Ideally you probably need a sub-compact tractor. There are some good offerings these days in the $13,000 range, but that sounds like they are out of reach. If you've got 5 acres, you'll find that loader invaluable. Given what you want to do, I'd look for used JD 400-series (425, 445, 455) or the later X465-X495/X575-X595 models. They are heavy duty (to pull things) and have up to a 62" mower deck to get the mowing done fast. The X5's offered 4wd which helps when pulling heavy aerators and such. Small loaders are also available for them. Given that you are new to machinery, I'd avoid looking at older utility tractors unless they are 1990-ish and up. Something like a mid-1990's JD 755 would work well for you. Hope this helps.

Loree -- I would NOT prime with an oil-base. There are plenty of good stain-blocking, oil-blocking Latex primers on the market that you can get at Home Depot, ACO, Lowe's, etc. Then Latex too for your color selection. I agree with Christophern on buying the best you can afford. Personally, I would take advantage of the SW 30% off sale. If you do buy there ... see if they'll note on your account the 30% discount for your color in case you come back Tues/Wed, etc. for addt'l Gallons. I'm inevitably short a Gallon and always go "back" for more. LOL. Good luck Painting this weekend -- that's what I'll be doing!

A Charles H. Ullery paper presents a thorough assessment of water hardness classifications for the American Society of Agricultural Engineers. The ASAE Standard S-339 is: soft: 0-3.5 grains per gallon (gpg), moderate: 3.5-7.0 gpg, hard: 7.0-10.5 gpg, and very hard: over 10.5 gpg With your water @ 17gpg it is REALLY hard and that's without knowing the iron and manganese content. That means that most solutions to your water heating problem are doomed to shorter service and more frequent maintenance from the start and that is EXACTLY what you are complaining about with a softener... except a softener requires you to walk by and look at it once a week. You can opt for the storage tank and that will give you hot water and false security because all your plumbing, every appliance, and fixture will be seeing ludicrously hard water and that will cost you $$$ and usually at the most inopportune time. Like the old FRAM commercials said... you can pay me now or you can pay me later. ROs don't have to mounted under the sink. They can be installed in a basement or through the wall behind the kitchen sink. "... and that's one more thing to forget to do each week" Well, think of it as taking vitals... we can have a water doctor write the order for you. Without knowing the details of your water usage I can say that a correctly sized industry standard softener could be had for between $500 and $1000 online plus the cost of local install and at a higher price locally installed. "I understand softeners definitely have benefits and are very popular here on this forum. There seem to be more posts on that than anything else" As the cost of appliances and fixtures go up people seem more interested in getting the longest and most trouble free service life from those purchases. Few of us have more money than we know what to do with so we look for the best bang for the buck we can get. With respect, a correctly sized and set up softener with a modestly priced stand alone water heater is the most cost effective, simplest, and easiest to live with solution you can get. Let us know what you decide.

I love threads about KA mixers--still love my KAs after all these years. Yours looks great in your gorgeous kitchen! I had an almond KA Classic for about 25 years--it stood up to many batches of pizza dough, stiff cooky doughs, and homemade cakes. It is now loved in my DD's kitchen, and I have a red Artisan. Red wasn't my first choice--I wanted buttercup or green apple for my new kitchen, but five years ago I found the Artisan on Craigslist for $100, a deal too good to pass up. The seller said she had used it in her home cake decorating business, but it looked unused--not a bit of gunk under the metal band, which I removed to do a thorough cleaning before I used it the first time. The finish was super shiny--it really looked brand new. Two of the attachments were missing, so I spent another $25.00 for them. The Artisan has been used the same as my former lower watt KA, for pizza and bread dough, lots of pfeffernusse cooky dough, and cake batter. I just follow the mfr's instructions to use it on low setting for stiffer doughs. I've decided the color looks good in my kitchen--the universe chose well for me, too. ;)