-cycle oil in whatever you buy. I just discovered this stuff, and it's unbelievable: no smoke, very little smell, and it's going to give excellent lubrication. Others here agree. You will not lust for a 4-cycle nearly as much if you use this oil!